Puerto Montt via Gulfo Del Penas on the Navimag

Trip Start Jan 26, 2000
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Trip End Jun 14, 2000


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Flag of Chile  ,
Tuesday, February 15, 2000

Puerto Natales, was where, that evening I would start a 3 day/4 night boat trip (1000 miles) in the mainly sheltered water through narrows and fiords up the coast of Chile back to Puerto Montt. Before boarding the boat I met a friend Manny, a guy I`d met at Torres Del Paine and at the after trek party. After a big feed at a place which gave portions of salmon so big I couldn't finish them (for the extortionate amount of $4!!!) we proceeded to the nearest supermarket to stock up on beer, wine, whiskey and Pisco (A local liquor very tasty with lemon) for the 'party boat'. The first thing we noted about the boat, out of it's 150 passengers, 80% were backpackers, this was going to be a fun trip. We had opted for the cheap accommodation, dormitories which held 26 people in what can only described as cramped claustrophobic conditions right in the bowels of the ship. We had a bed though and we weren't planning on spending that much time in it.
The food was remarkably good on the boat although one of the breakfast items, porridge laced with far too much sugar, wasn't too appealing after eating porridge for the previous 2 weeks on the treks. We had to board the boat in the evening, before all the cargo, but we didn't leave until 2pm next day. Once we left the whole atmosphere on the boat became much more upbeat and from then on it was party time. The trip was truly spectacular, through some unforgettable scenery. The weather was OK, the first 2 days overcast, with the 3rd and final day sunny and clear. We saw dolphins, whales and sea lions and one of the plus points was we were allowed to stand on the bridge, admiring the views, check out all this instruments as well as see what the captain was doing.
The one area of the trip which everyone was dreading was the Gulfo Del Penas, a 12 hour period where we left the sheltered inland passages and ventured into the open sea. The trip before us had 10m waves and the majority of the passengers had been sick. I had my sickness tablet, but when it came the gulf was a bit of an anticlimax and the worst side effects I experienced were drunken stumbling (just like my usual Friday night!) as the boat rolled slowly from side to side.
After the boat trip Manny and I decided to go trekking together to two national parks in the Lake District region close to Bariloche (Argentina) and Osorno (Chile).
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