Lat S 45 56°/ long W 073 37,9°

Very pleased with yesterday's glacier, today we have just shipped ourselves
back to the main track. The wind has been against us the whole day so the engine
has been going, the batteries are charged. Again, distances are enormous
and desolation stunning.

Lat S 46 33,7°/ long W 73 56,54°

Laguna San Rafael
Today we sailed the last 30 miles south to Laguna San
Rafel, the glacier Ventisquero San Rafael is the southern hemisphere's northernmost
tidal glacier. It is part of the Patagonian Icecap, and is 30-80
km wide, the height is about 2000 meters. We had really bad weather so
circumstances were not the best. But when we fought our way through the
last channel in the countercurrent and came into the lagoon, we met a beautiful and
unusual sight. There were lots of icebergs floating around, great blue and
turquoise colors and at one end of the lagoon the glacier made its appearance,
going right down into the water. We felt very small in comparison with the ice,
the icebergs and the entire lagoon.
A fantastic experience, but cold.

Lat S 45 09 / long W 73 31

Went into Puerto Aguirre from a small cove, where we had stayed overnight. We
had read that you could buy fuel there and intended to fill up our
stores. There was an Armada Station where we went in and said hello, then we took a
walk around the town, which was deserted and derelict to say the least. There were some
signs which pointed out that there was once a more vibrant city. In
the hardware store the stuff in the window was left, but if you looked further into the
store, shelves were all empty. The fuel station was gone. Felt like
walking into something that lived 20 years ago. We must make sure that our
supplies last. Continuing south to Laguna San Rafael.

Melinka

Found an internet café in the village, uploading some photos for you to take part of our life in Patagonia

Lat S 43 53,8°/ long W 073 45°

Melinka
Yesterday evening we reached Melinka after a nice free sail. A small town on
southern slope of Isla Ascension. I read in the pilot book that it
was named for the wife of the first European inhabitant, Felipe
Westhoff. This happened in the 1850s. We did not go ashore, but watched
the town through binoculars. We saw a shop and a hostel. We will visit these
today, see if you can get a shower in the hostel.

Lat S 43 09 / long W 073 31,1

Bahia Huellonquén, Quellón
We are approaching the southern part of the island of Chiloe, which lies
protected from the Pacific. We have been sailing for several days and last
anchorage last night was in a bay, a bay full of "salmon pins",
which means large salmon farms, moreover, there were quite a lot of
mussel farms. There must be a major export from here, we see
these crops in all bays. Today we take a voyage which is in a bit
of open water down to Melinka where we must seek further permission
for our voyage.

Lat S 42 51°/ long W 073 35°

Estero Pailad
Continued our voyage south yesterday to the southern parts of Chiloe. We
anchored in a wonderful bay which is an estuary; according to the pilot book a
of the most beautiful anchorages in Chiloe. We got directions into the river
from a few dolphins along the way, we could also see the black-necked swan
the place is famous for. We anchored in front of an old yellow wooden church.
A great calm was spreading, it is so incredibly beautiful. We
disturbed the peace somewhat by puttering about in the dinghy.