Channels of Patagonia Navimag Esperanza

Four days through the channels of Patagonia with one night at sea in open water.

If you need to be lifted off the ship this is the spot- no landings “only winch” it says. 

One landmark is the Captain Leonidas, aground forever in mid channel. 

Disappearing astern: 

Then there is the Angostura Inglesa, “English Narrows” which is the tightest spot on the passage. The green marker to starboard and the red marker to port with a few feet to spare either side of the zig zagging ship. 

And local fishermen have added a statue of our lady as a guarantee of successful passage known as Stella Maris -star of the sea. 

There is not much room to spare and I wonder how it goes with strong tidal currents…

Plus they have these random markers placed on shore, some with lights. 

They are a reminder to a passenger that no matter how remote all this seems, people live and trade and navigate here all the time. 

It’s hard to express how privileged one feels sitting down to dinner in comfort and ease while looking out the window at these primal scenes outside. 

And then the captain gave a tour of the bridge one day. They steer with joy sticks and they navigate with GOS and radar and they carry paper maps. Two people are on the bridge at all times, an officer and a sailor at the helm. The captain made me glad I was retired and no longer at the beck and call of petty tyrants: 

The ship was built in China in 2019 and runs back and forth on this journey year round. The captain says they end up sailing eight times a month. 

The galley crew told me they work the summers five months straight with no days off. They were all over Rusty telling me about their dogs they have to leave at home with their families while they work the summers on board. 

“Don’t touch!” was the only command. 

The foredeck, or Rusty’s bathroom: 

The weird triangular structure houses the gym which was open for a while. 

Then they locked it. “Crew Only.” 

The journey itself is mostly quite smooth as the channels are glassy. Even when we had to go outside the motion wasn’t terrible with the ship pitching fore and aft but not rolling side to side. Rusty did not like the slamming and the creaking and he climbed into bed with me. But it only lasted one night and we were back in the channels again where the waters are so smooth the ping pong ball won’t roll away. 

The only visible part of the car deck: