Ferry Esperanza

I am writing this on my bunk aboard the Esperanza (“Hope”), the flagship of the Navimag ferry company currently about to depart Puerto Montt for Puerto Natales, four days journey south of here. 

Rusty the trooper managed the difficult stair gratings out of the car deck and settled immediately on his bed. 

Supposedly the ship leaves at 7 and once we lose the cell signal we will be out of touch until sometime on Thursday evening. Between now and then we will be navigating the fjords and some open ocean through southern Chile. 

We drove up to the ferry after they weighed and measured the van.  We spent a couple of hours at the check in waiting while the trucks and trailers were loaded first into the bowels of the ship. 

Rusty had no idea this was his last roll in the grass for four days but he took full advantage of it enjoying the sun. 

They weighed us at 9325 pounds close enough to the factory fully laden weight of 9400 pounds. The fee for the van is $500. 

After they gave us the go ahead we drove down to the ship from the weighing area where they told us to turn around. The van in front of us was dropping off foot passengers and after he got outbid the way I reversed into the darkness. 

They nudged us over to the side and before we got out we were getting strapped into place. This journey may be quite calm or quite fierce and there’s no way of knowing how it will go. 

Our batteries are fully charged and we only have a few bottled items in the fridge so we will see how well they last in four days of darkness. We aren’t allowed on the car deck during the journey. 

We saw no other overland vehicles on the dock or in the ship probably because this isn’t a cheap ride and most people take the scenic land route south of Puerto Montt. We plan to check some of it out in the summer on our way north. The appeal of the ferry was just too much. 

Rusty did not like the steps but he got up them unassisted. 

Then we sat through the tail end of a safety briefing. Wear a life jacket. Ask the crew for advice. Drown like a gentleman.  Actually a few months ago the ferry ran aground on the tip of an island and made the news as it waited for the tide. These are treacherous waters. 

The other travelers shuffle around and don’t make eye contact. We smile and say hi! just to confound them. This is our four berth cabin. 

With reading light and (220 volt) plug: 
This is our private toilet and shower: 

To bring Rusty in the cabin and not have him travel caged as cargo we had to rent a whole cabin. We wanted a room with a window which goes for about $650 a berth. There are four berths in an AA cabin so we are paying $2500 for our trip. Meals are included you’ll be happy to hear. With GANNET2 the total is about $3000.  We folded the upstairs bunks to have a little more headroom. 

The cheapest berths are about $550 and there are eight of them in a cabin with no windows.  There is also one suite but we missed the reservation or we’d have taken that. There are no balconies. No alcohol is allowed on the ship and smoking is on outside decks only. 

For just the two of us and Rusty our cabin is very pleasant, the bunks are comfortable and we are settled in for a stress free ride 1200 miles to Puerto Natales. If we do get anyone signal on the way I shall try to take advantage of it but I expect to post something by Friday. We have a campground reserved in the town when we arrive to give us time to stock the refrigerator and get ready to see some penguins on our way to Punta Arenas. 

They are announcing dinner service.

I should probably get going. See you soon.