Didn't make it to the glacier, didn't make it back to the port, will I make it home?

Didn't make it to the glacier, didn't make it back to the port, will I make it home?? These are interesting times..

This is me - Johanna. I look like this. Such an adventure, like the title might suggest. Patagonia is absolutely beautiful, untouched nature with a rich wild life. There are gray albatrosses, white albatrosses, black albatrosses, multicolored albatrosses, large albatrosses, small albatrosses, medium sized albatrosses ...yeah I could go on forever. We have also seen a few penguins, whales, sea lions and a condor. But hey, nothing compares to a fine albatross. We have also seen the outskirts of the harbor of Puerto Williams and will be looking at it for another 12 days to come...

This would normally been a pretty sight... now i doubt it...

I got on in Ushuaia, fin del mundo, or as one would say in English: the end of the world. Trip was almost cancelled due to the Coronavirus, but as it seems I got out just on time. I was planning on flying back home the 19:th of March and kept joking about how I might be, unwillingly, staying for the Pacific. Well, joke's on me! As for now we are four passengers on the Colon, two free loathers, el Capitan and first mate Anton. In Ushuaia we got to see some cool nature stuff, one or two tourist shops, had some great food and spent an entire day carrying diesel... From Ushuaia, Argentina, we made our way to Chile and Puerto Williams. Puerto Williams is the outpost from where people go to Antarctica, and of course the docks were all full. So, in pitch black, rainy, chilean night we had to tie the boat to a buoy, next to two other boats... Anton jumped over to the mooring in the water, slippy as fuck. The rest of us was trying to keep the boat in place, which is a bit harder than it sounds (or maybe just as hard as it sounds?) which resulted in Anton almost taking a bath- twice. Which might not have been so bad considering these sailors are not too keen on showering... The day before we arrived in Puerto Williams there had been several orcas trapping and killing a whale in the harbor. We took the dingy over to have a look at the carcass, magnificent and smelly. After returning to the port I had a nice shower and finally managed to buy a domestic ticket to Punta Arenas, where my flight home was departing from. The day after we set out for Caleta Olla (an anchor place in the beagle channel). A rumor said there's a storm of 60 knots coming in. But hey, that should make things a bit interesting shouldn't it? So of course we went out. Trip went smooth -on motor of course because that is just how you travel with the Colon I've noticed. After approximately 76 533 albatrosses we reached the caleta. A really nice, well protected pocket in the beagle channel with a glacier and hiking tracks. We decided to start with the glacier, an easy 4 hour walk both ways. After 3.5 hours we had made great progress through beaver-land and approximately covered 1/6 of the track. Tired and with wet feet we regained hope when finding a trail next to the creek (which had probably been a 30 minute hike instead of 3.5 hours) and we decided to keep going. After the swamp there was a forest and then a freaking mountain and then we were done. The sun was setting and we had a long way back, might I also remind you about those 60 knots of wind I mentioned earlier. Getting back to the boat in a dingy without motor, with the current and the wind against you, is not the easiest I've accomplished in my life. To be honest, it's in those situations I really hate being an adult. In the end we actually managed quite well with a bit of creative thinking: two people paddling on one side and the other two climbing the mountain side pulling the dingy forward. But it was totally worth it, the glacier was so beautiful, oh no wait a second.... but hey, we didn't make it to glacier but at least we made it back!

The anchorage in Caleta Olla was however completely amazing!

When you are alone on a boat in the middle of nowhere, with no phone reception, no lights, no sounds except from the wind and albatrosses you do get a bit surprised when another boat pulls up right next to you. Turns out its our new besties who had provided us with the maps earlier: Cool Change. I was very happy to see their boat, since I had gotten very familiar with some of their crew- they have 3 dogs and 1 cat on board, need I say more?! Their company was welcomed and we had a friendly game of kubb on the beach, some bbq, midnight beaver hunt, all the usual stuff. Since I needed to go back to home and the wine supply needed to be restocked we then returned to Puerto Williams. A mistake as it turns out. Chile is in lock down and once we approached the port they called out to us that we couldn't dock. So here we are, in quarantine outside puerto Williams on anchor. And the worst part- Still no wine! might have to pick up smoking..? Not sure what they intend to do with us after our 14 days in quarantine. But until then stay tuned for new albatross pictures. That is an unlimited supply.

The first hike to one of the lakes outside Ushuaia! Amazing right?

// Johanna out!