CHASING GLACIERS

EXPLORING PATAGONIA WAS A MEMORABLE FAMILY CRUISING ADVENTURE FOR FERNANDA MONDADORI

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That was the message that flooded my inbox again and again as we planned our trip to Patagonia.

With a coastline of several hundred miles and thousands of rocky islands, temperate forests and stunning deep blue glaciers calving at the end of long fjords, it’s not easy to limit yourself to a few destinations when heading south to cruise this incredible region.

We would arrive at the southernmost town in Chile, Puerto Williams, from the South Atlantic and would leave six weeks later, heading back into the Atlantic through the Magellan Strait. Even though the stretch between Puerto Williams and Punta Arenas, our entry and exit ports in Chile respectively, is only about 270 miles, the best advice we were given was to focus on this area alone.

All high latitude sailors in the south are familiar with the ‘Blue Book, the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Nautical Guide by Mariolina Rolfo and Giorgio Ardrizzi. It is a heavyweight compilation of invaluable information from their decades of exploration, plus collective knowledge from other sailors on anchorages, weather and many other aspects of Argentina and Chile. The coastlines are carefully divided into sections. It is an indispensable tool and we felt very safe while cruising Sections 8-13 following its recommendations. Section 10 covers Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, including the Beagle Channel, and the centre point of our trip.

TWO-YEAR ADVENTURE