Day66-Ferry day 1, Wed, Mar 2, 2011

Beautiful sunrise over Puerto Natales

Ferry departs late – 9AM

9AM – 2PM Weather: Blue skies over Puerto Natales but dark on the western horizon.

Route:  South first the fish-hook around then north up between many channels and islands.

Sunrise over Puerto Natales.

Double stacked bunk beds! Lisa in her nest.

The bridge is open to passengers. Captain Louis Flores Pino and I were comparing my Garmin GPSmap 76Cx with the ships auto pilot screen. Almost identical.

The early morning views were spectacular.

The helmsman just has a little lever thingie to steer the ship. I was so disappointed! Where's the giant steering wheel like in Moby Dick???

The captain called those three peaks the "three sisters".

These are Lisa's cows! And they are not having fun. There is no spa, no deck lounge chairs, no cabin boys, no themed bar, no hourly activities, no lectures, no dance lessons, no talent show, no …

Dean: We spend our first night on the “Puerto Eden”, Cabin CC-305 bunks 1 & 2.  Our cabin has 4 bunk beds stacked 2 high in a very narrow room. The bunk beds are 6’ long by 30 “ wide.  There is a reading lamp with power outlet and curtains for privacy.  There are no closets, no luggage storage, just the floor and a very teeny locker 8” x 8” x 8”.  For our level of cabins the bathroom and showers are communal with separate men’s and women’s.  There are higher levels with private bathrooms.  And there is a low level with 16-bunk beds, 8 double stacked bunk beds in one long room!

Lisa: As some friends told us, this is not a cruise, it’s a ferry and that was a good reminder.  Yes, the living space is small but fairly well thought out.  And having only 3 of us is a bonus because the ship is booked pretty full.

Dean: There are only 3 people in our cabin.  Our bunkmate is Min Hyeong Kang from Korea.  He is traveling up to Santiago where he will fly to Mexico City, then the US and then over to Europe.  We are meeting many people who are traveling 6 months to 2 years.

We also meet two wonderful and fun French ladies, Sandrine Beauvias and Florence Dailles.  They are heading for Machu Picchu.  We get together for dinner and we give them our Machu Picchu travel tips.

Breakfast: coffee, yoghurt, ham and cheese, scrambled eggs, bread, fruit juice

Lunch: Soup, Salmon, mash potatoes, salad, bread, fruit juice

Dinner: Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, roll, fruit juice, hard jello

Lisa: So we haven’t eaten 3 meals a day more than about 3 times in the last 3 months so this is just waaay over the top.  The food isn’t 4 star but it’s FOOD, it’s hot and relatively fresh, it’s cooked for us morning noon and night and the servers are cute young men.  I don’t have to ride in the mud and I can take afternoon naps.  Life is good.

Dean: High winds late in the afternoons.

Trying to get SPOT signal for our followers, I leave my SPOT and GPS on the bike.  Bike is next to side railing.  When I come back 2 hours later, the GPS and SPOT are gone!  I’m crushed.  How could I be so stupid?  Two valuable touring and safety tools for the success of our ride are gone.

Lisa talks to security and they have my SPOT and GPS on the bridge.  The deck crew who are constantly checking all the vehicle tie downs saw the SPOT/GPS, took if off the bike and gave it to security for safe keeping!  I had earlier talked with the bridge staff and we were comparing their autopilot navigation plots with my GPS so they knew whom the GPS/SPOT belonged to.

Late evening the winds and rain kicked into high gear.  Parts of the ship were closed off because of extreme winds.  Because we are in the ‘inside-passage’, the ship was not rocky or turbulent.  The forward progress was very smooth, stable considering the winds.