Journey through Patagonia - Under southern peaks

JOURNEY THROUGH PATAGONIA

UNDER SOUTHERN PEAKS

Under a hulking rock surrounded by wind-beaten trees in Patagonia’s Beagle Channel, scientists announced this year they’d discovered Tierra del Fuego’s first rock art. Geometric figures are marked on the rock, arms outstretched. A reminder etched into the edifice that for 6000 years, people have carved life from this southern, wild, starkly-beautiful part of the world. By Isla McKechnie

At Cape Horn, the Pacific and Atlantic rail against each other. It’s the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, which cradles one of the last points of South America before it drops away into the sea and Antarctica. This is the point where South American Super Yacht Support’s Tomas Miranda recommends you begin a Patagonian cruise.

At the ends of the earth

Puerto Williams sits on Navarino Island in the Beagle Channel, and at 80 miles from Cape Horn, is the closest continental city to Antarctica. King George Island lies 530 miles, or about 48 hours by yacht in good weather, distant in the Southern Ocean. Cape Horn holds the gravitas of a place where wild seas have claimed thousands of lives. It’s a weighty reputation, but one which began to slightly recede as the Panama Canal opened in 1914 giving vessels an alternate route. Now, it’s possible to visit as a sightseer.

Bracing into the buffeting wind, guests can walk to the Cape Horn Albatross Monument installed in memoriam to the estimated 10,000 sailors who died in their attempt to round the Cape. From there, you can look out over the churning seas toward Antarctica, and back towards Tierra del Fuego and the remainder of Patagonia stretching up the arm of South America. Those ancient peoples who created life from this land moved through the channels and archipelagoes via beech bark canoes. As you follow in their footsteps you’ll find fjords with plenty of safe harbours to anchor out of the wind, and a landscape which is relatively untouched.

There is just one marina for yachts here. Miranda points out superyachts moving through the region will be using commercial ports and that the logistics of provisions, fuel, and rubbish disposal need good forward planning. Worth it though, for a region where 80 per cent of yachts in his 15 years as an agent in Patagonia, have extended their planned visit due to the sheer beauty of the place.

Fjords of ice and wildlife

Chilean Patagonia is bookmarked by the city of Puerto Montt in the north and Puerto Williams in the south. Separated by almost 1,000 miles as the crow flies, there’s close to 1,300 nautical miles of navigation through breathtaking scenery between the two points.

Miranda recommends an itinerary that runs the length of Patagonia for preference. Taking in Puerto Williams and a visit to Cape Horn, he then suggests turning for the north and cruising all the way up to Puerto Montt, including Glacier Alley, Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, Puerto Eden, Tortel and Puyuguapi. As the Andes march along in parallel to the yacht, there’ll be wildlife. Patagonia is home to puma, guanacos and vicuna; both of the llama family, armadillo, the southern pudu, which at just over nine kilograms fully-grown is the world’s smallest deer, and a range of other fauna which make this place home.

Closer still will be humpback whales, southern right whales, orca, blue whales, penguins, sea lions, dusky dolphins, southern elephant seals and marine otters, observing you moving through their territory.

Underway with the mountains as your companions, you’ll encounter glaciers by the hundreds. The narrow 240 kilometre strait of Beagle Channel holds a stretch known as Glacier Alley. Streaks of blue ice bolt their way down to sea level from 300 metres, the colossal blue glaciers creepinglower on the Darwin Mountains from Southern Patagonia’s Cordillera Darwin ice field. This ice field is a 2,500 square kilometre giant which sits across Isla Grande, the largest island in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

There’s a lot to do here – think fly-fishing, kayaking, trekking, photography, helicopter sightseeing, and wildlife spotting – and as yachts move further north there’s encounters with more of the unique pockets of society that live in this corner of the world.

Caleta Tortel is a coastal village where boardwalks and stilt houses wind their way over a milky-turquoise bay. There are no cars, and the more than 15 kilometres of labyrinthine wooden walkways move from the bay and up a mountainside blanketed with mosses, lichen and ferns.

While Patagonia becomes more densely inhabited as you move north, densely inhabited is a relative term. You’ll venture into cities like Puerto Natales – gateway to the Torres del Paine national park – with a population of around 18,000 people. This is the spot to climb a hill and watch for the majestic flight of the condor, enjoy local food like the famed Patagonian lamb and make your way to the Cueva del Milodón.

This cave is complete with a startling replica of the giant ground sloth which lived here. Weighing more than one tonne, it co-existed with the first humans in the region. But it’s the Torres del Paine which will capture visitors’ attention over and again in this part of Patagonia.

This is the Patagonia of postcards; a threepeaked national park of granite, turquoise and green. Hike through this UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in summer to take in 17 hours of daylight which begin daily in a riotous display of red and purple against the granite Torres del Paine massif. Visitors will meet locals. Foxes, deer, guanaco, condor, and the reclusive puma if they have the patience to sit and wait.

As yachts move north again, they’ll encounter jurassic landscapes with plenty of opportunity to forage for wild vegetables and herbs with a local guide. Not least the calafate berry which ripens in February, and is purported (via local legend) to see anyone who eats it return to Patagonia. One to seek out then, in this particularly arresting part of the world.

‘80 PER CENT OF YACHTS HAVE EXTENDED THEIR PLANNED VISIT DUE TO THE SHEER BEAUTY OF THE PLACE.’

Approaching Puerto Montt in the north, at Caleta Porcelana, hot springs flowing from dense forest in a high, steep mountain provide a quiet spot to stop and reflect on your Patagonian journey. The international airport at Puerto Montt offers easy connections via FBO or commercial flights, with the marina just 30 minutes away. Saying goodbye to this ancient, appealing landscape though, is likely to be much harder.

With thanks to Tomas Miranda of South American Super Yacht Support. sasyss.com

Need to know

South American Super Yacht Support makes these recommendations to gain the most from your time in Patagonia.

Do

›Plan in advance and work with an agent on the logistics of time in

Patagonia › Organise a pilot; every foreignflagged vessel over 200 GRT needs two pilots onboard while cruising › Yachts between 200 - 500 GRT can apply for a pilot exemption but this must be done 45 days in advance

Don’t

›Rush. Almost every yacht ends up spending longer than they planned › Underestimate the tides, or currents. In some narrow fjords there can be 7-9 knots of current so plan in advance and cross in slack waters