Location 52° 45S, 73° 52W
Saturday 12.01.2007

Happy December! The Schooner Maggie B was at Happy December! The Schooner Maggie B was at 52° 45S, 073° 52W at noon on December First. At noon we were rounding Isla Falgate where Canal Smyth meets the Straits of Magellan. We have come 930 NM from Puerto Montt and have 294 NM to go to the Horn.

The weather continues to be poor. Outside, in the Pacific, the wind has shifted to the North at 40-45. Inside that means steady 35 knots with gusts to 45. It hailed on Curtis’s watch, rather coating the cockpit with pea-sized pellets. Rain showers come and go, though we get occasional glimpses of sun.

Yesterday’s trip down Canal Smyth was fairly uneventful. Alden won first prize for spotting interesting sights, first detecting the wreck of the Santa Leono (USA), a huge rusting hulk of a 300 foot steamer, which had missed the turn at Paso Shoal. The steamer Hazel Branch was also wrecked in almost the same spot in 1904, but only a few ribs were left of her. Alden also spotted a school of Peal’s Dolphins which included two mother/baby pairs.

Our anchorage last night was lovely, tucked up in a little narrow caleta calledTeokita. It was so narrow coming in, we wouldn’t have fitted if we had been towing Reep alongside. We had fenders ready though we carried at least 20 feet the half mile in. Because of the wind direction, we set shore lines first, and then slid out to set the anchor. That probably was a mistake as we didn’t dig in the anchor with 50% throttle astern, as we usually do. We set three shore lines in trees, including attaching one to a line thoughtfully left by another boat ona perfectly positioned tree that was relatively inaccessible due to a steep bank. The night was quiet and mostly snug.

In the morning the wind was working its way right down the narrow caleta, blowing 35 knots in the anchorage. The anchor was slipping us back towards shore bit by bit, despite having 120 feet of chain in 20 feet of water. We had faintly been thinking of a “layover day” but the prospect of getting blown ashore quickly dismissed that. Going out was quite wild. We had to keep a fair bit of speed as the wind was throwing the boat around and there was no room to spare. All hands had either fenders or poles to fend off. A two meter swell was breaking across the mouth of the cove. Curtis on the bow made the steering calls and the Maggie B responded to every turn and twist, fair jumping out of the mouth like a champagne cork.

Now we are scudding down the Straits of Magellan under bare poles in a fresh gale with two-three knots of current with us. Thank God we are not trying to get West! We have come through Paso Roughwater and Bahia Corkscrew — ah, these English with their subtle sense of humor!

We hope to make Bahia Borja tonight, which is on Isla Riesco, just before Paso Tortuoso, where the Straits tighten up a bit. The position is
53° 31.8S, 72° 36W. This is a well-known historic cove because it has an arbol con tableros (trees with boards bearing ship’s names). This tradition is very old and was mentioned by Slocum over a hundred years ago. We will add a Maggie B one if we make it safely.

All is well.