9. Chilean Fjords

Chilean Fjords

TRIPPING ON THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

On December 28th darkness came early to the  southern Chilean fjords. The M/V Marina departed Punta Arenas at 9 pm under a dramatic sky. Thick blankets of cloud were building overhead, scudding about in the high elevation wind. The weak evening sun became more and more obscured by the gloom above our heads.      

For two days we would be sailing through a weather front that had passengers covered up in warm clothes and rain parkas.

Heavy by the weight of the moisture they carried, the cumulus giants descended  onto the coastal mountaintops, making contact with the sharp peaks of the Andes.  Their billowy softness, punctured and shredded by the hard rock, and supercooled by snow and glaciers, the angry clouds blew a cold wind and rain upon us.

Rays of sun burst through holes in the ragged and torn mantle of storm clouds, and lo, they were  shafts of light for the down-rushing of the Holy Spirit.

For most of the two-day voyage through the fjords  we sailed in and out of channels of calm water, sometimes glassy, even surrealistic.

The water was mostly dark with changing textures and variable tints of green and blue, depending on the light, the fickle winds, and the icy glacial melt that splashed over cliffs and ran down through valleys in icy streams to the shoreline.

I suppose that all of my fellow passengers on this vessel have seen mountains, they are not strangers to myriad forms of geology, hydrology and many other ologies on the planet ... 

from cumulus down to strata cloud

... but have they seen some of these landforms, surely unique to the Chilean coastline? I have not.

The ever-changing light had me moving around like a bobble-head on the dashboard of a car stuck in first gear; the scenery was  floating  by - an interesting challenge for a photographer. With the passage of our ship, angles and light on the subject were constantly shifting.

zoom in for a close look at the windswept trees at the beach

Punta Arenas is at the bottom of map
 End of voyage at Santiago way off the top 

the M/V Caleta Angelmo, Chilean

coastal freighter was going our way

We have seen few other ships on our journey. Small boats service aquaculture up and down the coast.

In these fjords there is little sign of other humanoids, though we have passed quite a few fish farms and some dwellings way off in the distance. 

Along with copper mining and wine making, aquaculture is one of Chile's biggest  industries.  The country claims to be the second largest salmon producer in the world.  Norwegians exported fish farming expertise and technologies to the Chileans, and they have perfected it. I do not know if the fight about wild versus farmed salmon is as big here as it is back home.

Some of our voyage north had us out of the fjords, exposed on our port side to the cold blue depths of the endless Pacific Ocean. 

While we were by no means in a rough sea, some passengers suffered mal de mer.

an LNG tanker, I think

The water seen here is not rough. The images are deceiving from my  POV (point of view) on Deck 9, about 10 metres above the surface of the sea. Indeed, there were big rollers. I think the waves got up to maybe 20 feet from valley to crest.

A cruise ship like the Marina with its stabilizers, and with the Captain's sensitivity to the comfort of his passengers, is not really going to suffer from a little sea. What I call little may be what others call big,  but the Commander slowed the ship down when people started falling. 

There were times when we were completely sober, but walking like drunks; seasick bags had suddenly appeared at various places around the ship; rumour had it that the roll of the ship had tossed a woman out of her bed; some old folks were picked up off the floor; dinner reservations were no longer required for some of the specialty restaurants. (Of course, none of this was a problem for No Ordinary Seaman).



New Year's Eve - our last day in the fjords and the weather did not disappoint.  The wind had been howling, the heavens opened up and unloaded a barrage of rain. I was often out in it (??).

I am all bundled up for warmth, bone dry under my rain parka, jeans wet and glued to my legs, feet sloshing in the shoes; camera (OMD E-M5) sealed for rain showers, just like advertised, and tested well at Evita Peron's burial place: see blog posting #3 Buenos Aires.

Only a few days ago it was so hot on the decks that one was hard-pressed to find a lounge on which to recline in the baking sun. I believe I forgot to mention elsewhere that most of our fellow passengers were threescore  years of age and then some. Why were they roasting themselves to be more wrinkly than they already were?

Me, I like the hot sun, but at sea in the elements with my camera, I was having a BE HERE NOW experience (Ram Dass - 1967). Just soaking it up.

Then the rain stopped. 

The sun burst through from somewhere.

And look what happened!

What a way to end a very good year.

And then there was the New Years party onboard. Dined well with friends at our favourite French restaurant, champagne, drinks, new audience for old jokes ... 

Laughter, love and dancing shoes. Many gays came out of the closet for the ball that night to liven things up. Did I dance with a guy? Who knows. When Jo needed a break I just kept dancing.

Canada legalized marijuana last year. I have been getting a sore back from so much computer time working on this blog, so I thought I would try some medicaments to relax my muscles, to relieve some pain. Seems to be working fine. I wonder if it is affecting my writing?

I have already posted this sunset
but it's too good not to use again

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: No Ordinary Seaman On the Bridge

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing