Sailing Aboard Schooner Motu: Patience and Timing Going South

Nov. 30, 2016
S 42.34.7 W 073 45.4 Isla Chiloe, Chile

Our patience for a good weather window finally paid off after a two week wait in Valdivia. We departed a lovely anchorage near the exit of river that flows out of a confluence of rivers surrounding Valdivia, in company with our Canadian friends, David and Margaret on Heart and Soul, on the 23rd of November. It was a rather uneventful motor sail with somewhat sloppy seas, our good friend, the Humboldt current against us, and engine rpms at 2000, for the 130 mile dash to the Chacao Channel.

Heading to sea

Timing is everything when going through the Chacao Channel (the passage between the mainland and Chiloe Island) with its strong currents so we spent the night at a little bay, called Godoy, 12 miles north of the channel for an early entrance at 0730. The passage through the channel was actually a lot of fun. We were doing 9 to 11.7 knots the entire way with the engine giving rpms for our normal 5 knots of motoring speed. Marja and I learned long ago that sailing is a wonderful way of life but it ain't exactly life in the fast lane. We decided we could get used to this ten knot speed!

Young man at Godoy selling seaweed for eating or shampoo

Thanksgiving and Canada Day celebration in Caleta Godoy

Godoy Anchorage

Departing Chacao

In Chacao Channel

After the Canal, we went looking for an anchorage for a couple of days to wait out some pesky rain and ended up Anihue island, which is one of several very pretty islands clustered together in the northern part of the Gulf of Ancud.

One of the approximately 60 wooden churches in Chiloe

In the garden of Dora, a resident of Village Anihue and local
oyster woman, with Margaret from Heart and Soul

Low tide in Anihue

After a few days of at Village Anihue, we headed south once again, this time toward Castro. The city is the largest on Chiloe, and is a nice city known for its large wooden church, houses on stilts, and pastoral surrounding areas. The church, unfortunately for us but not for the church, is undergoing some major interior construction work, and was closed for the moment.