Pos: here
Loc: Bahia Cordes
Acc: tent
Dist: 39,5 km
Start: 6:40 End: 16:45

The whole day was hard work, much tougher than yesterday. The first section to Bahia Woods was the easiest, with moderate head wind and a bit of shelter in the bays. In Bahia Wood was a small fishing boat, which drove away just 100 m before I reached it – were they scared I’d want some help? Or just didn’t see me? Or just impolite?

Deep down on the Magellan Strait in the morning was a passing freighter and a huge cruise boat, later another freighter and another fishing boat. Quite some traffic again!

The next section passing Cabo Holland with it’s small light house to Bahia Andres had on the chart a bit of an outward turn, which indicates no shelter and no bays – and so it was! Steep, huge cliffs, 1127 m high on my map, were towering above me. No place to land and to hide from the increasing strong west wind! The back chop on the steep wall was quite nasty as well, and I was happy to turn eventually into the shelter of the sandy Bahia Andres. I was close to call it a day already…but I just got out for a pee and found it was too early to stop. It was mostly a sunny day, and the water ahead looked more calm, though it was still strong wind, about 20-25 knots. time to keep on fighting the head wind!

I tried to stay inside the kelp belt to find at least marginal shelter. The kelp band was good on the first section, gone on the second section, and now I had to paddle quite often just across it to have at least a bit of use and protection. But more often I poked with my bow on a wave into a nasty long kelp plant, and could see how to get rid of it…mostly hard paddling was enough to eventually slide it off, but sometimes I had to go back wards.

One or two occasional breathers in sheltered small bays which had no good beaches, and I kept on pushing to the wide river mouth of Bahia Cordes. A beautiful sandy beach was lurking on the eastern side already, but it was still sunny, and crossing the bay didn’t look too bad windwise and the few small islands in between.

But the last 2,5 km became really nasty with the wind freshening up in a rain squall to probably 30 knots. my speed was down to 2,5 -3 km/ hr, where before in 20–25 kn head wind I could at least paddle 3-4 km/ hr which is not fast either, but at least some progress. Summa summarum 40 km for the tough fighting day.

A beautiful campsite in a deep bay at the west side was my reward, and a nasty forecast for tomorrow which makes me wonder whether to start tomorrow at all. 5 km it would be to the next sheltered bay only, and then a 15 km unprotected stretch which doesn’t look too inviting in 20-30 knots wind, and even more in the afternoon. Sunday looks much easier. I may have a day off tomorrow!

I was strolling a bit along the beach before hiding inside the tent while it was still sunny, and found an old skull of a big animal. Which one could be native here on the islands? It looked like a cow…on a closer look, the skull had a clean cut from a saw at the end… some boat had live provision on board???

Ah yes, and I ate all my cherries which is not the best food for paddling as they create quite some air in the body, plus I had pasta in a great mushroom sauce with plenty of my latest shopping catch – slices of dried garlic! Good I’m alone in my tent :-))