Pos: here
Loc: Punta Huentalauquen
Acc: tent
Dist: 0 km

Tomorrow:
We are again not paddling tomorrow due to still over 4 m of swell

A longish walk at the beach, both feeling already much better, plus some fiddling on Peter’s rudder were the events of this day – quite exciting…
But Peter has promised to write tonight some stuff form his point of view! Here it is…

“This trip has only lasted for a week and still it’s hard to remember all the events until now so just a few impressions and thoughts from me.

First there was the strange sensation of being afloat in the harbor of Valparaiso in a kayak which I had previously only been sitting in on dry land. That after a stressful packing session where I tried to find room for our tons of gear helpfully guided by Freya who at the same time was being questioned by the Chilean navy about our safety gear.
Combine these impressions with me wondering how my stomach would cope with the semi-heavy swell we were expecting and there you have my take on the beginning of the trip.

The kayak has turned out to be a good natured fellow. It’s quite stable but honestly I’ve never paddled such a heavy loaded kayak before so that may be reason.
I’m still working on getting used to the steering pedals, as I’ve been using racing kayak tiller-controls in my rudder kayaks for years now. Keeping the pedals fixed while still pumping my legs will take some more practice.

The kindness we’re experiencing from the Chilean people we meet is touching. From the youngsters on our first beach who invited for beer, the kind lady who let us camp on her land, the policeman who offered his help, the fisherman who came to our tent with a bag of bread and later returned to help repair Freya’s kayak and then of cause there’s the Navy…

The seriousness and professionalism we have seen demonstrated by the Navy since our first meeting in Valparaiso is impeccable. Stern serious officers who are highly concerned about our safety – thank you!
Still while being impressed, I’m also somewhat mystified by these efforts and can’t help wondering how expensive this whole operation must be. More than anything I feel bad about the time they spend and even now it pains me the think of the two rescue swimmers who spend their afternoon on a jet ski going round and round outside our beach apparently waiting for us to come back on the water while we had already decided to stay for the night (and informed the visiting Navy officer of this). Thank you for the effort at any rate.

We have now been weather-bound and virus-struck on this beach for three days waiting for the swell to come down and to get fit again. It might sound bad but it really isn’t. I cannot remember the last time I had three days in row where I could lie flat and enjoy a good book with good conscience. I’m halfway though Dicken’s ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ and the Kindle got much more to offer.

Still according to the forecast we’ll be paddling again on Sunday which really is about time too.”