Pos: here
Loc: Peninsula Munoz Gamero
Acc: tent
Dist: 35,4 km
Start: 7:05 End: 16:10

Eventually paddling again! 20 knots all day – well, just about…

The first 9 km up to the headland were some work, 3 hrs for that…though sheltered from big seas with a line of island, it was still tough and windy.

But then, it was easier going! I turned at the head land sharp right north east, and was passing between a few nice sheltered islands. I was aiming to soon paddle through the “chicken way”, a very narrow channel north of Isla Emanuel Figueroa. Unfortunately, the nice sheltered north east direction with those islands was already done after about 11 km, when I had to turn sharp left again into that “chicken way” channel.

The channel itself was at the beginning about 80-100 m wide, but it had an island after about 3 km like a “plug in the bottle neck” – a short part of about 15 meters width only. No idea how deep it was, but more than enough for a kayak. Yachts may try on high tide? The wind seemed to be more a problem than the tide funneling against me, it played up as usual with it’s pleasant 20 knots right into my face and burning my eyes 🙁 Some more hail showers added to my pleasure, but generally, it was a dry day! No much sun though…the mountain tops, actually half of the whole mountains, were freshly covered with light snow the last days, and this morning my “snow flaps” really had to hold some icy hail!

I did my best to hide behind headlands and bays where I could, but there weren’t many… there was no way to reach the Navy station today, so I split the distance in half, about 30 km left for tomorrow with even a bit easier winds forecast.

I found a nice grassy campsite again at a small river mouth. All beaches here are small and not deep, with sharp shingle, and nothing to camp on, but the grassy spots behind and next to the river mouths now stay dry with that shingle as a base layer  the grass is growing on, so that you can camp on the grass without soaking the tent bottom.

Still, I had to trample down about 50 cm of grass like a dog making his spot smooth before he is laying down :-), but all feels dry underneath, you just have to find the spot of just about tent size next to the river mouth which has no more water channels. That’s the place to stay! Unlike those soaking moss spots you find everywhere in Fjord land and which are never even enough to lay on. I have never camped on those yet…