Pos: here
Loc: Bahia Nihue
Acc: tent
Dist: 46,1 km
Start: 8:25 End: 17:15

The launch went all right and dry this morning through the multiple surf lines – I may be more patient than around Australia, or maybe more experienced? Well, no time to lay back…the surf is dangerous. I have a lot of respect for the launchings, and even more from the landings. I rather “face the enemy” than have it in my back…

I paddled from headland to headland today, four mayor ones were the goal. The second one, Punta Maiquillahue, was the most beautiful one I have ever seen! Though, or maybe because it was even inhabited, a fancy looking house (or hotel?) with a bunch of other houses, meadows, and many, many rocky islands upfront, all displayed in nice sunshine! It looked so lovely…all morning before, I could barely see the coast, once because I was so far away, and once because the sun raises over the mountains, and it was a bit foggy.

The third headland was bare impressive rocks, and there was a huge whale around! Always amazing again! A long line of fishing boats were going home from the day’s work into Bahia Queule. Probably the best sheltered landing. But I wanted to go to the next headland…

My last headland leading into Bahia Nihue had a bunch of early beaches I’d call Tsunami traps, as there would be no escape, just in case…on Google Earth, the far corner looked like a good sheltered landing, but it was very rocky in the corner, so no landing there and no shelter…

The next few hundred meters the beach had a fat dumper, but I made it in dry with timing it right with a long side broach up the moderate steep and a bit rocky beach. But when I was high and dry, I saw the next kilometer, which was just the bent…the dumper there is deadly fat, and the wash up the beach goes 100 meters and more. So my 100 meter was just about the only right one, and tomorrow going out should be possible with patience and timing. When the wash up the beach is so wide, it is hard to get to the water afloat with the heavy boat, though I just push it in and jump on with legs out and open deck in a good timing. Still, both landing and launching are quite scary.

Tomorrow will be an open beach landing, but the sea is still moderate with the swell around 2-3 meters. Then there are two landings with a bit of shelter, and one more open beach landing. I don’t like this! but maybe I make it to a rivermouth which may be a reasonable spot to land. We’ll see.

My landing was a public beach with a few houses. A few nice locals came to greet me, one gave me a compulsory emergency folder about what to do on earthquakes, Tsunamis, landslides, volcanic eruption and fires…a nice country here! 🙂

Another man, Alfonso, brought me an inflatable mattress and a normal mattress to chose from, but thanks, I had my own! His wife Francisca brought tea and a piece of bread with jam – thanks, very nice! But the best was I was landing that early that I could dry out fully in the nice sun! This was really necessary…and tomorrow and Friday will be rainy…feeling good now. Not about tomorrow’s landing outlook though…