Chilean Fijords

[CurlerRob]

29 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

North Beagle Channel in early morning misty light.  Sorry I got carried away.

Thanks for the pics - brought back memories of a 2013 HAL trip (my two pics in post #18 were the weather exception !). We missed Punta Arenas, Ushuaia and Cape Horn - weather buoys offshore were recording 75+ knots and 45 foot seas.

 

I recall the First Officer, in a Q and A, responding to a passenger that "the ship would have been fine - you guys, not so much" had we ventured out of the inner passage.

 

We'd love to try again - waiting for a Viking WC that goes south of both capes - as you know, the Holy Grail for small boat sailors!   🍺🥌

[Clay Clayton]

1 minute ago, CurlerRob said:

We'd love to try again - waiting for a Viking WC that goes south of both capes - as you know, the Holy Grail for small boat sailors!   🍺🥌

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a similar WC of course the stock market is going to have to recover first so have toes crossed too!😂

[TayanaLorna]

8 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

Thanks for the pics - brought back memories of a 2013 HAL trip (my two pics in post #18 were the weather exception !). We missed Punta Arenas, Ushuaia and Cape Horn - weather buoys offshore were recording 75+ knots and 45 foot seas.

 

I recall the First Officer, in a Q and A, responding to a passenger that "the ship would have been fine - you guys, not so much" had we ventured out of the inner passage.

 

We'd love to try again - waiting for a Viking WC that goes south of both capes - as you know, the Holy Grail for small boat sailors!   🍺🥌

I followed one Viking world cruise that went around the Cape of Good Hope and visited some very  interesting countries.  LOL we seem to go on cruises that we never could sail in our Tayana 37 - Arctic Circle, Cape Horn, Iceland, a Trans-Atlantic and next the Amazon River.  Like the captain said - our boat would have handled it but not us.  

[TayanaLorna]

12 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a similar WC of course the stock market is going to have to recover first so have toes crossed too!😂

Stock market?  Ha!  We could have easily done a world cruise but for...

[CurlerRob]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I followed one Viking world cruise that went around the Cape of Good Hope and visited some very  interesting countries.  LOL we seem to go on cruises that we never could sail in our Tayana 37 - Arctic Circle, Cape Horn, Iceland, a Trans-Atlantic and next the Amazon River.  Like the captain said - our boat would have handled it but not us.  

I knew he was being lighthearted with the passenger who asked, but the conditions were just short of hurricane strength, and hurricanes have swallowed larger ships than the one we were on!

 

I was disappointed not to observe the seas, as it stayed very flat inside the channel but I was stupid enough to sneak out onto the top athletic deck to feel the wind (holding on VERY carefully). That confirmed by total lack of interest in ever being out in conditions like that in a small craft! The worst I ever had to put up with was 55-60 during a multi-day race on Lake Huron. 🍺🥌

[TayanaLorna]

32 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

I knew he was being lighthearted with the passenger who asked, but the conditions were just short of hurricane strength, and hurricanes have swallowed larger ships than the one we were on!

 

I was disappointed not to observe the seas, as it stayed very flat inside the channel but I was stupid enough to sneak out onto the top athletic deck to feel the wind (holding on VERY carefully). That confirmed by total lack of interest in ever being out in conditions like that in a small craft! The worst I ever had to put up with was 55-60 during a multi-day race on Lake Huron. 🍺🥌

55-60 knot winds are bad enough.  That must have been dicey sailing.  We were live aboard cruising sailors with 2 dogs.  We watched our weather and sea state carefully and only traveled when we were comfortable with the conditions.  We were at anchor during any squalls or heavy weather and never dragged anchor.

 

On that windy day in Punta Arenas, I decided to walk the short distance to town after an excursion as the wind didn't feel that bad.  There were permanently installed railings on the sidewalks to hold onto during high winds.  When it got gusty, I was almost knocked over.  Holding on to the rails worked until you reached a corner and had to cross the street.  I waited for a break in the wind but they were not long enough for me to get across so I held on to the traffic light pole.  The wind seemed to just barrel down the cross street corners.  A man came and offered his arm to get me across and pointed out the way to return to the terminal in the lee of buildings most of the time.  I was helped again to get across to the terminal.  That's when I learned the winds were 100 kmh/60mph.  

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

55-60 knot winds are bad enough.  That must have been dicey sailing.  We were live aboard cruising sailors with 2 dogs.  We watched our weather and sea state carefully and only traveled when we were comfortable with the conditions.  We were at anchor during any squalls or heavy weather and never dragged anchor.

 

On that windy day in Punta Arenas, I decided to walk the short distance to town after an excursion as the wind didn't feel that bad.  There were permanently installed railings on the sidewalks to hold onto during high winds.  When it got gusty, I was almost knocked over.  Holding on to the rails worked until you reached a corner and had to cross the street.  I waited for a break in the wind but they were not long enough for me to get across so I held on to the traffic light pole.  The wind seemed to just barrel down the cross street corners.  A man came and offered his arm to get me across and pointed out the way to return to the terminal in the lee of buildings most of the time.  I was helped again to get across to the terminal.  That's when I learned the winds were 100 kmh/60mph.  

 

I like wind so what you experienced sounds like fun.  I have enjoyed several windy cruise experiences in the Southern Oceans.  The first time we did Antarctica we had a force 10 gale coming back from Antarctica.  I loved it although my wife did not.  It was great fun watching get the pilot onto the ship.

 

I did a South Georgia Island trip once.  On one day we were supposed to zodiak excursion which was cancelled because we had 110 knot winds.  The ship handled it wonderfully and most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge.

 

Last one was a cruise that stopped at the Falklands where all the excursions were called back early so the ship could get out of the harbor before getting out became impossible.  We asked our guide what would happen if we didn't get back in time.  He said that the islanders would just put us all up in their homes overnight and also said that this had happened before several times.

 

As I said - I love high seas and rocknRoll ships.

 

DON

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

 

I like wind so what you experienced sounds like fun.  I have enjoyed several windy cruise experiences in the Southern Oceans.  The first time we did Antarctica we had a force 10 gale coming back from Antarctica.  I loved it although my wife did not.  It was great fun watching get the pilot onto the ship.

 

I did a South Georgia Island trip once.  On one day we were supposed to zodiak excursion which was cancelled because we had 110 knot winds.  The ship handled it wonderfully and most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge.

 

Last one was a cruise that stopped at the Falklands where all the excursions were called back early so the ship could get out of the harbor before getting out became impossible.  We asked our guide what would happen if we didn't get back in time.  He said that the islanders would just put us all up in their homes overnight and also said that this had happened before several times.

 

As I said - I love high seas and rocknRoll ships.

 

DON

I agree.  I love the sound of waves slapping and banging on the hull, the creaking sounds of the ship, the rocking to sleep, watching the waves on the ships pools, the feeling of weightlessness when the ship plunges into a trough and watching the seas rise way higher then the windows of the lower decks. 

 

I used to get seasick so i can definitely sympathize with those who do.  I wore the ear patches whenever we did passages on our sailboat.  I hated them because i would get so drymouth and spacey after a couple of days.  So i stopped using them.  Lo and behold, I didn't get seasick.  I think a lot of the seasickness is the fear and anticipation of it.  Just because a person gets seasick once, does not mean they will always.  However I always carry the wrist bands and some Bonine just in case.  I love the sea bands and ginger because they work if you feel a twinge of queasiness.  

[Mich3554]

36 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I agree.  I love the sound of waves slapping and banging on the hull, the creaking sounds of the ship, the rocking to sleep, watching the waves on the ships pools, the feeling of weightlessness when the ship plunges into a trough and watching the seas rise way higher then the windows of the lower decks. 

 

I used to get seasick so i can definitely sympathize with those who do.  I wore the ear patches whenever we did passages on our sailboat.  I hated them because i would get so drymouth and spacey after a couple of days.  So i stopped using them.  Lo and behold, I didn't get seasick.  I think a lot of the seasickness is the fear and anticipation of it.  Just because a person gets seasick once, does not mean they will always.  However I always carry the wrist bands and some Bonine just in case.  I love the sea bands and ginger because they work if you feel a twinge of queasiness.  

The corollary to this is that if you never get seasick, it can happen to you.  Not happened to me, but DH got seasick on a dive trip.  Never been seasick before, hasn't since but it does happen.  

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I did a South Georgia Island trip once.  On one day we were supposed to zodiak excursion which was cancelled because we had 110 knot winds.  The ship handled it wonderfully and most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge.

Typo  on the 110 knot winds perhaps - or something else?

 

That's a Cat 3 hurricane. You can't look into that kind of wind, you can't stand or walk into it and most people would not be able to hold onto a rail. I also can't conceive of a captain who would allow pax onto an exposed deck under those conditions. Interested in any elaboration ... 🍺🥌

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

and most people would not be able to hold onto a rail.

 

Hyperbole on the part of the author, maybe? Poetic license?

[donaldsc]

6 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

Typo  on the 110 knot winds perhaps - or something else?

 

That's a Cat 3 hurricane. You can't look into that kind of wind, you can't stand or walk into it and most people would not be able to hold onto a rail. I also can't conceive of a captain who would allow pax onto an exposed deck under those conditions. Interested in any elaboration ... 🍺🥌

 

We were on the bridge.  I took pictures of the wind speed meter on the bridge.

 

DON

[CurlerRob]

26 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

We were on the bridge.  I took pictures of the wind speed meter on the bridge.

 

DON

You said "most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge".

 

Is it possible that the bridge anemometer was displaying in KPH? That's still a massive wind - 60 knots. Survivable, but still crazy for the crew to let people out on deck.  At 110 knots, people can't hang on, they simply get blown away ... 🍺🥌

[donaldsc]

33 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

You said "most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge".

 

Is it possible that the bridge anemometer was displaying in KPH? That's still a massive wind - 60 knots. Survivable, but still crazy for the crew to let people out on deck.  At 110 knots, people can't hang on, they simply get blown away ... 🍺🥌

 

You may be right on that.  Regardless - it was really windy and they cancelled our zodiac trip.

 

DON

[TayanaLorna]

8 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

You said "most of the 110 passengers on the ship were either outside holding onto the rails or in the bridge watching the wind gauge".

 

Is it possible that the bridge anemometer was displaying in KPH? That's still a massive wind - 60 knots. Survivable, but still crazy for the crew to let people out on deck.  At 110 knots, people can't hang on, they simply get blown away ... 🍺🥌

That's what I was thinking - kph.  In Punta Arenas when they said wind was 100 and being accustomed to mph my brain went there.  When i learned it was kph and translated that to mph, i thought ok that makes sense.  It was darn windy for this 125 lb old lady nonetheless!

Edited June 17, 2022 by TayanaLorna

[CurlerRob]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

You may be right on that.  Regardless - it was really windy and they cancelled our zodiac trip.

Thanks - 60 knots is common for the Southern Ocean, and way too windy for Zodiac tours! 🍺🥌

[photopro2]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:57 PM, TayanaLorna said:

Our sailing was Santiago to BA and in this direction arrival in Ushuaia was 11 am.  Jupiter sailed through the area between 5:30 and 7:30 am.

Do you recall what time sunrise was when you did the pictures of the North Beagle channel? Or if you have the date I could look it up. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by photopro2
typo

[TayanaLorna]

11 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

Do you recall what time sunrise was when you did the pictures of the North Beagle channel? Or if you have the date I could look it up. 

We went through in the Santiago to BA direction at the end of January and the sky was just beginning to get light at 5:30.  I recall getting out of bed, pulling open the curtains and saying OMG I see waterfalls already.  It was the blue light of morning.

[Ray4Fun]

On 2/14/2022 at 4:42 PM, Mich3554 said:

We also have twice done this cruise.  First the Cape was calm as glass. Captain opened up the Helicopter deck. Second was what you want, 50 - 60 knot winds with 20' - 25' seas. If you go, make it a point to stay in BA a few days. Fascinating city. Iguazu Falls is a wonderful extension. Ushuaia and the Penguins a memory not to be missed. 

Yes we would do it again. 
 

 

 

If your thinking of flying down and immediately leaving on ship, then either way\

Edited March 6, 2023 by Ray4Fun