All aboard the Navimag!

There were 5 of these crazy Deux Chevaux parked in Puerto Natales. Any idea why?
see all photos »

All aboard! The Navimag is a famous way to travel up through the archipelago on Chile's coast from Puerto Natales north to Puerto Montt. It's a difficult and slow land journey otherwise so we decided it was worth the cost. It takes 5 days to travel halfway up Chile, navigating the notorious Gulf de Penas on the way. It's a tourist boat, so it slows down and detours to allow sightseeing on the way but it's also an important cargo ship too, our boat had a cargo of cows below decks. We paid a wee bit extra to have a 4 bed cabin rather than 24 bed. Though in hindsight it wasn't really worth it, the cramped cabins are really only a place to sleep.

I couldn't leave Erratic Rock without a wee cuddle!
see all photos »

The W gang was splintering, Thea was also coming north on the Navimag. Yippee! Dave was zigzaging north to Santiago via Mendoza (Argentina) so we made plans to meet again in Melbourne. Frank was staying in Puerto Natales for another day before heading south. Hester was heading the same way as Dave (initially) so she got on the same bus.

"What happens on the Navimag, stays on the Navimag"

The departure wasn't until 9pm so we had ample time to purchase booze for the five day journey and drop our bags off at check in. We had all heeded the advice from Hester and Frank about what to expect. They were Navimag wise as they had travelled south on it. Claire and I had our usual debate about how much alcohol would suffice. Claire won and we got through most of it on the first night!

Our last meal on dry land for 4 days. It was good! Thea on left, Frank on right
see all photos »

We met up with Frank and Thea for dinner, a mighty fine pizza before getting on the ferry. Frank even came down to the ferry terminal to wave us off. Cool!

Once on the Navimag we teamed up with Matt, Kev and Kate a friendly bunch from the U.K. who we had briefly met in Erratic Rock the day before. The weather was great and we started our journey by passing through some very narrow channels (10-15m clearance either side) between the islands.

The next 4 days were a bit of a blur, we got into the Navimag routine. Breakfast time in the galley was followed by an information session about sights and route for that day. Lunch and dinner was two shifts so they could fit all of us in the canteen. We were eating with other higher paying passengers, the plebs (including all our friends!) who were in the 24 bed cabins were on the other shift. There was evening entertainment with the legendary Kristobel. We met him first in overalls as he fixed a broken locker in our cabin. Then he served drinks in a shirt and tie behind the bar. Later he changed into a tux and used a keyboard and mic to entertain us. His unique covers of cult songs had us in stitches. "We don't need...education" (Pink Floyd, The Wall), he murdered "Imagine" and within minutes of his singing the dancefloor was packed with the oldies throwing hilarious moves. We began to suspect that he was in fact Don Kristobel after seeing him directing the ferry docking.

Sun setting over our route
see all photos »

The announcements over the tannoy system always began "For your attention please..." most announcements were about the need to return dinner trays after meals! Every time it was Spanish first and then repeated in English. The pronounciation was sometimes comical (weapons - weep ons) but always in a very serious tone.

There wasn't really that much to do except drink excessively and play cards with our new friends when the weather closed in on the second day. On the occasions when the weather cleared we got out on deck and appreciated the scenery. We passed by a glacier, saw dolphins and lots of uninhabitated forested islands.

Claire and Thea in front of Navimag. Our new home!
see all photos »

The saying goes "What happens on the Navimag, stays on the Navimag". So we won't mention who got together on the love boat. Though Thea did wear a range of Matts clothes for most of the trip. We had so many great card sessions, shithead was the most popular, but we played hearts, poker, whist, cheat, 13 card brag, Scabby Queen... oh and of course then there were the drinking game variants! We introduced **** the bus - our Bolivian special (Thanks Timmy), created a variant of Butcher, Matt introduced us to Whizz Bang (great for a change as no cards were involved) and there was much rejoycing!

Getting my sea legs
see all photos »

The most exciting part of the journey had to be crossing Golf de Penas, a notorious stretch of open water. Exposed to the full ferocity of the ocean. Put it this way you could buy t-shirts onboard stating "I survived Golf De Penas". Our captain (whose name we don't know) was a hero. He made the great decision not to cross the Golf on the third day as planned, the weather conditions were atrocious with 10m waves and 50+knot winds! (equivalent of Gale Force 10 on the Beaufort scale). Thankfully we sheltered in a bay overnight and headed out the next day when the storm had passed. Our crossing was still choppy, about average the crew were saying. It still resulted in about half the passengers getting seasick as the crossing takes 12 hours. This was a real lowpoint for Claire, she lasted about 3 hours and then succumbed. She then spent the rest of her time in foetal position in her bunk until we reached the calm sheltered waters. The hangover probably didn't help! Though to be fair Claire did make it up for breakfast and wasn't feeling bad until we started the crossing.