Algarrobo, Chile to the Galapagos - Week 1

As conditions on board Sea Rover for the last week have left a bit to be desired, Gary has asked that I write a few posts about their progress to date. He and I have been talking daily, thanks to Starlink, which is switched on once or twice a day when they are running the engine to charge the batteries. It has been nice to communicate by means other than just emails sent through the satellite phone. It is so different from our last ocean passage in 2018!!

I think all on board would agree that the first week was a hard one. Algarrobo is not a protected port, and so once you are out of the shelter of the marina breakwater, you are in the full ocean swell. To make it worse, wind conditions were light, but the sea state was significant (over 7 feet with a 7 second period - perfect barfing conditions). Gary and Crew Brian and Allan all succumbed to the mal de mar fairly quickly. In an effort to get off the coast and find some wind, they motored a fair amount the first few days. Even though Starlink was running a lot of the time, we didn't hear much from the Crew. After a few days of this, they decided they needed to conserve fuel and so the boat went dark while they bobbed in the waves and all privately hoped to die. Here are some snippets from some of Gary's emails: "The first week was as expected, brutal. 2-3 m seas with no wind.  What wind we did get was luckily not as forecasted and came from the bow otherwise our progress out of that zone would have been even slower. We had a few things break on the engine and a couple of sailing blocks explode which kept us all busy fixing things when we weren't barfing.  None of us ate anything but dry crackers for the first 3 days."

South Pacific dive at 30S76W

But then things started to look up. The promised wind started to fill in and their stomachs started to settle. By Sunday the boat was moving, food started to be consumed and spirits started to look up. Then the first 'issue' happened. Our MaxProp refused to feather, and after repeated attempts to get it to lock in place, Gary thought 'oh oh' and looked out the back of the boat. Yup, they'd caught a line. Here is the story in Gary's words: "Yesterday we finally made it into some good consistent breeze and had the potential for our first 100NM day. That was thwarted by a blob of poly rope snagged on the prop causing the prop to rotate and heat up the gear. We had no choice but to dive the boat in 2 m seas and no way to slow it down below 1.5 knots. After an exhausting 3 hours in the water I managed to clear it without drifting away from the boat much to the relief of the boys tirelessly managing the many lines attaching me to the boat." 

Happy New Year from Sea Rover!

"Today (December 31st) we finally seem to be getting in a rhythm. We haven't had to change the sails since this morning and there is talk of raiding the snack cupboard for a post dinner snack. We are doing 2 hours on, 4 hours off which seems to be working for everyone on board. The boys have stepped up their game in the kitchen so we won't starve."

Thanks to Starlink, I was able to ring in the New Year with Gary on a WhatsApp call. He was able to talk to a small group of us for a few minutes before the clock struck midnight. I think the Crew were able to connect with their families as well, so it was a special moment for all.    

The wind continues to blow (apparently things are 'sporty' on board at the moment) but they are making reasonable time and distance north. From the tracker it looks like they are about a third of the way there. Fair winds and following seas. 

Permission Granted to Leave Chile!

Sea Rover and Crew in Algarrobo

Despite some paperwork hick-ups, Gary and Crew Brian and Allan managed to successfully leave Chile on Christmas morning en route to the Galapagos. 

Sea Rover's boat visa expired at the end of September, but due to a number of issues, we knew we would not be able to go down to Chile to sail her away until December. In July we started the process to request a 3 month boat visa extension. We sent in our request and received a nice letter back stating that we had to wait until the visa expired before we could formally request the extension. So, on September 30th we sent in our request. And heard nothing. We flew down to Santiago on December 1st and rented a car from the airport. This would enable us get to Algarrobo, a 1.5 hour drive from the airport, where Sea Rover was patiently waiting on the hard in the Confradia Nautica del Pacifico marina. But more importantly, it would also enable us to drive to the town of San Antonio, an hours drive south of Algarrobo, where the nearest Aduana (Customs) and Immigration offices are located. 

As we were very concerned  about Sea Rover's official status in the country, we immediately headed to the Aduana office in San Antonio after we arrived. San Antonio reminded us a lot of Puerto Montt - a working port and definitely not a tourist destination. The drivers are impatient and generally insane. After a very scary drive through town, we found the office and went in to find out what we needed to do to make Sea Rover legal. Thankfully one of the staff spoke excellent English and we were able to show her our previous correspondence with the Aduana in Punta Arenas, where our last boat visa had been issued. The wonderful staff immediately got in touch with the Punta Arenas office and promised they would get it sorted in a day or two. And true to their word, we received our extension until December 30th a few days later. There had been talk of us potentially needing to pay a fine, but the extension letter didn't mention it and we didn't hear anything further so we assumed everything was in order.

On December 16th we returned to San Antonio to start the official clear out process. I was flying back to B.C. on the 17th and would be returning the car to the airport and we hoped to have all the San Antonio trips completed before Gary no longer had a set of wheels. Gary's first stop was the Aduana, where he was informed he couldn't clear out until we had paid our fine. No problem, he said, but we haven't been contacted about a fine. Could they tell us what it would be? He would happily pay it that day. Of course fines are dealt with by a different department, the 'Illicit Traffic' office, to be precise. While this office had been contacted by the Aduana a full 10 days before, they had not responded to us. The kind Aduana staff contacted the Punta Arenas office again, who then contacted the Illicit Traffic office, who then assured us we would have the fine by the end of the day. The end of the day came - no fine had been received. No fine was received the next day as well. On Wednesday, Gary emailed the Punta Arenas office and was once again assured that the Illicit Traffic office had been contacted. Nothing was heard on Thursday. At this point our Crew were running out of jobs to do on the boat and were getting antsy. Spirits were low as they wondered if they would ever be allowed to leave.

On Friday Gary found his way back to San Antonio on public transit. He returned to the Aduana and pleaded his case. The next week was Christmas, and if he couldn't get this sorted before then, it was very likely we would overstay our visa extension, which would cause an even bigger problem than we already had. Despite it not really being their problem, the Aduana staff once again went above and beyond to help. One of the staff, who also thankfully spoke a bit of English, started making phone calls. After a long day of backing-and-forthing, the fine was agreed upon and issued. Thankfully it was reasonable and Gary went to the bank and paid it right away. As the Aduana was closed for the weekend, he returned to the boat (on the 'chicken bus') to make final preparations to leave early the following week. 

Gary and Crew Allan and Brian

On Monday he was back in San Antonio. The Aduana cleared the boat and stamped the official exit paperwork (known as a zarpe). The visit to the Immigration office was a bit rocky, but in the end they also stamped the zarpe. Another trip to the Port Captain's office, and Sea Rover and Crew were cleared to leave the country.

The boys set sail the next day. As conditions have not been conducive this last week for sitting at the computer for long periods of time, Gary has asked that I write a few posts on his behalf based on his texts and emails to me. Stay tuned.