Thursday, January 26, 2012

Crabby folks

On this hot sunny morning, we set out to hike up past the small cascading waterfall and stream on the east side of Isla Traiguén (Chile) to see if we could reach the lake for Jordan to fish from. With rubber boots in the backpack, we made it past the waterfall as we hugged the shore edge.

Slouching beneath the surrounding foliage, we soon had to don our rubber boots to wade into the stream as we progressed. We also crossed it at a fairly shallow point being careful not to slip on the mossy rockbed. Eventually we had to turn back as the trees and foliage became too dense to get through, the passable rocky shoreline became non-existent, and the stream and pools became too deep. Oh well, it was a challenging hike and an enjoyable picnic lunch.

Row, row, row your boat

When motoring, Jordan had felt a vibration in the last couple of days. When he looked down in the clear water, he saw a rope wrapped around the prop. With a sharp knife attached to a pole, he was able to slowly cut it free. We probably picked it up while running over kelp flotsam. Usually running over kelp isn't a problem with our boat, a cutaway keel.

We pulled anchor at 15:45. We were now heading NW in no wind and calm glassy seas once again. At 19:30, we turned into the cove of Caleta Sepulcro on Isla Melchor with an otter on shore and dolphins jumping high and twisting sideways in the bay.

We chose this cove to be our next anchorage for 2 reasons: it was a reasonable distance from our current anchorage and the guidebook stated fishermen will sell freshly caught crab here. We were excited to see several crab traps in the water and a rowboat with 2 persons aboard tending the traps. Would they be willing to sell any crab?

We approached them after forlornly watching them bail buckets of water from their old rowboat and they gladly agreed to trade 2 large crabs for some wine. What a deal! With everyone grinning, we parted company.

"Crabby" folks

Jordan then tried to set the anchor in the shallow cove of Isla Melchor but it wouldn't grab. Third time lucky! (S45°17.017' W073°43.956')

The crab was absolutely delicious, freshly pulled from the ocean. Later, the cove became quite windy so checking was necessary to make sure we weren't dragging but everything was fine throughout the night.

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