We set off from Puerto Navarino with the goal of getting to Caletta Olla, however, upon entering the Beagle, it was blowing between 30 and 35 from the West, creating short steep, choppy waves in the Channel. We decided to make a quick go across the Beagle and into the protected bay of Yendegaia. This is an interesting area, as it was once home to some Yaganas that had been taught to cultivate the land, then became an estancia, then was used for timber, then purchased as private land for a foundation, and finally the land has been given to the Chilean Government for a national park. The only clue that it is a national park is the oddly placed wooden sign alongside an old hut. Otherwise – it’s a great vast glacial valley wilderness.
Historically there has been a track that linked the bay (and the Beagle Channel) with the other side (the Strait of Magellan). Now that the land is in the hands of the Chilean Government, the construction of a road is in full force using the path of the old track – one team from one side, another team from another. From what we could see, they seemed to have built about 1 km in one year… they say it will be open in 2020.
We dropped anchor near the old houses of the Estancia in the milky green blue glacial-silt waters. At the head of the bay is a glacier and a long alluvial valley with a typical braided river. We all landed and went walking for a few hours, enjoying the blue sky afternoon and crossing old bridges of the old estancia. As the mosquitoes descended, we decided it was time to go back to Ocean Tramp.
Given the forecast we stayed here the whole next day – Giff and Liz went ashore for a grand hike up and around the valley. Fede was able to cut off some hiking time, by navigating up the river – harder in the morning to drop them off, as it was low tide, but fantastic in the afternoon when it was high tide. With the high tide we could navigate quite a distance up the river “exploring”. After motoring up the river, we turned around and ended the day with a nice float trip down the river.
What a beautiful place!
