Patagonian Channels, Chile
by Paul H. Green
46 degrees, 40',41”, South, 73 degrees, 58',37”, West
Most tourists come to Patagonia to transverse the Patagonia Channel, or what is called The Southern Crossing.
Since we had more time on our trip Tischa and I took some side trips.
Traveling south from Puerto Montt and darting in from open-ocean just below Chiloe Island, we sailed into the Aysen sound to take a quick look at the San Rafael glacier.
In this part of the world quick is a very relative term. San Rafael glacier is the most popular attraction in Aysen region of Chile. It encompasses some of the most spectacular fjord and mountain scenery in the world and is dense with floating icebergs.
In the water there are ducks, albatross, Magallanic penguins, otter, and sea lions. In the surrounding forests there are pumas and foxes, but it takes some time to get into these places.
After the San Rafael Lagoon, ships generally take a southern course down the English Narrow channel, but for us it was a full day from Chiloe Island to the San Rafael Lagoon back to the Costa Channel and out again to open seas, heading once again south.
The coastal section along the offshore route, from Puerto Chacabuco to the Straight of Magellan, includes the highest peaks of the southern Andes, the Laguna San Rafael National Park and the extensive South Patagonian ice fields. The Golfo de Penas is situated south of the Peninsula de Taitao. It is an extensive, recently glaciated coastal embayment which provides unprecedented exposures of the central Patagonian Cordillera.
The region is comprised of three geological, physiographic zones. These include a mountainous Coastal zone that extends the length of the Pacific coast of the Peninsula de Taitao, a narrow valley that separates the Costal Zone from the main Patagonian Cordillera, and the rugged eastern shores of the Golfo de Penas.
The Darwin Channel forms a westward continuation of the Aysen Fjord and links it to the Pacific Ocean at Isquiliac Island. It is located in the coast of Chile at approximately 45.4 degrees south latitude. This is one of the main channels situated between the islands of the Chonos Archipelago.
Straits of Magellan
This strait links the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, between the southern tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego. It extends westward from the Atlantic between Cape Vírgenes and Cape Espíritu Santo and curves northwest at Froward Cape to reach the Pacific. Lying mostly within Chilean territorial waters, it is about 350 mi (560 km) long and 2 to 20 miles (3 to 32 km) wide. Named for Spanish navigator Ferdinand Magellan, the first European to pass there (1520), it remained an important shipping route until the Panama Canal opened in 1914.
We really enjoyed four days in these waters, and knew that it was like two hours in New York, you might catch some big buildings a park or some flavor, but the rest is too big to understand within that limit of time.
The area from the west coast of Chile through the Southern Cross across Patagonia is so vast that an explorer could take four days sailing or four years trekking, biking, canoeing, etc., and not see but a portion of this beautiful terrain.