23/02/2020 – Sunday
From Herschel Island, we sailed for the most part of the day to Puerto Williams, Chile. It was a long day, but full of wildlife and interesting landscape along the way. From Paso Goree to Puerto Williams, the sea was teeming with wildlife, hundreds and perhaps thousands of seabirds. Species seen included Black-browed Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, Greater Shearwater, Giant Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Rock Cormorant, Antarctic Cormorant, Kelp Goose and Megellanic Penguin. At times, hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters formed huge rafts, floating on the sea in front of our boat, taking off in unison and like an aerial ballet at the very last moment. Our resident wildlife experts, Julin and Tiak, were in their element identifying all the species.
We reached the safe and quaint harbour of Puerto Williams in the evening. After rafting up beside an old timber sailing ship, we had a meal of roast beef and mash, very satisfying and comforting after a long travelling day. We ended the day admiring the stars which were visible in the cloudless night. The “marina” at Puerto Williams was crowded with yachts that were there to participate in a regatta to Cape Horn, but due to the bad weather the previous day, the regatta had been cancelled and the participants were partying on the wreck of the ship “Micalvi”, which had been converted into a “yacht club”.
Post from Denise
February Trip 2020
