Jan 25-26, 2023 – At Sea enroute to San Antonio, Chile
Seabourn Quest spent 2 days traversing the 700 NM between Antofagasta and San Antonio, which is one of the two port cities for Santiago, the capital of Chile. Santiago is 71 miles from our port stop, where about ½ the passengers ended this segment of the cruise. The same number will embark for the Antarctic Segment. The ship is limited to 400 passengers for this segment in order to do landings in Antarctica.
Jan 27, 2023 – San Antonio, Chile
Seabourn Quest docked shortly after 0700 under cool overcast skies and by 0800 the first disembarking passengers were leaving the ship. All decks were filled with staff cleaning and preparing suites for the soon to arrive new guests. By 0900 the skies had cleared and the temperature rose to about 72 F. Patrick took the shuttle to the cruise terminal and walked along the sea wall about 1 mile to a local shopping mall to get some additional Voltaren gel for our arthritic joints. The seawall enclosed a fishing boat harbor and there were many local fisherman cleaning fish and selling them to local Chileans. About 1200 the new guests began arriving and the ship began to get crowded as the balance of the 400 passengers arrived.
The ship departed on time at 1700 and headed out into the Pacific, where the swells were from the south at more than 3 meters and the winds increased to 40 knots. The ship began to pitch as we headed south along the Chilean coast. Overnight the swells increased again.
Jan 28, 2023 – At Sea, enroute Puerto Montt, Chile
The winds and seas remained high during the day as the ship continued south at 15.5 knots. The Antarctic parka and boot exchange, as well as the introduction of the 18 person expedition team occupied most of the morning. We continue to have most of our meals poolside, but now the heat-lamps are on and we are wearing jackets, with blankets at our table. Tonight is the Captain’s reception, mostly for the newly embarked guests and so it is the first formal night of this segment of the cruise. Miriam and I have booked dinner at The Grill, so we will miss the lobster and filet mignon offered in the main restaurant, but both are always on the menu in The Grill.
January 29, 2023 – Puerto Montt, Chile
As Seabourn Quest turned into the Chilean Fjord system shortly after 0500, it was clear with stars. Soon the fog rolled in and at 0600 the foghorn began the two minute automated signal blasts on the horn. The fog persisted off and on all the way to Puerto Montt, where the ship anchored off the town and the tenders were deployed. At 1000 the ship was cleared and passengers on shore excursions lined up to get off the ship. Patrick waited 30 minutes and the tender was nearly empty.
Puerto Montt has changed since 2015, with a very nice seaside esplanade with playgrounds for children, public sculptures and other displays. It is not yet totally finished and stretches for more than one mile along the harbor. At one end is a new passenger terminal still under construction and the other end has a modern shopping mall. Going the other direction is a more traditional open air shopping area with restaurants, local handicrafts and local foods, stretching nearly another mile. Since it was Sunday, the market was crowded with local families shopping.
The German influence in this part of Chile is apparent in the architecture. Our departure was at 2200, since the distance to our next destination is only 108 NM. When the sun came out we were treated to views of one of the active volcanoes surrounding Puerto Montt.
January 30, 2023 – Castro, Chile
Overnight the ship travelled at fairly slowed speeds, and dropped anchor in front of Castro at 0600. The ship is anchored alongside of massive aquaculture farms, mostly mussels and oysters here, however this area also has extensive salmon farming. The last time we were here we visited a nature preserve where Darwin began his observations on the origin of species so we did not visit the town itself. Today Patrick took the tender into shore and walked up the hill to one of the Unesco World Heritage sites, the Cathedral of San Francisco, which is yellow painted metal on the outside and beautiful wood on the inside.
We depart early from Castro to do scenic cruising before arriving in Punta Arenas the day after tomorrow.
