Description
The Chilean Fjords should be one of the 10 wonders of the world! They are the mixture of the most extreme forces of nature on the planet.
The mythical Beagle Channel, its northwest and southwest arms have it all in a few miles: Blue glaciers, twin glaciers, the impressive Garibaldi and its navigation through the fjord between ice.
We can visit more than 7 Fjords, weather permitting. We can walk close to them, we will feel the advance of the ice and its rumblings when breaking and falling into the water. The silence of these places without population allows you to enjoy the sounds of nature with a unique clarity.
We will sail between mountains full of life, we will see many waterfalls. Wherever we look, it will be incredible.
It is a navigation for all audiences. An ideal expedition to share with family and friends. Every day you rest anchored and the anchorages are quiet. We will be able to see whales, dolphins, birds … Take a good camera with you because you won’t miss seeing amazing postcards.
Included
- Navigation according to itinerary
- Captain and fixed crew
- Mooring in port
- Diesel
- Accommodation in shared cabin, with shared bathroom
- Full board on board
- Landings
- Management of permits necessary to carry out visits and disembarkations
- Travel administrative costs
- Automatic life jacket with lifeline.
- Emergency telephone assistance (24h)
- Moorings
Not included
- Transport/Flights from the point of origin to the point of departure of the shipment
- Accommodation and transfers before/after boarding
- Activities and crossings, on land, pre/after boarding
- Activities and meals outside the sailboat
- Personal equipment
- Laundry
- Travel Insurance
- Entry costs to the country (visa, customs, etc.)
- Additional expenses to the trip in general.
- Stays, meals and / or additional expenses or damages caused by cancellations, delays in the departures or arrivals of the means of transport, or for unforeseen reasons beyond the control of Alegría Marineros Expediciones
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN
- Day 1. We will sail from Ushuaia towards Puerto Williams to enter Chile and head towards the Beagle Channel in a westerly direction. We will anchor in Caleta Olla to spend the night there.
- Day 2: We will sail through the northwest arm of the Beagle Channel and anchor in the beautiful Bay of the east arm of the Pia Fjord.
- Day 3. We will visit the west arm of the Pia Fjord and disembark on its beaches to enjoy walking among ice.
- Day 4: We will set sail early to the Garibaldi Fjord and Glacier to navigate between small ice and enjoy the impressive images that the glacier, the fauna and its humid forests will give us. We will sail to Puerto Huemul, on Darwin Island, where we will anchor and spend the night.
- Day 5: We will sail to Cook Bay where we will look out over the Pacific and, if the weather accompanies us, we will enjoy the day making edges and sailing inside the bay. We will test the different sail configurations that our schooner has. Day of pure sailing and teamwork! We will anchor in the Coloane Estuary to stop the night there.
- Day 7 We will sail to Puerto Williams to make the departure from Chilean territory and then we will sail west to reach Ushuaia, where our expedition will end.
Captains: Lucas Hernández & Paula Cavicchia
It is ideal to share with family and friends.
This expedition is cataloged within the easy level, that means that it is suitable for almost all audiences. It is necessary: to have good health, to have good physical condition, to have some experience in adventure travel, trekking, navigation or any activity that carries with it some capacity for resistance and willpower.
Recommended from 18 to 75 years old
If you want to travel with friends, ask us about discounts for groups (from 4 people)
Expeditions
More expeditions to the Chilean Fjords
- November
- 1 Week
- Easy
Expedition to the Strait of Magellan
Surely you have ever heard or read about the Strait of Magellan. Did you know that it is possible to carry out a trip to the Strait of Magellan? In this article we are going to teach you a little more about the figure of Magellan and, of course, the strait to which it gives its name.
Who was Magellan?
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese navigator who was born in 1480. In addition to navigator, he is also known as a soldier, explorer and sailor. Despite his Portuguese birth, Ferdinand Magellan became a Spanish national. Magellan is a very important figure who helped us understand what our world was like. It has been more than 500 years since Ferdinand Magellan carried out a trip that was considered the first round the world, a trip that changed the vision that existed at that time of the earth and the way in which we understand it.
It is clear that the expedition that made Magellan famous was not the first. In March 1505 he enlisted in the Indian Navy and participated in several naval battles where he was wounded. Years later and after having participated in more battles, Magellan lost interest in fighting and decided to focus on studying the most recent cards.
Together with the cosmographer Rui Faleiro they considered the possibility that theMoluccas were in the Spanish zone that had been defined in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Together with Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca and the bishop of Burgos they managed to persuade the then king of Spain Carlos I to finance an expedition that would prove that the islands of the spice shop were within the hemisphere of Castile.
In 1519 he started from Sanlúcar de Barrameda a journey together with a fleet of sailboats that aimed to reach the East Indies. After having a year of the most complicated navigation through the Atlantic Ocean, he would enter the Strait that, today, bears his name.
Once crossed the strait and after having reached the waters of the new ocean, he would baptize this as Pacific due to how calm its waters were. When they arrived at the Strait it was Magellan himself who ordered the ships Concepción and San Antonio to explore the channel.
The Strait of Magellan is the main natural bioceanic passage that can be found in the world to unite the Pacific and the Atlantic. This pass is the one that separates the American continent from Tierra del Fuego and has a length of 560 kilometers from its mouth at Punta Dúngenes to the western mouth that is located in the Evangelistas islets. The Strait of Magellan was a milestone in navigation and is currently transited daily by a large number of ships. In the strait we can find from tourist cruises to scientific boats and fishing fleets.
Before the Strait was discovered, ships ventured through Drake Passage, a much more dangerous passage where a large number of them ended up sinking.
The main reason that led Magellan to undertake his trip was the Moluccas. The objective was to find a more direct trip to Asia and, due to the lucrative nature of having the Moluccas, the expedition was financed by the Spanish king as we have seen.
The route proposed for the trip was to skirt America in the south and cross the Pacific Ocean, at that time, an unexplored ocean. Magellan was not the first to try to carry out this route, since in 1516 Juan Díaz de Solís arrived in Rio de la Plata, although he was killed by the natives of the region. Magellan wanted to check if the strait was there and, if it did not exist, continue further south to be able to border the continent.
The expedition was called The Moluccan Fleet and consisted of five ships. They began on September 20 sailing from Sanlúcar, stopped in the Canary Islands and also in Cape Verde until touching land in Brazil on December 13. When they arrived in Brazil, they began to sail south in search of the Strait. Magellan’s obsession with finding the Strait was such that, in addition to always being vigilant in his ship, he forced ships to anchor at night and resume the search during the day. This allowed him to always see the route in broad daylight so that it did not escape him.
Throughout the expedition there were a lot of red herrings, inlets from sea to land that in the end turn out to be large gulfs. Some of these were the White Bay or the Gulf of San Matías among others. Magellan encountered bad weather, something common in the waters of the South Atlantic, which greatly complicated the expedition. With the arrival of the austral winter, Magellan ordered to anchor in the bay of San Julián.
The sailors remained in St. Julian’s Bay for 5 long months. During all that time they were repairing the ships and also practiced hunting in the surroundings to survive. During all this time the restlessness was evident in the sailors, some sailors who suffered the cold of the place, the food rationing and, above all, a lot of idle time. The discomfort among the crew was evident and they did not understand Magellan’s stubbornness to want to continue searching for the south. It should also be noted that the Spanish sailors did not see with such good eyes to be commanded by a Portuguese as Magellan was. This discontent led to several riots. On April 1 in a mutiny they seized 3 of the 5 ships that made up the exploration and demanded Magellan improve food rations and return to Spain. Fortunately for Magellan, he was able to quell the rebellion and punished all who were involved.
The punishments were several, from the dismemberment of one of the ringleaders to the abandonment of a couple of sailors on the coast before leaving. The rest, about forty mutineers were tried and sentenced to death, but Magellan kept them alive aware that he needed them to continue the journey. As a curiosity, among these mutineers was Juan Sebastián Elcano.
While still in San Julián, Magellan sent one of his ships as an advance guard to search for the Strait. The ship chosen was La Santiago and this expedition did not have a good end, fortunately for the sailors they managed to save their lives before the sea completely destroyed their ship.
The situation of the crew was compromised, but Magellan ordered to go in search of them by land. On August 24 they would resume the journey to the south, although they had to stop again due to the storm. This time they spent several weeks on the Santa Cruz River, where once again the sailors hunted for more provisions. The situation would improve by October 18 where they would drop anchor and the trip would continue. Neither the temperature nor the winds accompanied. On October 21 they would see Cape Virgenes and, once bent this, Magellan would find a deep channel that was lost in the horizon. In the same way he had done before, he sent, this time four ships, to tour the different channels and bays of the surroundings. In this case there was a happy ending and the ships returned with Magellan to confirm that, finally, they had found the Strait.
The path through the labyrinths of the strait itself was not easy. To the difficulty of the journey were added the complaints of many sailors who wanted to return to Spain, especially once they had already found the Strait. Exploring the Strait was not easy, but finally, on November 28, 1520, another of the explorer ships returned to Magellan’s position to report the discovery of the mouth of the Strait and its exit to the ocean.
From here, as we have said before, the waters were much calmer, so it was given the name of Pacific Ocean. Finally, the navigators reached the Philippine Islands. Magellan would meet his death in a confrontation against a kinglet of Cebu, with the glory of having found and overcome his Strait.
On September 9, 1522, after three years since they left, the Moluccan Fleet would return to Seville. An incomplete fleet since there was only one ship with 18 crew members. In command of the ship was Juan Sebastián Elcano, one of the mutineers whose lives Magellan had spared to be judged the moment they arrived in Spain. Evidently, this could not happen because of Magellan’s death.
