Chilean Fjords, Glaciers and Islands

The fjords, glaciers, islands and passages of southern Chile stir up all kinds of emotions. These were the waters explored by Magellan and by Robert Fitz Roy aboard the Beagle. Charles Darwin went ashore and explored Wulaia Bay and in 1895 Joshua Slocum, having sailed from Boston on the Spray, had a few very nervous days in this area when he encountered a less than friendly welcome by the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego. However, that did not stop him from completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world.

It is hard to describe the glaciers of this region. The U shaped valleys and massive moraines give testimony to the awesome power of these slowly moving rivers of compressed ice. Some of the glaciers we saw are receding in size and mass at an accelerated rate due to climate change. Others, with larger and higher snow collection areas, are stable or growing.

Although the wind was stiff during most of our voyage, the Via Australis rarely rolled, pitched or yawed. I felt significant motion only once, when we rounded Brecknock Peninsula at the southwest extremity of Tierra del Fuego, where the protected waters of the fjords and inland passages briefly meet the open Pacific.

I hope this short video gives you a sense of what this portion of our trip was like. Come with us as we not only explore and discover the power and beauty of nature, but also get to spend some time among the 140,000 penguin inhabitants of Magdelana Island.