El que no se arriesga no cruza el mar.

(Puerto Montt, Chile): The M/N Puerto Eden - 116.50mts long, 19.23mts wide and able to transport 4402 tons of cargo and 225 passengers - has safely delivered me 1000km further north into the warmer climate of Puerto Montt.

For the boat and crew it was just another trip, and after having just arrived here at 4am this morning, as I write this they are getting the boat ready for the return to Puerto Natales at 2:30pm today. After a thorough clean-up job I imagine.

For us passengers it was anything but a normal trip.

After checking in on Friday afternoon, we were finally able to board the boat at 9pm and store our luggage away in the tiny quarters that were to be our home for the next 4 days. 4 Persons to a state room that was barely 2m wide and just about 4m long - with very little means of ventilation. No dinner was served on this last night in Pto. Natales, and before breakfast the next morning - with many passengers still asleep - we set sail for Puerto Montt at 6am.

The weather wasn´t perfect onthise Saturday, but the narrow passages and low hanging clouds were ample material for dramatic scenery nonetheless. We spent the day reading and playing cards in the lounge or armed with our cameras on bridge or observation deck. The food that was served for lunch and dinner was plentiful, pisco, wine and whiskey made their rounds that night, and late at night we fell into a deep slumber. Life was good.

Well, until the next morning it was. Apparently the lasagne from the day before was a bit undercooked, so the next morning half of the passengers found themselves suffering fromdiarrheah, and the bathrooms found themselves quickly out of paper. Woe to those that hadn´t brought their 10 essentials on this trip. To make matters worse, this was also the day that we were leaving the sheltered waters behind the islands, heading into the open waters of the pacific. With meter-high swells many a stomach was quick in turning over any contents to the open sea, and many passengers spent the day leaning far over the reeling, the eyes fixed on the horizon and breathing deeply the fresh air, onlinterrupteded occasionally... I pity those that suffered from both diarrheaah and seasickness at the same time.

Needless to say that dinner was calm that night - less than 30 of the 80 passengers even bothered to show up. The next day however, it was all over. We had left the open waters and were once again in the calm Patagonian Channels, the weather had cleared up and so had many people´s digestive system. While spending the day on the top deck enjoying the sun and the increasingly warmer air (I should say "less cold") we had magnificent views on the rough Patagonian landscape and the abundant marine life in the channels. Besides seals and birds, we even saw dolphins and a whale - what a grand finale for such a mixed boat trip!

This night again we celebrated like the first time - with Pisco, Whiskey, Wine and Beer.... because at 4am we would arrive in Puerto Montt and all head our separate ways yet again.

Pictures as soon as I have time to upload them!

Nate as uploaded some of my images from Tores del Paine National Park - check them out here.