TOP LEFT: En route
to Quellon
ABOVE: Sun
protection while
sailing past Bahia
Anna Pink
INSET RIGHT:
Puerto Aguirre is
one of the few
places for
provisioning
LEFT: Struggling
with no electric
windlass
INSET: Dolphins
frolic at the bowThe RYA Day skipper began his fi rst solo voyage
at exactly 1100 on 18 January. His fi rst challenge
was navigating a narrow channel just north of
Puerto Edén, so notorious for its 9-knot riptides
that local fi shermen have erected a shrine to the
Virgin Mary for protection.
‘At slack water, there was still the convergence of
two tides, causing me at one point to be spun 360°
in a narrow space, no more than 200 m wide, and
be pushed towards the shrine,’ he explained.
NAVIGATING A TEMPESTUOUS SEA
From then on caution was Pattinson’s watchword,
as he inched his way further north to the mouth of
the Canal Messier, battling northerly winds and
seeking shelter in the narrow caletas. His plan was
to then cross the ominously named Golfo de Penas,
known in English as the Gulf of Sorrow or Distress.
The protected caletas were not always as welcoming
as they could have been. In Caleta Point Lay, a tree
fell during high winds, missing Aisling by inches,
although it clipped the Rustler’s fl ag pole at the
stern. They also had their highlights, too, with
spectacular Caleta Yvonne giving the former
Gordonstoun School student the chance to kayak
through the half frozen Seno Iceberg to explore
the mile-long craggy face of a glacier.
Pattinson was also learning that sailing in such
a remote and wild place, which attracts few sailors,
meant that charts were not always reliable, and
equipment can break.
‘The charts were largely inaccurate, or not
fi lled in, meaning I found rocks in the middle of
anchorages which I narrowly avoided,’ he said.
‘Part way through the voyage, the echo sounder
gave up on life, likely due to moisture, and this
made navigating these already dangerous waters
even more risky.’
From Caleta Lamento del Indio, Pattinson made
his fi rst attempt to cross the Golfo de Penas to Puerto
Aguirre, but northeasterly winds whipped up a
confused sea, and he made ‘a hasty retreat’ to Caleta
Ideal. A day later he set off again for the 45-hour
passage across the gulf, in a 7m swell, which caused
him to be ‘thrown around like
a rag doll in the mouth of a pit
bull terrier’ although ‘nothing
could have made me happier.’
‘As Old Gordonstounian
Prince Philip, once said, “The
sea is an extraordinary master
or mistress. It has such
extraordinary moods that
sometimes you feel this is the
only sort of life, and 10 minutes
later you’re praying for death.”
Sailing across Penas at that
time was one of those moments
where I thought this was the only sort of life to lead,’
refl ected Pattinson.
Although solo, he had plenty of company on his
passage, with whales and dolphins making regular
appearances. There were also numerous challenges,
with thick fog reducing visibility as he approached
the Peninsula Tres Montes, one of the busiest
stretches of water in the Chilean channels.
‘I sat on deck, unable to catch much-needed sleep,
with the fog horn, a plastic trumpet, barely audible
over the noise of an engine,’ he recalled.
The fi nal stretch of the passage was at night and
was the most challenging, especially with no radar,
depth sounder or moon to light the way.
‘I slalomed between the fi sh farms, sandbanks
at 0.4m datum and through three channels, the
widest of which was 240ft wide, the narrowest 90ft.
Approaching these channels I was edging towards
them at half a knot, the entrances unapparent until
the last minute with my low power spotlight. Had
there been any other option other than to go through
here, I would have gladly taken it,’ noted Pattinson.
As he passed Bahía Anna Pink, the weather also
changed, and having
set off wearing ski
goggles and thermals,
he ended his longest
leg with his head
wrapped in a scarf
to prevent sunburn.
The following day,
he sailed to Puerto
Aguirre, a welcome
sight for a skipper sick
of a diet of cabbage and porridge
and craving steak and beer.
With no fridge or shower
onboard, cruising Aisling meant
accepting the simple life.
At the port, he managed to phone
family and friends and restock on
supplies. It also gave him time to
refl ect on his voyage so far,Sailing across Penas was one of those moments
where I thought this was the only sort of life to lead
ADVENTURE