Tag Archives: ANTOFAGASTA

Chile Ports: Caldera, Calderilla, Salado

We received a proper send off from the lobos, dolphins and birds as we left the Chile Port of Antofagasta. We are headed to Caldera which is about 200nm away. The journey should take us 1.5 days with some wind even though the current and waves are going against us.

Arturo, from Club de Yates, led us out of our first Chile Port and through the foamy mess (see below top left photo. We had lots of lobos sightings along the way. It was super cute because they pop their head out of the water, look around, dip under, and pop up again. They do this in a circle of about 5-6 other lobos.

The landscape is beautiful despite not having any greenery. Rolling hills in various shades of tans and browns.

We managed to catch three of the same type of fish. We released them all as we could not identify them, let us know if you know what type of fish these are – maybe part of the tuna family?

Unknown Fish

You’ll notice the landscape is really barren and dry. We are definitely in the dry zone. They may get 1” of rain per year, but not every year. It is strange to me to see beaches near the desert but that is exactly what you see when you come to Northern Chile.

We had zero wind for this trip and glassy water conditions during the day. At night we had swirly 1m waves, but it was a full on motor the entire way. Matt did a wonderful live blog on 27 January, so I won’t repeat his beautiful words. Check it out here. We cut off one engine and slowed down the other engine so we could arrive during daylight. After 218 nm, 45 hours and 20 minutes we arrived in Caldera.

The Chile Port of Caldera bay is nice and large. We anchored near the Club de Yachts. As we watched our anchor, many yacht club members came by (kayak, boats) to say “hello” and welcome us to town. We of course found more lobos. The interesting thing is the area by the beach was set against huge, beautiful rock formations which gave the entire area a unique and stunning look.

Club de Yates Caldera

We enjoyed this small town even though we only stayed for one day. We checked in with the Armada, had a not so tasty lunch at La Chispa de Dona Luisa, and walked around. The yacht club and the beaches were pretty busy, but that is not surprising as it is Sunday, family day.

Most shops were closed, but we stumbled across the Caldera Railway Station which was commissioned in 1850. This train terminal had the first train depart in South America on 25 December 1851.

We also came across a statue of San Pedro Caldera, lots of funny looking manikins, a hungry shark, an old ship perched on to of a tourist building roof, and a crooked Caledera sign,

Sightseeing in Caldera

We found the local markets, hardware stores, and “tourist” traps. Mostly this tiny town offered beach toys and stuff at the local tiendas. We celebrated our new town with a beer.

Matt enjoying a Kuntsman Beer

We motored over to the next bay, Puerto Caladerilla for our second night. The town was really, really small and we did not see any places to dock the dinghy. So, we enjoyed a nice evening onboard.

Main photo of me next to Caldera colorful sign

CALDERILLA

We left late in the afternoon and were headed to the Chile Port of Calderilla which is a small bay less than 10nm from Caldera. We made a light dinner and called it an early night. The bay was relatively calm, very quiet and peaceful. We got up early the next morning to continue heading south. As we left the bay, we grabbed a few shots of the rocky coast.

Rocky Chilean Coastline

BAHIA SALADO

It was another windless day but at least it was not on our nose. We were able to let the jib out for a few short stints which gave us an extra knot or two. Super calm seas, blue skies, and lots of lobos playing in the water.

The Chile Port of Bahia Salado is a very isolated bay. There are 5 structures that appear to be housing compounds for the mine that operates just over the hill. They could also be summer homes, but there is literally nothing around except these compounds and the mine. How far do they have to go to get bread or milk or beer?

Bahia Salado – Housing Compounds

After we finished dinner, around 8pm, we watched two guys in kayaks make their way from shore to our boat. Somewhere half way between, one fell overboard. At this point they were about ¼ mile from shore. As I finished up the dishes, Matt said they were getting closer. Interesting. I peeked and it appeared that one guy was pulling the other guy who was still in the water. The guy in the water was pulling his kayak while holding on to his friend’s kayak. Poor thing it was freezing outside and in the water!

They asked for help to bring them back to shore. I wish I would have grabbed my camera as it was the funniest image. We tied one kayak with the guy still in it to Sweetie. The other guy jumped in the dinghy as we then tied his kayak to the back of Sweetie. He was in a t-shirt and shorts when he should have been in a full wetsuit. He was shivering in the dink while his friend was having the time of his life riding the kayak as Sweetie towed him to shore. It was hysterical.

Sunset in Bahia Salado

Miles traveled from Calderilla to Bahia Salado 38.6 which took us about 6.5 hours at an average speed of 5.6kts.

Preparations to Head to South Chile

BOAT PROJECTS:

PHOTOS: We needed another set of passport photos for our carte de sejours which are part of our French Polynesia long stay visa application process.
WEE FEE: topped up our sim card plan so we could activate another month as we journey to Southern Chile.
FUEL PUMP: We were on the hunt for oil and a fuel pump. Off to find an auto part store. They have entire one street dedicated to auto parts where you can find just about everything. Of course, it was an 8 mile walking day for us. Score, one 5 gl of oil and a pump for fuel filter.
FUEL PUMP TESTING: We used a baja fuel filter while we were in Galapagos which was not efficient. We had a fuel pump on board but it died and needed to be resurrected. We got the pump, found the connectors, and bought the hose. Matt tested it by moving fuel from one jerry can to another and voila it worked perfectly!
FUEL: Getting fuel was no easy feat. We had two 5-gallon jerry cans and bought two more. We walked the .5 mile to the gas station with a cart and our cans in tow. Filled them up and loaded 3 on the cart which I dragged. Matt hand carried one and we walked the .5 mile back. Gesh, this will take forever! At 20 gallons per trip we would have to make 8-9 trips! After 2 trips, a local cruiser saw us struggling. He loaned us 4 of jerry cans and drove us to and from the gas station 3 times! Lucky for us, the extra help allowed us to fill both tanks 85% full. That’s good enough for us as we will have to fill up further south anyway.

Adventures of refueling

Provisioning:

We had emptied out the boat finally. We stocked up so well in Panama and Costa Rica that we did not have to buy staples or frozen meats for the past 9+ months. Of course 6 of those months we lived in an apartment while the boat was being repaired, but the food stayed frozen and tasty.

We hit up Jumbo and Unimarc Supermercardos, to of our favorite stores with the largest variety of foods. Of course, peanut butter, popcorn, ginger cookies and butter crackers are still eluding us, but we may find them in Santiago.

What does provisioning look like for 2 people for 3-4 months? Don’t you love the box of veggies and fruits? So easy to store!

Provisioning The Basics

We purchased mostly staple items on this run. As the stores here have great variety and are well stocked. Prices are a little higher than we anticipated, but what can you do?

The next day we hit the fresh fruit and veggie mart to stock up on 2 weeks of yumminess. This was a fantastic fresh market, with so much ripe and semi-ripe foods. They had these huge barrels of olives, peppers, juiced items and nuts.

Provisioning Fresh Goods

Of course, we will have to do another fresh fruit and veggie run before we leave Valdivia. We will also need bread and eggs to go with the fresh goods. Always fun to explore grocery stores in new cities though!

Other Interesting Photos:

Couldn’t find the typical Antofagasta Sign, so this will have to do.

Memorial to those who have passed away, just outside the cemetery.

Antofagasta Adventures

EXPLORING:

Matt and I had not explored the southern portion of Antofagasta. So, we set out on a bright, sunny day, turned right and kept walking. We passed several pop up tiendas with locals selling their wares, a new Jumbo grocery market and an Easy hardware store.

Pop up Tiendas

We finally made it to Balneario Municipal Antofagasta which is “the” beach for locals. They have a giant slide, a floating islands in the center of the bay, free showers and several eateries. They even had a sectioned off area for kids to play in the water. It was a protected bay with about 2′ of water.

Beach: Balneario Municipal Antofagasta

We walked a little further and realized we were almost to the end of town. So, we doubled back, stopped in for a cold beverage and hit the Jumbo and Easy stores.

As you know, there is a never ending project list on a boat (as on a house). After we were rested and finished exploring Antofagasta, we checked a few boat projects and pre-departure preparations off our list.

Mano del Desierto – Hand in the Desert

Several tour companies highlighted tourist spots in and around Antofagasta. One of those spots is a giant hand in the desert. What, you ask? We had to see it. We rented a car and drove 45 minutes into the Atacama Desert. You certainly can’t miss it because it is huge.

Mano del Desierto

The Mano del Desierto sculpture was constructed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level. Its exaggerated size is said to emphasize human vulnerability and helplessness. The work has a base of iron and concrete, and stands 11 metres (36 ft) tall.

Mano del Desierto

Matt thought it would be fun to try to take the rental car (a Chevrolet Sail) up the mountain. Unfortunately, it only made it half way before we rolled it back down. We did manage to hike to the top, which was hard with the altitude.

Matt trying to drive the rental car up the hill

Cerro El Ancla (Anchor Hill)

We stare at this upside down anchor every day. We gauge where we need to go and where we’ve been using the anchor as a mark. The “Cerro El Ancla” anchor symbol, installed since the beginning of the city of Antofagasta, has become one of the emblems of the city

The origins of the anchor lie in the foundation of the city itself. In the founding charter of La Chimba, it was ordered to mark with an anchor the most visible point of the hill adjacent to the nascent population. In 1868 , Jorge Hicks ordered an employee named Clavería to paint an anchor, as a reference sign for the ships that sailed San Jorge Bay to Antofagasta. Claveria misread instructions Hicks, thus finally painted an inverted anchor.

It is no easy thing to get to the ancla. First, you have to walk / hike to the top of the city to get to the base of the hill. Then you hit the dirt roads. In the first picture, the flag indicates where the anchor is located. The second photo is a shot 1/2 way up the hill. The center is a shot from the base of the hill.

Trails to Cerro El Ancla

At the base of the hill is the monument to the upside down anchor (top left). Me sitting on the anchor, resting and admiring the view (top right) Photo with the arrow shows you where Sugar Shack is located. And if you zoom in on the bottom right you can see me still sitting on the anchor as Matt walks around and to the top.

Cerro El Ancla

The Adventures of Sugar Shack

– Sailing Aboard a Catana 471

Tag Archives: ANTOFAGASTA

Chile Ports: Caldera, Calderilla, Salado

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