After a night at the dock in Puerto Natales, National Geographic Resolution left port and sailed early Thursday morning, winding through protected waters, heading towards the White Narrows.
Chilean Patagonia is full of small islands, outcrops lining the southern half of the country’s slender but lengthy coastline. Expedition ships don’t often navigate through these channels, but when they do it must be done carefully. On the way south from Puerto Montt, we navigated several of these passages, including the Kirke Narrows. Today, we traversed another, White Narrows, which mandates a tight squeeze through some of these islands, at one point as skinny as 260’ wide. The atmosphere on the bridge was serious and focused but remarkably, regardless of the tricky nature of this maneuver, the bridge stays open to guests. Silent and respectful, all watch as Captain Heidi and the local pilots work through the squeeze.
After we passed through the narrows, we cruised on towards tomorrow’s destination in the south of Patagonia, Karukinka Natural Park. In the afternoon at sea, guests onboard were able to take a galley tour to gain a better understanding of the hotel team onboard, and presentations were given. We were lucky to have Melissa Carmody, the director of Karukinka Natural Park, onboard. She gave a fantastic talk about the history of the park and its future direction, building anticipation for tomorrow’s activities.
