A Ferry Family
March 2014
A day later than planned, I was back in Puerto Montt to head south on the Navimag Ferry. Our estimated time of departure was midnight. We had already been delayed once, so it was no surprise when we actually left at seven the following morning.
There is only so much you can do on a boat to pass the time, but when you meet really awesome people time tends to speed up. Over the course of four days I became really close with several of the other passengers. I often found myself referring to them as my Ferry Family. We were a multicultural family to say the least: Australia, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, and the US.
The first day was smooth but cold and rainy. We spent our time wandering between the mess hall and the outer decks, often stopping at one of the benches to sit and discuss the important things in life – like Game of Thrones, Disney Movies, Animorphs, and Stars: Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, and actual stars in the sky. In the evening we played cards, watched movies, and a game called “Do you want a vodka?” (Sadly, over four years later, I can not recall how the game goes)
Since we departed seven hours later than anticipated, we were forced to traverse the open seas by daylight rather than moonlight. This unfortunately left all of us bedridden for most of the day. In the early hours the ship began to wobble like a child learning how to ride a bike. At times I wondered if the child was about to fall over, but then I realized it was merely my imagination.
At first I felt fine and decided to take a shower. By the time I was clean and dry my face was tinged green. Quickly climbing back into bed, I focused my efforts on trying to sleep out the “storm.”
About an hour before dinner the waters finally began to calm and I risked a trip to the deck. Gradually, the others poked their heads out, testing the waters to see if we were truly in the clear. Some poor souls had spent most of the journey throwing up. I envied the rare few who had been unaffected by the turmoil and had merrily passed the day sipping wine in the mess.
The third, and perhaps my favorite day, we passed through the narrows. The hills were ever-changing tortoise shells of shadow and light. Icy tips fed the cascades that creased the face of the mountains and descended into the ocean. Kicking up white flurries, our ship cut through the placid waters. Sunlight touched the surface sparingly. Warming regions of water from deep blue to turquoise, so that the ocean looked like a striped shirt. It continued all the way to the horizon where it was fringed by a necklace of dancing diamonds.
Over the course of three days we saw dolphins, porpoises, orcas, albatross, whales, and seals. Yet the most talked about sight was actually one of the crew members-a tall young man with a strong jaw, tousled brown hair, and stunning sapphire eyes.
He quickly became known as the “Sparkly Vampire” or “Sparkles” for short. Eventually a few of us worked up the courage to ask him for a picture. We staged it as, “Oh we want a picture with one of the crew members while standing behind the instrument board.” None of us could stop laughing, including our camerawoman. I’m pretty sure the whole thing made Sparkles feel incredibly uncomfortable.
As you can see, keeping straight faces was quite difficult
Sadly, all good things must come to an end and we arrived in Puerto Natales before noon on the fourth day. I didn’t want to say farewell to my Ferry Family.
Although I ran into most of them later that day at an informational meeting about Torres Del Paine, none of them were doing the same course as me.
I knew I would see some of them again, but that’s a story for another time.
