Three years before the idea of crossing the Straits had landed in my agenda after I had heard a sailor say “you may look into the eyes of the wind only if you have crossed the Straits of Magellan”. It soon became obstinacy. In 2010 we had been forced to cancel the expedition, and this time we also tried to retract as the wind forecast was really not positive. In fact, together with photographer Philip Muller and my wife Vania, we disembarked simply because we could not change the flights to other convenient dates. We were forced to take the chance.
The Chilean Marine had warned me that the weather conditions would probably not allow the crossing. To give the authorization they had set the wind limit to a maximum of 17 knots. But now I had more pressing worries. At the narrowest point of the Straits, called “Primera Angostura”, the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific meet and the currents can reach 10 knots creating dangerous vortices, leaving very brief windows of slack water for the crossing. On our arrival we ran to the Marines office to discuss the details with them and revise the weather forecast. The only chance would be on Friday, where the wind would weaken for a while, probably early in the morning. With a first slack water expected around 6 am and a second one at 1pm, it looked like we were going to have two opportunities, but the Marines quickly reduced it to one, and not the best looking in terms of forecast: “6am is not an option, we can’t give you the authorization to cross so early” sentenced the official in charge. Despite insisting, 1pm was to be the only option and now I was left to pray for the weather to give us a hand.
