This morning we started sailing at 5 am on board of Navimag ferry, which is the only company operating through Patagonian fjords, and sails for 4 days between Puerto Natales and Puerto Montt. The boat is pretty comfortable - we're staying at a 4 person cabin, and have been upgraded to a room with a window :) The meals are included, and there are lectures on glaciers, etc. that are quite interesting. There's even a bar, lounge area with couches. The weather was really nice the first day, and we were soaking up the sun on the upper deck, while watching two hippies play giant chess. After a delicious lunch (hake fish), we had a nice chat with this French couple from the alps, who speak really good English (great for me!). Then we went back to our room to find our roommates (another French couple, who don't speak English) having a nap. We were inspired to do the same, and crawled up to my upper bunk, and napped for an hour. Then, it was lecture time, and seeing glacier Skua, which we got pretty close to, in fact. It was raining and windy, but we stayed up on the deck for a long time, observing the glacier and taking pictures. To warm up, we decided to have aperitif before dinner, a blend of Shiraz and Merlot from Chile (of course). We met a nice older Dutch couple who were sitting next to us in the lounge area. They too were drinking a red Chilean wine. They told us about their travels and a recent discovery of backpacking that they were introduced to by their children who are traveling for 18 months. They seemed to be really enjoying low budget travel, and gave us some recommendations on Mendoza and Salta. We finished the whole bottle of wine (mostly with my help) over dinner. JN needed more food, so he asked for seconds, and they were nice enough to give it to him, so he was quite happy. The French couple from the Alps (Heidi and Pablo) joined us for dinner, and we had interesting conversations about Heidi's experience in the US. After dinner we watched The March of the penguins, and quite enjoyed the movie. What a perfect 1st day at the sea!

By Nonna