mlchad147
- Jan 19
- 3 min read

January 18, 2024 (part two)—The Beagle Channel

Welcome back. When we last left off, the Serenade of the Seas had cast off as scheduled from Ushuaia at 2:00 pm, headed west on the Beagle Channel toward our next port of call, Punta Arenas, Chile. We had been advised by the captain that the Channel would be quite scenic between us and the Pacific starting around 5:00 pm, so we made plans to be out on deck a little before 5:00.

It was getting colder and very windy, so we bundled up in our winter clothes and made our way to the helipad in the bow of the ship to get the best views of what turned out to be a couple hours of close-up encounters with spectacular glaciers and jagged, snow covered mountains. Simultaneously, we were hit by some truly wild weather. It didn’t affect the ship much in the narrow, largely protected channel, but without much warning we experienced rain, sleet and incredible winds. The captain said later that one gust reached 84 knots per hour, which translates to 96 mph. Let me repeat that—96 mph.

I was out by the helipad when that gust slammed into us, and was nearly blown down the nearby steps down to deck five. Fortunately, I was able to grab the railing to the steps, and held on until the gust passed and the winds eased a bit. Afterwards I had an increased appreciation for what Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel meteorologist, experiences when he stands out in the wind and rain during hurricanes.

That gust caused the captain to close the helipad area to passengers, an unnecessary move in my case, as I had already retreated to the relative safety of deck five, the promenade deck, which still offered excellent views of the passing glaciers. And what views they were. The combination of spectacular glaciers, waterfalls and snow covered peaks, along with the wild weather and our very close proximity as we sailed by, made for an experience I will never forget.

It was one of those cases where every time I thought we had seen the best of it, another gorgeous glacier would come into view. This went on for two hours, until the largest peaks and glaciers were past, and we were able to withdraw to the warmth of the ship’s interior. But what a two hours it was. While the cold and wind were constant, the weather was not. At times the sun came out, at others we had sleet and rain, and we even saw a rainbow at one point. The channel itself also turned a vivid shade of green for a while. I’m not good with colors, so maybe you can name the shade from the photos below.

Anyhow, with the glaciers behind us, we continued on our way to tomorrow’s stop in Punta Arenas. That’s another tender port, and the captain has already announced that the weather forecast makes it unlikely that we’ll be able to tender in. But that’s a story for tomorrow. I’ll leave it today with something our tour guide said this morning. “Here, the weather is master.” Enjoy the photos, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

One of the massive glaciers we saw during our transit of the Beagle Channel. The weather was raw and it was really windy, but it was worth it to be out on the helipad to see these magnificent views.

Another glacier coming into view. The weather was getting worse.

Another view. The same glacier is on the right.

We took this selfie next to the helipad just a couple minutes before the 96 mph gust that nearly blew me down to the next deck.

And then the sun started to come out. As our tour guide told us earlier in the morning, here the weather is master. This was one of my favorite glaciers, as it had a beautiful waterfall coming out of the bottom and spilling down into the channel.