pregnancy control isla navarino

There are no obstetricians or midwives on Navarino Island. For pregnant women, an early delivery means getting air-lifted to the closest hospital in Punta Arenas. As part of the island's medical control to avoid such a dramatic child-birth, pregnant women are required to leave for the the mainland six weeks before their due date.

Our plan with the birth of baby #4 was to go to the town Puerto Natales, look for housing and give birth at the local hospital there. The size of Natales compared to Punta Arenas was much more manageble for us and we believed we could have a pedestrian lifestyle and be part of a small mountain town community.

As timing would have it, in mid-February, at 34 weeks pregnant, James was managing a one-month refit job in Grenada that would keep him out of the country during the required exit date.  This meant the move & transition off the island would be a solo task for me to manage.

Alone with the the kids, I packed our lives into five 120L Black Hole duffel bags and one BD 70L Haul bag: clothes, camping gear, photo equipment, portable office, art supplies, & James' tool bag. 

Not an easy task to decide what the bare essentials for a family of five (soon to be six) were for moving house to an unknown destination, much less easy while pregnant, and even less so solo.

Thanks to everyone who helped carry our gear across the flotilla of boats (Nick & Jill Schinas, Roxanne Schinas, Gean Montero - SV Mollymock crew & Beate Loecker - from SV Galadriel) so we could get on the ferry.

On February 16th, we shut down Anasazi Girl and boarded the Transbordadora Austral ferry the Yaghan for a 300 nm / 30 hour trip through the channels to Punta Arenas to begin a new phase of life as a family of six.

Mist & fog.
Beagle Channel, CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016)

Beautiful shadows & light.
Beagle Channel, CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016)

Visual morning vitamins for my family on the Yaghan ferry from PW to PA.
CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016)

Wild windblown seascape of the Beagle Channel
CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016)

Light of ice & snow sandwiched between dark moody clouds & sea.
Beagle Channel, CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016)

The last weeks of our little crew living as a trio.
Beagle Channel, CHILE / XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena (febrero de 2016