Patagonia is an extensive territory of over 1000 miles that begins at Rio Negro in Argentina (latitude 39*) and ends in the Straits of Magellan (Argentina and Chile, starting latitude 52*) where, as we follow the most distinctive southern cross, the Atlantic and Pacific meet.

Although “Patagonia” as a name is known well enough to have spawned a recognizable high end clothes brand (with its distinctive silhouette of the ‘Torres del Paine’ massif,) there is little specific knowledge about the various worlds it encompasses. Very mild in the northern sections , yet in the south it contains the largest ice masses outside the arctic and antarctic in its Patagonian ice fields, and is buffeted by strong winds and very cold temperatures. Furthermore, the Argentinian Steppes, the enormous expanses of dry and sloping grasslands forming huge pampas, are much better known than the wetter and more rugged ‘Andean Patagonia’ of Chile. The Cordillera de los Andes is still aborning in this area, and its many peaks stick out forming what is described as the best cruising ground in the world. A mystical land of wild islands, and it’s myriad of anchorages, with thousands of fjords and channels.

This is perhaps the most mysterious and unknown landscape on earth (mostly as a result of its isolation) boasting the lowest population density on the planet; having been recognized by the UN as a World Biosphere Reserve with the cleanest air and water on the planet. It is as safe as any part of the earth, with wind and ocean currents diverting hazardous materials elsewhere and with no known plagues or sicknesses (NO POISNOUS SNAKES, MALARIA, OR ANY OF THE OTHER HAZARDS OF TROPICAL JUNGLES).

Blue Water Ranch, located on Patagonia’s northern reaches, has weather similar to that found in the Seattle/Vancouver region. Weather is cool in summer and mild in winter, with mean lowest winter temperatures around 30*F. Snow is found on all the higher peaks, producing spectacular hanging glaciers seen at a distance from the perennial green of the reserves primeval forests.