SS YAVARI, Lake Titicaca, Peru

[belizesailor]

We are now on Lake Titicaca, Peru. Our accomodation for the evening was the restored SS Yavari. To make it even cooler...we were the only guests aboard.

This vessel has an amazing history: commissioned in 1862 in England, shipped as over 1,300 parts around Cape Horn, then by train across the driest desert in the world (Chile's Atacama), then by mule train thru the Andes up to Titicaca at 12,000'...where it was assembled and lanched in 1870.

Way cool, litetally, its damn cold here at night, but the ship is cozy.


Fully bundled up having coffee this AM.



See: yavari.org for more details.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Absolutely AWESOME!!!

Love the boat, accommodations... and ... boilers !!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

[barnakiel]

Looked her up. Awesome!

Great to hear another one has been saved!

Cheers,
b.

[Matt Johnson]

I LOVE Peru! Lake Titicaca.... not so much. Worth a quick visit, but not at the expense of more time in Cusco.

Matt

[jkindredpdx]

Have or will you visit the floating islands of Lake Titicaca? ...still one of my favorite Peru memories, meeting the people who's ancestors moved onto the lake to avoid Inca tax collectors.

[redhead]

What a perfect vacation! History, boats, engines and Andes.... wow, just wow.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Have or will you visit the floating islands of Lake Titicaca? ...still one of my favorite Peru memories, meeting the people who's ancestors moved onto the lake to avoid Inca tax collectors.

Tomorrow we do a day trip to the islas, and then on to Cuzco.

The depth and breadth of ancient cultures here is awe inspiring. Just learned of the Caral/Chico Norte cultures during this trip...advanced cultures dating back to 3000 BC. Some things thought to have originated with the Inca are now thought to have originated thousands of years before with these cultures.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

I LOVE Peru! Lake Titicaca.... not so much. Worth a quick visit, but not at the expense of more time in Cusco.

Matt

Yeah, we are just here for a few days and then taking the train to Cuzco and likely be in that area for the duration.

Agree that Lake Titicaca is interesting for a brief visit...or a much longer one, if you had access to wheels and a boat so you could really explore.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Absolutely AWESOME!!!

Love the boat, accommodations... and ... boilers !!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Looked her up. Awesome!

Great to hear another one has been saved!

Cheers,
b.

And as if doing this once was not awesome enough...the Yavari had a twin and this feat was repeated with several other vessels. Unfortunately, only the Yavari is still in service.

Good overview of the steamships of Lake Titicaca:

http://nonesuchexpeditions.com/nones...team-ships.htm

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Absolutely AWESOME!!!

Love the boat, accommodations... and ... boilers !!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

The Captain gave us a tour after breakfast today, the main engine is amazing...restored to near museum quality...its like a work of art.

Four big cylinders that only thump over at about 250 RPM.

Pics of engine room and other areas:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hgpwjsxyw...PP0x-uPLa?dl=0

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by redhead

What a perfect vacation! History, boats, engines and Andes.... wow, just wow.

Yes..."Wow" has been my general response to Peru..an absolutely amazing country...and we are only visiting southern Peru this trip (Lima, Paracas, Nazca, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Cuzco region).

A number of dramatic maritime environements here:

Paracas where the massive western desert, Pacific coast, and cold Humbolt current converge resulting in chilly nights in the desert on the coast, with sea lions and pengiuns nearby while only about 13.5° south of the equator. Never rains in Parscas either, literally, not for 1,000 years by some estimates.

Lake Titicaca: highest commercially navigable lake in the world. Deep too, at about 300 meters max. Its a bit unusual lie in your heavily blanketed bunk, aboard a ship built in 1862, chewing coca leaves (because you're at 12,000'), surround by shore line peppered with the ruins of several ancient civilizations.

Flamingos....bloody f'ing FLAMINGOS in the high Andes !!! in the lakes near Titicaca.

[Frugal]

Visited her in January 2001 when she was up on the slipway, specially built for her.
Comments were that she was designed to run on dried Yak dung.
Not powerful enough so they imported Cardiff coal to fire it. Again around Cape horn and mule trained up the Andes. She was undergoing a few hull plate replacements after many years of being tied up to a wharf.
Magnificent idiosyncratic relic.

[sail2travel]

Back in 1980 I sailed from a Peru to Bolivia on a sailboats with Jack Woods, a 65 year old adventurer from Miami. We had a commercial hydrofoil as our chase boat. Several days of training and filming culture included having our boards blessed my an Aymaran blind priest in Copacabana! I was amazed by the diversity, beauty, cultures and history. We sailed 80 miles in one day and my goal was not to fall since it's barely above freezing water temps! Success. What was really spectacular was meeting a man who still made the ancient reed boats. Check out the latest movie Kon Tiki.

[Dymaxion]

Wow, looks like the boiler maker has been polishing his nuts!