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Abra Channel
Abra Channel (Spanish ''Canal Abra'', formerly ''Sea Shell Channel'') is one of the three channels which connects Magellan Strait with the Pacific Ocean (Others are Bárbara Channel and Magdalena Channel). It is located between the Santa Inés Island and the ''Jacques Island'' and ends at the Otway Bay. An incomplete examination by the ''Sylvia'' showed it to be a fine navigable passage, but no anchorages were found. It may possibly be of service to a vessel embayed in Otway Bay, enabling her to run into the strait. Abra Island, which stands in the center of the eastern entrance, is 300 feet high and covered with vegetation. The entrance is 2 miles wide, but it soon narrows to 1 mile. A rock with a depth of 1.5 fathoms on it, and well marked with kelp, lies in the fairway of Abra Channel, with center of Maycock Island bearing 305°, distant 0,75 mile, and summit of Francis Island 32°. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote: :''We called it the opening (Abra) because we can't see its ...
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Magellan Strait
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was discovered and first traversed by the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, after whom it is named. Prior to this, the strait had been navigated by canoe-faring indigenous peoples including the Kawésqar. Magellan's original name for the strait was ''Estrecho de Todos los Santos'' ("Strait of All Saints"). The King of Spain, Emperor Charles V, who sponsored the Magellan-Elcano expedition, changed the name to the Strait of Magellan in honor of Magellan. The route is difficult to navigate due to frequent narrows and unpredictable winds and currents. Maritime piloting is now compulsory. The strait is shorter and more sheltered than the Drake Passage, the often stormy open sea ...
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Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean
. '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The centers of both the

Bárbara Channel
Barbara Channel (Spanish ''Canal Bárbara'')) is one of the three channels which connects Magellan Strait with the Pacific Ocean (Others are Abra Channel and Magdalena Channel). It is located between the Santa Inés Island and the Clarence Island and ends at the Otway Bay, having the same entrance into the Pacific as Cockburn Channel, runs in a north direction along the west side of Clarence Island. The United States Hydrographic OfficeSouth America Pilot(1916) states: :''Barbara Channel, leading into Magellan Strait at English Reach, has its southern entrance so encumbered with islands and rocks that no one direct channel can be specially recommended, and the chart must be referred to as the best guide for its navigation. For small vessels there is neither danger nor difficulty; and there are numerous anchorages that they may reach without trouble. The rocks off the entrance of this channel should be passed only during daylight and in clear weather, so that a vessel may be steer ...
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Magdalena Channel
350px, The channel is visible in the lower left corner. Magdalena Channel () is a Chilean channel joining the Strait of Magellan with the Cockburn Channel and is part of a major navigation route which ultimately connects with the Beagle Channel. It separates Capitán Aracena Island from the westernmost portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, and crosses Alberto de Agostini National Park. It is flanked by mountains, the chief of which is Monte Sarmiento. Like the Abra Channel and the Bárbara Channel farther west, it joins the western part of the Strait of Magellan directly to the Pacific Ocean. It is located at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage: . See also *Fjords and channels of Chile * List of fjords, channels, sounds and straits of Chile *List of islands of Chile This is a list of islands of Chile, as listed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyCountry Files (GNS)The data was retrieved on 19 January 2013 and thwere "ISL" and "ISLS" The countr ...
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Santa Inés Island
Santa Inés Island () is an island in southern Chile, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and of Punta Arenas municipality, lying south west of the Brunswick Peninsula, from which is separated by the Strait of Magellan and minor islands. It is the largest island of Punta Arenas municipality and the third largest of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, after Isla Grande and Hoste Island. Its shoreline in this area is part of the Francisco Coloane Coastal and Marine Protected Area. The rest of the island is a part of the Alacalufes National Reserve, equalling that Desolación Island and the ''Córdova Peninsula''. This latter is located in front of the island on the other side of the Strait of Magellan and is a peninsula of Riesco Island. The island belongs to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The island hosts a small ice field named Grandes Ventisqueros. It has a deeply indented coastline with several fjords, one of which hid the German light cruiser Dresden following the b ...
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Fathom
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Historically, however, it is the most frequently employed maritime measure of depth in the English-speaking world. There are two yards (6 feet) in an imperial fathom. Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms, the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard. Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around . Name The name (pronounced ) derives from the Old English word ''fæðm'', cognate to the Danish (via the Vikings) word "favn" meaning embracing arms or a pair of outstretched arms. Cognate maybe also via the Old High German word "fadum" of the same meaning.''Oxford English Dictionary' ...
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Pedro Sarmiento De Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated, or Alcalá de Henares in Castile, where he later is known to have studied . His father Bartolomé Sarmiento was born in Pontevedra and his mother María Gamboa was born in Bilbao, Basque Country. Biography Early life At the age of 18, Sarmiento de Gamboa entered the royal military in the European wars. Between 1550 and 1555 the future navigator fought in the armies of Emperor Charles V. In 1555 he began his exploring career, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. His first destination was New Spain (in what is today Mexico), where he lived for two years. Little is known of this period in his life, other than that he encountered difficulties with the Inquisition. He then sailed to Peru, where he lived for more than twenty years, gaining a reputation as a na ...
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United States Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transferred to the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949. The office was abolished on 10 July 1962, replaced by the Naval Oceanographic Office. Objectives Before the hydrographic office was established in 1866, U.S. navigators were almost entirely dependent on British charts. A few private enterprises had prepared and published charts, but had not been able to do so profitably. The Hydrographic Office was established "for the improvement of the means for navigating safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine, by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators and manuals of instructions for the use of all vessels of the United States, and for the ben ...
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Straits Of Chile
A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channel that lies between two land masses. Some straits are not navigable, for example because they are either too narrow or too shallow, or because of an unnavigable reef or archipelago. Straits are also known to be loci for sediment accumulation. Usually, sand-size deposits occur on both the two opposite strait exits, forming subaqueous fans or deltas. Terminology The terms ''channel'', ''pass'', or ''passage'' can be synonymous and used interchangeably with ''strait'', although each is sometimes differentiated with varying senses. In Scotland, ''firth'' or ''Kyle'' are also sometimes used as synonyms for strait. Many straits are economically important. Straits can be important shipping routes and wars have been fought for control of them. ...
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