Due South

If the size of a man's toys equal the size of his wallet, then Andres Ergas' newest plaything is a good fit. Until 2000, his family owned the Banco de Chile, the country's No. 2 bank. And after 15 years in the family business, Ergas, 40, has lost interest. "There is nothing true about banking," he says. "Money, it's just a commodity." It is, however, useful nonetheless to breach the old adage and mix business with pleasure.

Late last year, Ergas launched Atmosphere, a $20 million, custom-built, 28-passenger ship, with which he plans to merge the family tradition of making money with his love of fly fishing in the isolated fjords of Chilean Patagonia. Charging fly fisherman $15,000 a week and ecotourists $10,000, Ergas' lure is the chance to travel in style to the end of the earth — and leave no trace. Onboard, it's like a trendy Scandinavian penthouse: white floors, outdoor jacuzzis, ambient grooves trickling through iTunes. The staff of 33 read like a Who's Who of Chilean military and academia: the captain once commanded the Chilean Navy SEALs, the expedition leader was in command of Augusto Pinochet's bodyguards, and Gian Paolo Sanino, the scientist who leads the ecotours, wrote Chile's new law on whale and dolphin watching. His payoff? He gets to conduct baseline research in an area where very little cetacean research has been done. "We always complain the private sector doesn't sponsor science," says Sanino. "Now they do."

It's thanks to Sanino that the Atmosphere is so ecosavvy. He sent back the six jet boats used for fishing to have silencers fitted, and ordered a smaller propeller for the Navy SEALs-issue rubber rib boat and a quieter helicopter. To many though, the mere presence of a helicopter in Patagonia amounts to a green sin. Ergas' response? He quotes the late Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin: "'My responsibility is to show people nature, because then they will fall in love with it. And only if you love something will you try to protect it.' In years to come, when they want to build dams here, you will be the people who will help us stop it." At $15,000 a week, it's likely those clients will have some clout. www.nomadsoftheseas.com