Heading North - the Drake Passage and Cape Horn

 

Watching the waves of the Drake Passage from our balcony

Sunday, November 19 -  Drake Passage and Cape Horn, South America

We're heading north to return to our departure port of Ushuaia, Argentina, passing directly through the Drake Passage via two days At Sea. Today is our second day crossing the Drake.  It’s been fairly tolerable - swells are 3 to 4 meters, winds are mild. It's been easier, frankly, than our crossing to the  Falklands - or I’m just more used to it. I slept well last night, up for good at 7:20 and went downstairs to take my jacket to the donations area.  Then I met friends in the hallway and joined them for breakfast in Two Seven Zero.  I had an omelet and an iced coffee.  We are approaching Cape Horn, and Kathy spied it out the window.  Stef, our Expedition Leader, made a PA announcement, saying we’d be at our closest around 8:45 or so. I was excited to see this legendary landmark at the very tip of South America. 

Map showing the locations of the Drake, Cape Horn, the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia

It was rocking and rolling in the Drake, but all in all, pretty mild

Ship navigation map showing our approach to Cape Horn

And there it is - the famous, infamous Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost point in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and a historically dangerous place for sailors.  We traveled within half a mile of the large brown peak that is Cape Horn, and could see the famous Albatross statue and the church/ lighthouse complex.  You can land there if you come from Chili, but we are traveling through the Argentinian side and couldn’t do so without a Chilean pilot.  Most boats don’t stop here because it’s such a difficult landing.  I went down to the bridge, where most people were, and took photos and looked at it with our binoculars. Stef, our Expedition Leader read a poem about Cape Horn on the Albatross monument, first in its original Spanish language and then in English. The poem was written by Sara Vial and inscribed at the base of the monument when it was erected in 1990:

I am the albatross that awaits you

At the end of the world.

I am the forgotten souls of the dead mariners

Who passed Cape Horn

From all the oceans of the world.

But they did not die

In the furious waves.

Today they sail on my wings

Toward eternity,

In the last crack

        Of the Antarctic winds.

The Cape Horn Lighthouse and church

The Cape Horn Albatross monument