Cape Horn Cruising
Named after the city of Hoorn (in the
Netherlands) it is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile. It is widely considered to be the southern tip of South America. Cape Horn is the most southerly of the great capes, and marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage; for many years it was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world.
At 2pm ~ Goose, our cruise director came on the intercom and told everyone we were on our final approach to Cape Horn.
Ruth and I found a warm seat on the Starboard Side of the Black Pearl Dining Room and watched as we began to see the islands and rocks near Cape Horn and it was thrilling to watch them grow in size and mass as we sailed closer.
About 3pm Goose came on again and told everyone to move to the port side so we could begin to see Cape Horn in the distance looking exactly like the pictures we had pulled up on the internet prior to leaving home.
Here it was the tip of the world, the end of Patagonia, the beautiful and fearsome Cape Horn and here we were beginning to pass it on a beautiful calm day with full view and no signs of danger what so ever. It was wonderful.
"Patagonia" which essentially is the last 1000 miles, north to south of South America which encompasses Argentina on the east and Chile on the west. It is an area roughly 1000 miles long by from 600 miles wide on the northern end down to about 100 miles wide on the southern end and is as barren and wild throughout as land can get on this earth with territory ranging from the almost tundra like land near Puerto Madryn to interior desert like land and some rainforest to the extremely high and rugged mountains of the Andean Range slopping down to the more livable region of middle Chile and the uninhabitable region of lower Chile except for small areas such as Ushuaia, Argentina and Punta Arenas, Chile.
Not long after 330pm we were close in (within a mile) to the actual Rock called "CAPE HORN". We could see the statue of the Albatross, Lighthouse and the Chilean Flag flying overhead.
The Captain sailed around Cape Horn Island leaving the Atlantic Ocean and crossing into the Pacific Ocean then around to the Atlantic Ocean once more.
One of our lifeboats was dropped down and a few officers went over to procure a stamp denoting our sailing around the Horn from the Chilean Officials for the ship and our certificates we will receive later on. The winds were 57 knots and swells were 15 feet.
Sometimes you could see clearly and at other times the fog and mist obliterated all.
Around 4pm we headed up to the Lido to see what the Salsas 49ers were up to and found a few of our folks who will now forever be known as the “Polar Bear Club” braving the cold wind and rain and sitting in the Jacuzzi!
We stayed inside where it was warm and continued to watch as the Captain and the Chilean pilot steered the ship toward Drakes Passage where we will drop anchor near Ushuaia at 12M.
Named after the city of Hoorn (in the
Netherlands) it is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile. It is widely considered to be the southern tip of South America. Cape Horn is the most southerly of the great capes, and marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage; for many years it was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world.
At 2pm ~ Goose, our cruise director came on the intercom and told everyone we were on our final approach to Cape Horn.
Ruth and I found a warm seat on the Starboard Side of the Black Pearl Dining Room and watched as we began to see the islands and rocks near Cape Horn and it was thrilling to watch them grow in size and mass as we sailed closer.
About 3pm Goose came on again and told everyone to move to the port side so we could begin to see Cape Horn in the distance looking exactly like the pictures we had pulled up on the internet prior to leaving home.
Here it was the tip of the world, the end of Patagonia, the beautiful and fearsome Cape Horn and here we were beginning to pass it on a beautiful calm day with full view and no signs of danger what so ever. It was wonderful.
"Patagonia" which essentially is the last 1000 miles, north to south of South America which encompasses Argentina on the east and Chile on the west. It is an area roughly 1000 miles long by from 600 miles wide on the northern end down to about 100 miles wide on the southern end and is as barren and wild throughout as land can get on this earth with territory ranging from the almost tundra like land near Puerto Madryn to interior desert like land and some rainforest to the extremely high and rugged mountains of the Andean Range slopping down to the more livable region of middle Chile and the uninhabitable region of lower Chile except for small areas such as Ushuaia, Argentina and Punta Arenas, Chile.
Not long after 330pm we were close in (within a mile) to the actual Rock called "CAPE HORN". We could see the statue of the Albatross, Lighthouse and the Chilean Flag flying overhead.
The Captain sailed around Cape Horn Island leaving the Atlantic Ocean and crossing into the Pacific Ocean then around to the Atlantic Ocean once more.
One of our lifeboats was dropped down and a few officers went over to procure a stamp denoting our sailing around the Horn from the Chilean Officials for the ship and our certificates we will receive later on. The winds were 57 knots and swells were 15 feet.
Sometimes you could see clearly and at other times the fog and mist obliterated all.
Around 4pm we headed up to the Lido to see what the Salsas 49ers were up to and found a few of our folks who will now forever be known as the “Polar Bear Club” braving the cold wind and rain and sitting in the Jacuzzi!
We stayed inside where it was warm and continued to watch as the Captain and the Chilean pilot steered the ship toward Drakes Passage where we will drop anchor near Ushuaia at 12M.
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