South America 2016: Cape Horn

This was our day at sea, heading south towards Cape Horn. We enjoyed three enrichment lectures during the day ... Cape Horn, Ushuaia and Puerto Arenas. We had a couple of very busy days ahead of us, so this gave us a chance to learn about these ports. It was rainy, dull, windy and cold ---- 8 celsius.

Drake Passage Map

Apparently a trip around Cape Horn must be on a lot of people's "bucket list". There was great anticipation among the passengers, especially the group of young Japanese, who were all decked out in their warm "North Face" and "Patagonia" gear. We decided to watch the whole thing from the lounge on the 17th aft deck bar, which had a spectacular panoramic view. Our Japanese friends celebrated our passage with champaign.

We started around Cape Horn about 5 pm and there was narration which could be heard ship wide. To us, it was rather anti-climatic ... the seas were not rough, it was dull and rainy and it was just a huge bunch of rocks .... but we have done it.

Cape Horn is the most southerly point of South America and marks the northern boundary of Drake Passage. For many years it was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world. The Panama Canal has changed all that. We circumnavigated the island anticlockwise and then headed towards Port Williams (not the one in Nova Scotia) where the ship went through Chilean immigration. The boundaries between Argentina and Chile are rather erratic in this area and we were dodging from one country to another. Ushuaia is in Argentina, but we had to travel through the inside passage, passing back and forth between Chile and Argentina. It appears these two countries do not get along well, but really nobody gets along well with Argentina.

Here are some of the photos we took, plus we had added one from the internet. There is a weather station and lighthouse on the island ... would not want to live there!