Cape Horn and Beagle Channel
LAND AHOY! In a brisk westerly wind and low clouds we slowly approached South America. Several happy faces suddenly reappeared, cheerfully looking forward to see land. After our crossing over the infamous Drake Passage, named after Queen Elizabeth’s more successful privateer Sir Francis Drake, the sight of land was sincerely appreciated.
Drake never saw the cliffs and instead it was a Dutch expedition, sent out in 1615 with the ship Eendracht to find a shortcut to East India and the spice trade, which first recorded and named the southern tip of South America. It was named Kap Hoorn to honor the Dutch village Hoorn where the expedition had sailed out from.
After a brief view of this famous cliff we slowly ventured east and approached Beagle Channel for our final destination, Ushuaia. Plenty of seabirds, dolphins and sea lions were seen along our trail. Suddenly, the hills along Beagle Channel were covered with green trees. This was a strange sight, after many days at sea and visiting the white continent.
Throughout the day, if not looking outside, we were kept busy by several presentations: our shipboard doctor Dean Gushee told us about his visit to the Ross Sea to encounter emperor penguins and very hungry leopard seals; Eric, our ice man, gave us insight on ice caves in Patagonia; and Steve MacLean presented facts about climate change.
Our hotel manager and his excellent galley team had set up a great afternoon barbeque on our sun deck, although today it may be better called “rain deck.” Still, as we slowly sailed along the Beagle Channel we saw the sun breaking through the dense clouds.
It was an enjoyable afternoon and many were talking about the fabulous voyage we have experienced over the last 20 days. After more than 4200 nautical miles doing clockwise navigation and visiting Falkland, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula in the very peak of breeding season, everybody would agree it has been an exceptional voyage. In fact, in many ways every day has been overwhelming with new impressions and it is almost hard to remember the very start. Luckily our cameras and photos will help us to remember and in our minds we’ll revisit every place we have seen. Most of all we have been blessed with amazing good weather in the roaring 40s, screaming 50s and howling 60s. Some brought onboard great luck.
