Cape Horn is the most southerly point of
South America (Tierra del Fuego) 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 horn itself lies at 58 degrees south latitude.
We could tell we were getting closer to the cape as there were noticeable changes in the ocean waves. Sea sick bags again appeared in the toilets! But this ship is 1000ft long and cut through the swell easily - we hardly felt it. Thoughts went out to Jessica Watson though - it would have been tough in a smaller vessel. And this was a good day weather wise! I paused to give thoughts also to the adventurers of 150 years + ago, who were navigating this area in small, leaky boats! We saw a map on the wall in the English pub in the Falklands, which showed the location of every known shipwreck - there were a LOT. It isn't hard to imagine why.
We spent this sea day going to a ‘Chocolate
Journeys’ pastry demonstration with the expert pastry chef on board; then to a port lecture about Punta Arenas,
Chile. We went to a Rum tasting event in
one of the bars where we were able to taste five different types of rum
from mainly Caribbean countries. The boys went to a lecture in the afternoon
titled, ‘Supernova – When Stars Explode’ but unfortunately weren’t overly
impressed. Kerren and I took ourselves
to Afternoon Trivia and came close to winning….
The highlight of the day was the Cape Horn
passing, complete with commentary from the bridge from Julio, who has been
giving the lectures about the different ports.
It was freezing cold out on the deck!
Temperature forecast today: Low
6C and High 7C. Sunrise 5.05am, Sunset 10.10pm – almost 17 hours of
sunlight! The ocean around the horn was
very choppy due to the fact that the three oceans meet here – Pacific, Atlantic
and Southern. We were fortunate enough
to have some sunny interludes as well as rain squalls – and keep hearing
‘that’s maritime weather, just wait 20 minutes’! Julio said that we were very lucky as it’s
rare to have sunny weather at this time of year….
We were like little frozen icicles after
almost an hour outside taking photos and marveling at the scenery… time for
more rum to help us warm up!
Monday, January 12, 2015 – Ushuaia,
Argentina… ‘El fin del mundo’ (the End
of the World’)…
The Cape!
Rum tasting!
No comments:
Post a Comment