The mercifully calm crossing of the Drake Passage afforded a rare treat. As the dawn sunlight spilled across the horizon, Captain Oliver Kruess sailed the National Geographic Explorer into the southern-most tip of Chilean territory, and South America itself, the Diego Ramírez Islands.
The islands are located 65 miles south-southwest of Cape Horn and stretch about five miles from north to south. Under the watchful eye of the Chilean Navy meteorological outpost we pushed closer. The decks of the National Geographic Explorer were surrounded by flocks of black-browed and grey-headed albatross while rockhopper penguins and South American fur seals swam around the bow. The summit of our visit came as we caught a glimpse of a dwarf minke whale, its identification confirmed by NOAA scientist John Durban. This was the first sighting of this species for the entire expedition.
Pressing further north the National Geographic Explorer was aided by a southerly swell guiding us toward Cape Horn and the monument to the fallen seamen. Despite the calm seas the significance of this place and the thousands of sailors who met their match here was not lost on us as we read these words inscribed on the monument:
“Soy el alma olvidada de los marinos mueros,
Que cruzaron el Cabo de Horns
Desde todos los mares de la tierra.”
I am the forgotten soul of the dead mariners,
Who rounded Cape Horn
From all the seas of the world”
Sara Vial, 1992
