Cape Horn
Just when we thought the voyage was over, there was more to experience. Yesterday was very calm for a crossing of the Drake Passage. With very little wind and only some residual swell, the crossing seemed to be easy on everyone involved. Last night we watched a video called “Around Cape Horn” which was shot in 1929 by Captain Irving Johnson. In the film he described the amazing waves, wind, and sea he experienced in his sailing adventures.
This morning the reputation of “Rounding the Horn” was experienced in a different way by us. The wind did increase as did the seas, but we were in plain view of the rocky islands that make up Cape Horn. Something Irving Johnson never viewed aboard the huge sailing ships of that era, for they were forced to go around the horn much farther south than we would need. National Geographic Explorer is highly maneuverable and is able to plow through many sea states while providing great comfort to her guests. It was a perfect platform for viewing one of the most storied landscapes of the age of sail.
Once we turned east and moved from the Chilean side of the archipelago to the Beagle Channel the seas calmed and we “sailed” west along the picturesque waterway which acts as the border between Chile and Argentina. There was time for a few more presentations and then pack our belongings and our memories from this amazing expedition.
