At Sea, Cape Horn
Twenty nine and a half million years ago, great internal forces beneath the earth’s crust pushed and pulled the continent of Antarctica away from the rest of the world’s land masses. That separation, combined with the direction of the earth’s rotation, created a powerful system of wind-driven currents. These currents that circle the globe, unobstructed by land, are driven by an endless parade of low pressure systems traveling from west to east around Antarctica. They are known to sailors of the Southern Oceans as the West Wind Drift.
During the days of sail, when tall ships plied the world’s oceans with their cargos, Cape Horn loomed large in the minds of those ships’ captains and crews. Sailing from east to west around the Horn was by far the most dangerous direction. Fair weather and light winds would not propel those ships fast enough to overcome the currents of the West Wind Drift. Favorable winds were most often accompanied by powerful storms. Many ships were lost or disabled as they battled their way westward into the teeth of a gale trying desperately to round the Horn. A few were even dragged by the currents and dashed to pieces on the very rocks at the foot of this legendary point of land.
During breakfast National Geographic Explorer approached within two miles of the now fabled promontory. What a glorious day! Sailors of old rejoiced on days such as this. The fresh, favorable east wind we experienced would have spirited their lofty ships quickly and safely around the horn from the Atlantic into the Pacific.
The rest of our final day aboard was spent bathed in the warm sunshine of the austral summer. We enjoyed two more presentations, one by Rick on the use of dogs north and south and the other by Steve on climate change and its effect on the polar regions. Between lectures and meals we finished our packing, marked charts with our routes, and shared memories of our voyage with our shipmates, a fitting end to a splendid trip down to the ice in the comfort of our little blue ship.
