Suzi Travels

Scenic cruising Cape Horn

Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. The Captain made the call to avoid this area because of the weather. During the night we had wind gusts up to 85 mph and seas up to 20-foot swells. They slowed the ship down to 6 knots. So, we sailed directly into the Beagle Channel on to our next port of call. Safety is always the first and most important choice.

But I decided to include some history on Cape Horn anyways. It is located on Hornos Island in the Hermite Islands group, at the southern end of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. It marks the north edge of the Drake Passage, the strait between South America and Antarctica. It is located in Cabo de Hornos National Park.

The cape lies within Chilean territorial waters, and the Chilean Navy maintains a station on Hoorn Island, consisting of a residence, utility building, chapel, and lighthouse. Currently it is occupied by a soldier, his wife, child and their cat. A short distance from the main station is a memorial, including a large sculpture made by Chilean sculptor José Balcells featuring the silhouette of an albatross, in remembrance of the sailors who died while attempting to “round the Horn”. It was erected in 1992 through the initiative of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horn Captains Brotherhood. Due to severe winds characteristic of the region, the sculpture was blown over in 2014. A 2019 research expedition found the world’s southernmost tree growing, a Magellan’s beech mostly bent to the ground, on a northeast-facing slope at the island’s southeast corner.

I got to experience the ship’s salon today. I spoiled myself and had my hair washed, blow dry and styled. I timed it perfectly with dress-up night.