Up Close to Cape Horn

Up Close to Cape Horn

by Jonny Blair

A Michael Palin documentary a few years back saw him actually land and set foot on Cape Horn. For those who don't actually know, Cape Horn is, realistically the last point of "liveable" land on planet earth. Conditions further south are generally too cold, and this particular island is the southern most tip of South America.[]

Cape Horn is in Tierra del Fuego. A series of islands owned jointly by Argentina and Chile, however Cape Horn is on the Chilean side. What a great name - Cape Horn - it just sounds inspiring and makes you want to see it. That was the plan and we were on our way!

it's expensive to visit the Cape of Horn. For some reason Michael Palin didn't pay for it - it would all have been covered by a generous BBC budget for the purpose of filming. My trip was on a much lower budget and I managed to backpack my way to Antarctica - the trip to visit the Horn, even just to see it on the way back was such a bonus. However the Chilean marine authorities don't let ships close to it - they issue a proximity maximum of around 12 - 13 miles except in special circumstances.

The boat we were sailing on was a mighty fine vessel. Having been made in Denmark and registered in Liberia it was now making regular journeys from Antarctica to Argentina! We didn't catch a glimspe of Cape Horn at all on our departure from Argentina and in fact we headed into the dreaded Drake Passage late at night so even passing by the area close most of the passengers on board would have been asleep. Plus we didn't actually go near Cape Horn on the way down, as it's further west. []

Russell and I had talked about whether or not we would see Cape Horn on the way back. Indeed the day before they had shown us a Cape Horn documentary which had us wondering. I asked a few of the leaders and they were tight lipped about it.

However the map of the route onboard the ship was the giveaway as we had departed from Antarctica at Elephant Island and were changing direction rapidly, instead of heading directly north, there was a slight tilting to the north west, where Cape Horn sits.

That night at the recap and briefing session from the day's activities, the crew confirmed it for us - that the following morning at around 5 am we would be coming close to Cape Horn! A dream was being made to come true!

However it was also the last night on board the ship to celebrate the epic journey to Antarctica so we had all been in the onboard bar celebrating and toasting to the incredible trip. It was almost 3 am when I got to bed and that meant only a couple of hours sleep before the dream arrival at the horn!

I awoke at 5 am just a few hours later, and awoke Mark my cabin mate to say "It's 5 am, aren't we supposed to be near Cape Horn now?" I looked out the window and there was no sign of Cape Horn so we drifted back to sleep and waited on the wake up call. I awoke again at 6 am, still with no announcement from The Bridge about whether or not we had reached Cape Horn, but I decided to get up and shower and change anyway as I couldn't miss this chance.

The announcement from the bridge confirmed that the island tip ahead was indeed Cape Horn and that we had been given permission due to the favourable weather to breach the 12 - 13 mile barrier and get a bit closer to Cape Horn.

Everyone gathered on the very top deck laden with cameras and warm clothes. It was a joy just staring out at this remote piece of land on the south tip of Chile knowing we had seen the end of the civilised world. We didn't land on it, but we saw it.



To read more articles like <a href="http://tinyurl.com/awxnqsk">Seeing Cape Horn</a> go to Jonny Blair's recommended site <a href="http://tinyurl.com/d739bzx">A Lifestyle of Travel</a> for ongoing travel stories and tips.. Unique version for reprint here: <a href="http://www.uberarticles.com/home.php?id=1780518&p=68737">Up Close to Cape Horn</a>.


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