Cape Horn, Beagle Channel & Ushuaia
This morning we continue our passage through the Drake under overcast skies, a very warm air temperature of 8°C and 18 knot winds from the NW. Ahead and in the distance blue skies and land can be seen. We are approaching Cape Horn and will do so from the Pacific Ocean.
Just after breakfast, and under warm sunshine, we turn our heading eastwards and gently sail past this mythical bit of land. The gentle winds are following which is a reminder of what the sailing ships had to contend with as they attempted to round the Horn and sail into the Pacific. However today’s almost balmy weather makes it difficult to fully appreciate what these sailors experienced. A single long blast from the ship sounds and salutes those who have ventured here before. Now we are back into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. All around us there are sooty shearwaters, cape pigeons, giant petrels and black-browed albatrosses. Then orcas are spotted and we slow down and approach them. It is a pod of some 7 individuals and their coloration is quite different from those seen a few days ago in Antarctica. We get treated to some great views of these wonderful marine mammals. Soon we are underway again with shimmering waters ahead of us.
During the latter part of the morning and afternoon we sail in a northerly direction with a gentle breeze from the west, under beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine. It has not been very common these last ten days or so to see people on deck with eyes closed and drinking in the warmth from Helios. The islands about us are covered in rich vegetation. Most of these forests are comprised of trees from the southern beech family and are known locally by the delightful names of Lenga, Ñire and Coihue.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon we pick up our Argentinian pilot who will guide us to Ushuaia. We are now sailing along the Beagle Channel, named after the ship which had on board one Charles Darwin. By the time Darwin came to these waters many of the ideas which were later to become the theory on the origin of the species were already coming together in his mind. Incredibly the weather ahead looks ominous: darkened skies and shafts of light which usually mean rain and wind. These sudden changes have been a constant companion on this journey.
We have all shared a very wonderful experience these past few days and we take home very intense moments and others which are impossible to put into words. Let us remember that one of the ideas presented to us during the IAATO Guideline talk was to become Ambassadors for Antarctica. Maybe the beautiful poem read to us this morning off Cape Horn, as well as what we have lived in this most extraordinary of places, will help us to become inspired to be just that.
This morning we continue our passage through the Drake under overcast skies, a very warm air temperature of 8°C and 18 knot winds from the NW. Ahead and in the distance blue skies and land can be seen. We are approaching Cape Horn and will do so from the Pacific Ocean.
Just after breakfast, and under warm sunshine, we turn our heading eastwards and gently sail past this mythical bit of land. The gentle winds are following which is a reminder of what the sailing ships had to contend with as they attempted to round the Horn and sail into the Pacific. However today’s almost balmy weather makes it difficult to fully appreciate what these sailors experienced. A single long blast from the ship sounds and salutes those who have ventured here before. Now we are back into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. All around us there are sooty shearwaters, cape pigeons, giant petrels and black-browed albatrosses. Then orcas are spotted and we slow down and approach them. It is a pod of some 7 individuals and their coloration is quite different from those seen a few days ago in Antarctica. We get treated to some great views of these wonderful marine mammals. Soon we are underway again with shimmering waters ahead of us.
During the latter part of the morning and afternoon we sail in a northerly direction with a gentle breeze from the west, under beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine. It has not been very common these last ten days or so to see people on deck with eyes closed and drinking in the warmth from Helios. The islands about us are covered in rich vegetation. Most of these forests are comprised of trees from the southern beech family and are known locally by the delightful names of Lenga, Ñire and Coihue.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon we pick up our Argentinian pilot who will guide us to Ushuaia. We are now sailing along the Beagle Channel, named after the ship which had on board one Charles Darwin. By the time Darwin came to these waters many of the ideas which were later to become the theory on the origin of the species were already coming together in his mind. Incredibly the weather ahead looks ominous: darkened skies and shafts of light which usually mean rain and wind. These sudden changes have been a constant companion on this journey.
We have all shared a very wonderful experience these past few days and we take home very intense moments and others which are impossible to put into words. Let us remember that one of the ideas presented to us during the IAATO Guideline talk was to become Ambassadors for Antarctica. Maybe the beautiful poem read to us this morning off Cape Horn, as well as what we have lived in this most extraordinary of places, will help us to become inspired to be just that.
