November 4, 2014 – Rounding The Horn

Today at 8:20 a.m. we rounded "The Horn". Leaving Ushuaia we headed further south for the Strait of Magellan towards Cape Horn. The loudspeaker in our room came on at just at 7:00 warning guests NOT to be on any of the outside decks – according to the Captain, we were in 30' swells and were experiencing gale force winds in excess of 100 m.p.h. Our cabin is on the first floor outside which generally affords us a pretty close view of the water below. In our stateroom, drawers were opening and closing – toiletries were landing on the floor in the bathroom; and we rolled back and forth in bed - it seemed that the best idea was to remain in the bed and hold on. With the waves today, the water levels went from just below our windowsill, then back up again until we were about 35 feet above the water. It’s the worst we’ve ever experienced, but, the Zaandam took it in stride. Apparently the worst year for ship loses was 1903 when 130 vessels were lost trying to round the horn. We’re presently as far south as we’ll ever be again – 55 degrees 59.89 South and 67 degrees 21.40 West. We actually came in from the leeward Atlantic side, crossed on the north side of Horn Island and then swung around to the south and back east again to go past Cape Horn. As normally is the custom, the captain blew the horn at 8:20 a.m. as we crossed the imaginary line from the Pacific into the Atlantic. I can’t ever remember seeing waves crash up that to that height ever before. The captain said that we’re likely only 1% of the current world’s population that will ever experience the trip around Cape Horn, so we feel good to be in such select company. The say that sailors who rounded the “horn” were allowed to wear a gold earring in their left ear and put one foot up on the table while dining. Watch out Deb – there may be a new custom at dinnertime.

About 10 minutes after our passing, the weather brightened, the waves reduced and it’s smooth sailing on the way to Stanley in the Falkland Islands – set to pull into tomorrow morning. I did notice that HAL has taken ever-necessary precaution to put out the “bags” at strategic points throughout the ship for those who are prone to seasickness. Good thinking HAL.