January 22nd, 23rd Cape Horn, 24th

Monday, January 22nd was a lazy day. We started off our day with a lecture about Cape Horn to tell us about the new route we were taking. The Captain had negotiated with the Chilean authorities that after we had rounded the Horn in Drakes Passage (at approx. 9.00am) we could take an alternative route that involved turning the ship around and heading in a northerly direction again before joining the Beagle Channel where we would cruise westward to Puerto William for Chilean clearance (about 2.00pm) and then continue through the fiords past the ‘hanging glaciers’ leading to the Magellan Strait before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Cape Horn is the greatest sight of ship loss in the world (approx. 800 wrecks) – and at least 10,000 sailors have died there. Apparently, it is the westerly winds that mainly prevail and create the havoc where the ocean is extra deep and has undercurrents from the Drake Passage. Up to 1910 cargo ships were still sailing around the Cape. Alan rested after lunch and I spent the afternoon at the casino and then the gym before dinner on another formal evening.
Tuesday, January 23rd Cape Horn. Overnight we had sailed between the coast of Argentina and the Falkland Islands. At 9.00am we were on our balcony as we sailed toward Cape Horn with the wind in an easterly direction, which was amazingly in our favour as it meant that the sea was calmer than usual. The mist hovered above the mountains as we approached the Horn and the sun shone down on the many gigantic rocky projections from the ocean. We could clearly see the light house and penguins on one of the trajectories. I took lots of DVD film as we sailed around Cape Horn (seen in the photo) it was a magnificent sight to see and we were fortunate that we were on the starboard side for first sighting.

The south face of the Cape is called ‘the face of the Devil’ because sailors fear it so much; we sailed very close due to calm seas. After a half hour viewing, ballast was released to port side as the ship was turned for port side passengers to enjoy the views too. We then sailed northwards towards the Beagle Channel (named after Darwin’s ship ‘Beagle’) passing between enormous mountainous ranges. At 1.00pm we entered the narrow channel and a half hour later we were in the McKinsley Passage. At 2.00pm we stopped at Puerto William for Chilean clearance; (picture right) this is a small naval base with ice breakers and is the most southerly town in the world. The sun was very hot (too hot too sit out in) but the breeze had a chill and so the air temperature was 10 degrees centigrade, which must have been a delight for the locals. A large old wooden two mast yacht past en route to her next heading via the open seas, the sailors waved and shouted to us (it looked like Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl.) We delayed a while to drop off the immigration controller who had joined the ship in Montevideo before continuing our voyage through magnificent scenery toward the ‘hanging glaciers’

The passage narrowed and we were only a short distance from amazing sights when we arrived at 5.00pm to spent 45 minutes photographing the five incredible glaciers as we sailed past. Each one in turn had its own degree of beauty but one particularly magnificent glacier cascaded down bringing oxygenated ice from a great height turning the sea an emerald green. It was three hours of unforgettable experience and we were extremely lucky with the brilliant weather. A small sailing boat past our ship about 5.15pm and the captain announced that he had been in contact with the English loan sailor who was en route to South Africa and had sent us his best wishes. By 7.15pm we were entering the Canal O’Brian leading us through to the Magellan Strait. We had spent the evening in the ballroom after dinner because the casino had to be closed whilst we were in Chilean waters. It was fun because we were sitting with four of our fellow diners, Geoffrey and Jill from the UK, and John and Mary from Charleston, SC. and I was able to have a few dances.
Wednesday, January 24th At 2.00am the QM2 cleared the Cockburn Canal and entered the Straits of Magellan until 7.30am when she reached the Southern Pacific Ocean. When I awoke we were already on a northerly course running parallel to the Chilean coast towards Middle Chile en route to Valporaiso. It was a dull and rainy day so all passengers were relaxing or doing laundry! Alan attended a lecture about ‘Shackleton’s Triumph’ by Capt. Richard Hayman, who had given commentary as we progressed around the Horn. He has been wonderful throughout our cruise, but is not the ship’s captain, he is Christopher Rynd. I spent most of the day sorting out my lap top because it had big problems, but as you can see it is OK now so I am going to get this blog off right away!!! Alan is at a Malt Whiskey tasting!!!! It is a formal evening tonight.

Just to confirm that the news in the UK is wrong - There is no sickness on this ship - it is QE2 that has the Norovirus not us. Thank goodness.