March 13 – Cape Horn Chile

The next few days promise to be outstanding.  We will be travelling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This voyage will start by taking a side trip to Cape Horn, going north and then going west through the Beagle Channel, past Glacier Alley and into the Straights of Magellan where we will see the Chilean Fjords. The scenery should be spectacular. 

During the night the Infinity left Ushuaia and went south to Cape Horn. Early this morning, 6:00 am to be exact, we got up and went to Constellation Lounge to hear Mickey give his lecture on Cape Horn.  The Constellation, which is the largest lounge on the ship, was full.  We ended up going down to the buffet restaurant and getting window seats there.

Cape Horn is a small island that juts out in the ocean and is the southernmost point in South America.  It is here that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet with sometimes violent results in the weather.  There is a Chilean navel observation post, a lighthouse and the Albatross Monument to honour the many sailors who have lost their lives in these waters.

Short History of Cape Horn

The winds and the current were very strong today. While our ship was executing a maneuver to turn the boat around and return to the north, it was blown off course by a mie.  As we were moving towards the Beagle Channel and out of the protection of Cape Horn, the winds really picked up. This produced large waves that were much larger than we’ve seen on this cruise.

Early in the afternoon we entered the Beagle Channel, briefly entering Argentina for a short distance before reentering Chile.  We are protected by the mountains so the wind is not as severe.  The water is actually quite smooth.  This narrow body of water is bordered on both sides by mountains.  Some are magnificent snow covered peaks and others are gently rounded mountains covered in lush forests.

The channel was named after the boat that Charles Darwin used while researching his theory of evolution while in South America.

After about two hours we started passing the Chilean Glaciers. They are one of the most awe inspiring landscapes that I have ever witnessed.  The huge Patagonian  ice field in the Andes has produced a series of glaciers that run into the Beagle Channel.  The ice field extends 300 km north from the mountains bordering the water.  At one particularly impressive glacier we got to see it calving, where two large chunks of ice fell from the edge of the glacier into the channel.

Towards the end of Glacier Alley the ship was entertained by four humpback whales that swam past us and put on quite a show.  Marg was lucky as the breaching took place right in front of where she was sitting.

The silliest demonstration that I’ve heard of is happening this afternoon.  They are going to have a Coca-Cola taste testing seminar.  Really?  What are they going to do, sniff it to determine its bouquet, swirl it around in special glass to test its sweetness, tell us how to check the label to see which week it was produced?  This has to be a joke.