Cape Horn 48 F (8C) at
noon
Feb 22 2018 day 30 or our
cruise Thurs.
After
breakfast today, Effy’s had a drawing, a raffle. The winning prize was the
famous Effy 'Panther Bracelet'. Well, not in Diamonds and other precious
stones, but a Silver replica. Still, it was a nice ‘door price.’ Carol wanted to win it, went and put her
ticket in the box. She asked me to put a ticket in as well, which I did. While
doing so, I saw a few women approach the raffle ticket container box and saw
how they stuffed in many tickets. Not just one, but maybe half a dozen at a
time. Hmm, what chance do I have? My one
small ticket weighed against dozens of the other tickets could never win. The
odds were in their favor. I told Carol and she flinched… that is unfair she
said, the rules say one ticket per person. She spoke to an Effy employee and
all entry tickets were sorted out by hand by Effy’s employees. Any duplicate
was taken out. The raffles after that were much stricter and differently
organized. No, neither Carol nor I won, but it shows you, people try any which
way to get an advantage, even for a silly thing like a raffle ticket. It’s like
when someone snatched an on-sale t-shirt out of my hand because THEY wanted it. Yikes!
For
lunch we went to the British Pub on board. Well it was called the Bayou Café,
but today it was declared a British Pub. The lunch was special, English Pub
food. Carol had fish and chips and I ate Bangers and Mash. Naturally, we had to
wash it down with a beer. OK, the food was part of the trip, but the beers cost
extra….. It was the ship’s way of maximizing money and income.
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| We Circumnavigated Isla Hornos |
We
did not eat in the dining room tonight; we had a buffet dinner instead, because
around the dinner hour we rounded Cape Horn. Even while we ate we were already
approaching the Cape.
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| Bundled Up and Sheltered From the Spray But the Deck is Wet |
We
spent most of the evening on the port side deck, I was huddled in a down
jacket, and we were covered up like mummies with clothing we packed for just
this day, watching our circumnavigation of the Isla Hornos. (This link is a video.) We were very lucky
we could make this trip around the most treacherous spot for any seafarer.
Every
captain is afraid to pass this section of the oceans and with good reason as
you can see from the video link above.
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| The Lighthouse and Farm |
We
were very lucky; we had a great day even though it was cold and breezy.
Carol
did a good job getting pictures of the Albatross Monument (twice), the light
house and the farm, the only buildings on the Island that are permanently
occupied by an Argentinian government employee on the farm.
The
Island (Isla Hornos) serves as an important communication link between
Antarctica and the main continent of S. America.
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| The Albatross Monument |
The
present occupant on the Island of Cape Horn is there for a 2 year stint. He, his
wife and 2 children have to endure all the storms, the solitude and the
loneliness. Supply ships come once a month or so, but only in the summer, I
understand. I am not sure I would like a job like this.
Storms
here can bring waves of over 100 feet, as high as a 4 story house. An
impossible situation where going ashore from any ship is out of the question.
Hidden rocks just below the surface of the water, winds and ocean currents make
this spot a dangerous place to be.
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| Lighthouse/Farmhouse and Albatross Monument |
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| A Real Albatross |
Yet, we had a great time….. We saw something very few people in the world get to see.
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| Craggy Peaks |
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| Tip Of Isla Hornos on the Right |
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| A Desolate, Lonely Place |
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| Treacherous Rocks, Winds and Currents |
