Cape Horn: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago located in Chile}}

'''Cape Horn''' ({{lang-es|Cabo de Hornos}}, {{IPA-es|ˈkaβo ðe ˈoɾnos|pron}}) is the southernmost [[headland]] of the [[Tierra del Fuego]] [[archipelago]] of southern [[Chile]], and is located on the small [[Hornos Island]]. Although not the most southerly point of [[South America]] (which are theis [[Diego RamírezÁguila IslandsIslet]]), Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of the [[Drake Passage]] and marks where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet.

The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the [[Panama Canal]] in August 1914. Sailing around Cape Horn is still widely regarded as one of the major challenges in [[yachting]]. Thus, a few recreational sailors continue to sail this route, sometimes as part of a [[circumnavigation]] of the globe. Almost all of these choose routes through the channels to the north of the Cape. (Manymany take a detour through the islands and anchor to wait for fair weather to visit Horn Island, or sail around it to replicate a rounding of this historic point.). Several prominent ocean [[yacht racing|yacht races]], notably the [[Volvo Ocean Race]], [[Velux 5 Oceans Race]], and the solo [[Vendée Globe]] and [[Golden Globe Race]], sail around the world via the Horn. Speed records for round-the-world sailing are recognized for following this route.

The cape lies within Chilean territorial waters, and the Chilean Navy maintains a station on Hoorn Island, consisting of a residence, utility building, chapel, and lighthouse.<ref>[http://www.lhdigest.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=3121 ''Isla Hornos Lighthouse''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111022635/http://www.lhdigest.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=3121 |date=2006-01-11 }}, from Lighthouse Depot. Retrieved February 5, 2006.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2011}} A short distance from the main station is a memorial, including a large sculpture made by Chilean sculptor ''José Balcells'' featuring the silhouette of an [[albatross]], in remembrance of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn". It was erected in 1992 through the initiative of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horn Captains Brotherhood.<ref>[http://www.caphorniers.cl/CH_monument.htm ''Cape Horn Memorial''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050926082830/http://www.caphorniers.cl/CH_monument.htm |date=2005-09-26 }}, by Roberto Benavente; from Fundacion Caphorniers Chile. Retrieved February 5, 2006.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2011}} Due to severe winds characteristic of the region, the sculpture was blown over in 2014. A 2019 research expedition found the world's southernmost tree growing, a [[Nothofagus betuloides|Magellan's beech]] mostly bent to the ground, on a northeast-facing slope at the island's southeast corner.<ref>{{cite news|last=Welch|first=Craig|title=The tree at the bottom of the world—and the wind-blasted trek to find it|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/journey-to-the-worlds-southernmost-tree/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707165711/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/journey-to-the-worlds-southernmost-tree/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 7, 2020|newspaper=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]|date=July 2020|access-date=July 13, 2020}}</ref> Cape Horn is the southern limit of the range of the [[Magellanic penguin]].<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2008. [http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=232 ''Magellanic Penguin'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607230613/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=232 |date=2012-06-07 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2011}}

The climate in the region is generally cool, owing to the southern latitude. There are no weather stations in the group of islands including Cape Horn; but a study in 1882–1883, found an annual rainfall of {{convert|1,357|mm|abbr=off}}, with an average annual temperature of {{convert|5.2|°C}}. Winds were reported to average {{convert|30|km/h|m/s mph|2|lk=off}}, (5&nbsp;[[Beaufort scale|Bf]]), with squalls of over {{convert|100|km/h|m/s mph|2|lk=off}}, (10&nbsp;Bf) occurring in all seasons.<ref>[http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v13_n3/JoA_v13_p311.pdf ''Opiliones from the Cape Horn Archipelago''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184356/http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v13_n3/JoA_v13_p311.pdf |date=2007-09-30 }}, James C. Cokendolpher and Dolly Lanfranco L.; from Texas Tech University, 1985. Retrieved February 5, 2006.</ref> There are 278 days of rainfall. (70 days snow) and {{convert|2000|mm|abbr=off}} of annual rainfall.<ref>[http://www.caphorniers.cl/rescate_cabo/RescateCabo.htm Rescate en el Cabo de Hornos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114021323/http://www.caphorniers.cl/rescate_cabo/RescateCabo.htm |date=2014-11-14 }}, retrieved on 18 November 2012</ref>

Cape Horn yields a [[Oceanic climate|subpolar oceanic climate]] (''[[Köppen climate classification|CfbCfc]]''), with abundant precipitation—much of which falls as sleet and snow.

Rounding Cape Horn can be done on a day trip by helicopter or more arduously by charter power boat or sailboat, or by cruise ship. "Doubling the Horn" is traditionally understood to involve sailing from a point above [[50th parallel South|50 degrees South]] in the Pacific around the Horn to a point above 50 degrees South in the Atlantic, and then sailing back against the prevailing westerly winds to a point above the 50th parallel south again back in the Pacific - aPacific—a considerably more difficult and time-consuming endeavor having a minimum length of {{convert|930|mi|km}} for each leg .<ref> The fastest time on record for a commercial sailing ship working ''westward'' around the Horn, from 50 degrees South in the Atlantic to 50 degrees South in the Pacific, is 5 days and 14 hours, made in 1938 by the 4-mast barque ''[[Priwall (barque)|Priwall]]'' of the [[Flying P-Line]] under Captain Adolf Hauth [Stark, p. 147]</ref> The 50th parallel south on both coasts of South America represent a set of benchmark latitudes of a Horn run,<ref>''The Last Time Around Cape Horn. The Historic 1949 Voyage of the Windjammer [[Pamir (ship)|Pamir]]'' by William F. Stark. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. 2003; p. 147 {{ISBN|978-0-7867-1233-5}}</ref> and is a region of the ocean that according to [[Herman Melville]], "takes the conceit out of fresh-water sailors, and steeps in a still saltier brine the saltiest".<ref>''The World in a Man-o-War'' by [[Herman Melville]]. Chicago: Northwestern Univ. Press and The Newberry Library. 1970</ref>

The strong winds of the Southern Ocean give rise to correspondingly large waves; these waves can attain great height as they roll around the Southern Ocean, free of any interruption from land. AtSouth of the Horn, however, these waves encounter an area of shallow water to the south of the Horn, which has the effect of making the waves shorter and steeper, greatly increasing the hazard to ships. If the strong eastward current through the Drake Passage encounters an opposing eastwesterly wind, this can have the effect of further building up the waves.<ref>''Along the Clipper Way''; pp. 151–52.</ref> In addition to these "normal" waves, the area west of the Horn is particularly notorious for [[rogue wave]]s, which can attain heights of up to {{convert|30|m|abbr=off}}.<ref name="Econ1">{{cite news

Ice is a hazard to sailors venturing far below 40° south. Although the ice limit dips south around the horn, [[icebergs]] are a significant hazard for vessels in the area. In the South Pacific in February (summer in Southern Hemisphere), icebergs are generally confined to below 50° south; but in August the iceberg hazard can extend north of 40° south. Even in February, the Horn is well below the latitude of the iceberg limit.<ref>''Atlas of Pilot Charts: South Pacific Ocean''; Lighthouse Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-1-57785-202-5}}</ref> These hazards have made the Horn notorious as perhaps the most dangerous ship passage in the world; many ships werehave been wrecked, and many sailors have died attempting to round the Cape.

[[Joshua Slocum]] was the first [[single-handed sailing|single-handed]] yachtsman to successfully pass this way (in 1895) although in the end, extreme weather forced him to use some of the inshore routes between the channels and islands and it is believed he did not actually pass outside the Horn proper. If one had to go by strict definitions, the first small boat to sail around outside Cape Horn was the Irish {{convert|42|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=off}} [[yacht]] ''Saoirse'', sailed by [[Edward Conor Marshall O'Brien|Conor O'Brien]] with three friends, who rounded it during a circumnavigation of the world between 1923 and 1925.<ref name=nautweb/> In 1934, the Norwegian [[Al Hansen (sailor)|Al Hansen]] was the first to round Cape Horn single-handed from east to west—the "wrong way"—in his boat ''Mary Jane'', but was subsequently wrecked on the coast of Chile.<ref>[http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/circumna/ci_15.htm ''The Circumnavigators''], by Don Holm; Chapter 15. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060510154215/http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/circumna/ci_15.htm |date=May 10, 2006 }}</ref> The first person to successfully circumnavigate the world single-handed via Cape Horn was Argentinian [[Vito Dumas]], who made the voyage in 1942 in his {{convert|33|ft|m|adj=on||abbr=off}} [[ketch]] ''[[Lehg II]]''; a number of other sailors have since followed him,<ref>[http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/solo/solotable.htm ''List Of Solo Circumnavigators''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516052700/http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/solo/solotable.htm |date=2018-05-16 }}, from the Joshua Slocum Society International. Retrieved February 12, 2006.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2011}} including [[Webb Chiles]] aboard "{{sc|EGREGIOUS}}" who in December 1975 rounded Cape Horn single-handed. On March 31, 2010, 16-year-old [[Abby Sunderland]] became the youngest person to single-handedly sail around Cape Horn in her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. In 1987 The British Cape Horn Expedition, headed by [[Nigel H. Seymour]], rounded Cape Horn in the world's first ever 'sailing kayaks', called 'Kaymaran'; two seagoing kayaks which could link together with two sails mountable in any of the four sailing positions between the two kayaks.

=== Discovery by Europeans ===

By the early 17th century the [[Dutch East India Company]] was given a monopoly on all Dutch trade via the Straits of Magellan and the [[Cape of Good Hope]], the only known sea routes at the time to the [[Far East]]. To search for an alternate route and one to the unknown ''Terra Australis'', [[Isaac Le Maire]],<ref>it seems to have been Le Maire who pursued the idea of such a passage [''A History of Geographical Discovery and Exploration'' by J.N.L.Baker. London: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd. 1931, p. 149]</ref> a wealthy Amsterdam merchant and [[Willem Schouten]], a ship's master of Hoorn, contributed in equal shares to the enterprise, with additional financial support from merchants of Hoorn.<ref>''THE RELATION OF a Wonderful Voyage made by Willem Cornelison Schouten of Horne. Shewing how South from the Straights of Magelan in Terra Delfuego: he found and discovered a newe passage through the great South Seaes, and that way sayled round about the world''. London: Imprinted by T.D. for Nathanaell Newbery, 1619 [Facsimile of the first edition in English. London: George Rainbird Limited for The World Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1966], The Preface. “Translation"Translation thereof out of the Dutch, wherein it was written”written" by William Philip</ref> [[Jacob Le Maire]], Isaac's son, went on the journey as “chiefe"chiefe Marchant and principall factor,”" in charge of trading aspects of the endeavour. The two ships that departed Holland at the beginning of June 1615 were the ''Eendracht''<ref>called ''Unitie'' in the Philip translation</ref> of 360 tons with Schouten and Le Maire aboard, and the ''Hoorn'' of 110 tons, of which Schouten's brother Johan was master. It was ''Eendracht'' then, with the crew of the recently wrecked ''Hoorn'' aboard,<ref>''Hoorn'' was accidentally burned and destroyed on December 19, 1615 with no loss of life in [[Patagonia]] during a bungled cleaning attempt of the hull</ref> that passed through the [[Le Maire Strait]] and Schouten and Le Maire made their great discovery:

:“In"In the evening 25 January 1616 the winde was South West, and that night wee went South with great waves or billowes out of the southwest, and very blew water, whereby wee judged, and held for certaine that ... it was the great South Sea, whereat we were exceeding glad to thinke that wee had discovered a way, which until that time, was unknowne to men, as afterward wee found it to be true.”"<ref name=Relation>''The Relation'', pp. 22–23</ref>

:“"... on 29 January 1616 we saw land againe lying north west and north northwest from us, which was the land that lay South from the straights of Magelan which reacheth Southward, all high hillie lande covered over with snow, ending with a sharpe point which wee called Cape Horne [Kaap Hoorn] ...”"<ref name=essort/><ref name=Relation />

While most companies switched to steamers and later used the [[Panama canalCanal]], German steel-hulled sailing ships like the [[Flying P-Liner]]s were designed since the 1890s to withstand the weather conditions around the Horn, as they specialized in the South American nitrate trade and later the Australian [[grain trade]]. None of them were lost travelling around the Horn, but some, like the mighty ''[[Preußen (ship)|Preußen]]'', were victims of collisions in the busy English channelChannel.

And [[John Masefield]] wrote: "Cape Horn, that tramples beauty into wreck / And crumples steel and smites the strong man dumb."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/103/99.html |title=99. Rounding the Horn. John Masefield. Modern British Poetry |publisher=Bartleby.com |access-date=2010-03-19}}</ref>