WHY CAPE HORN? NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT'S THERE!

Wolfgang Neuhuber

Cape Horn needs no introduction. This lonesome island attracts so many adventures, wishes, fears - and stories. Every sailor feels that a circumnavigation of this dangerous place is like an examination of his (or her) skills and a hard test for any vessel. Unlike other areas this region is unforgiving.

Since my friend Guido set off on his sailing trip around the world with Elena, I helped him to replace broken items (including the forestay), and sailed with him and his wife Yvonne in the Canaries and from Madeira to the Azores. Back again in 1990, after a stormy thirteen day passage from Iceland to Horta in Constance, I met members of the OCC who took part in the Azores Pursuit Race. I joined the club last year.

Meanwhile Guido sailed in Brazil and Argentina. When he decided to avoid Panama and chose the hard way around Cape Horn I made up my mind to join him on this demanding passage. Two years earlier I would not have dared to do so, but now I felt ready. Even so I was quite happy when Dieter asked whether he could accompany us. I race with him and his wife Helga in their H-Boat on the Bavarian and Austrian lakes, and in 1991 I was very glad that they were amongst my crew when I skippered a 39ft yacht from Athens to Samos.

Our preparations for Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Chile started in August, and step by step details of our journey settled. I early October Yvonne returned on board, taking with her a new radar, wind generator and GPS. In November a Swiss sailor flew to Buenos Aires for the first leg south.

Dieter and I left Munich on 7th December, and after lengthy and irregular flights reached Buenos Aires one day late. After an onward flight to Comodoro Rivadavia (an unattractive oil centre) we took a bus down to Puerto Deseado in Patagonia, where we arrived at exactly 0000 on the planned day, 10th December. In the morning we left our hotel expecting to see Elena's mast : disappointment. We went to the naval station - the subprefectura naval - and they offered to help us search for the yacht. Already used to the manana feeling we took the opportunity to see the village and its surroundings, guided by Marcos, a local teacher who had once rounded Cape Horn by kayak. Next day he arranged a jeep tour for us, visiting shore with colonies of sea lions, sea elephants and cormorants, and a nearby estancia.

Sr Apaticio, the prefect, surprised us on Thursday evening - he had asked his colleagues up north and finally Elena was traced, 400 miles away at Puerto Madryn. In an extraordinary storm two ships went down and three were driven ashore in the vicinity of the Valdes Peninsula, but Guido had managed to enter the Golfo Nuevo. The sea-keeping qualities of Elena are impressive. She is a Cumulant 38, built in steel by Harlingen Yachtbouw in the Netherlands, cutter-rigged with a long keel and narrow beam but not double-ended. When hove-to she goes steadily to windward, and despite her heavy weight she is surprisingly fast. Her 27hp diesel engine is really only an auxiliary.

Early on Friday 13th December, Dieter and I went by bus to Puerto Madryn, but could not go on board until next day because the surf on the shallow beach was too high for any dinghy. Once aboard, the four of us immediately heaved the anchor and left for Puerto Rawson. Entering there with the tide and with a fleet of fishing boats the engine stopped dead, leaving Elena in an uncomfortable situation near the breakwater. Fortunately a fisherman took us alongside and gave us a tow to the French yacht Kotic. Later in the evening the captain came, not asking for a reward but to give us a crate full of fish and baby octopus!

We spent five days in Puerto Rawson with repairs and overdue maintenance work. At sunrise on 20th December we left Rawson and two days later entered Puerto Deseado in a nasty storm. It is not a very convenient harbour. We were allowed to lie alongside a fishing vessel, but broke a spreader when the wind blew Elena against it. However the people are very friendly, and though Puerto Deseado offers few facilities there are good connections by bus and LADE flights, mechanical and electrical parts at the metalshop, fuel at the YPF station up the hill, gas, and a limited stock of charts near the hotel. There is also a restaurant above a well-run supermarket nearby - but you must speak Spanish, por favor.

We left Puerto Deseado on Christmas Day, after more repairs, in company with Wolfgang and Claudia in their Heijo 3. Again the winds were irregular, changing from calm to fierce. We sailed near the coastline in order to take advantage of the southbound current eddy caused by the northbound Falkland current further east. The eastern entrance to the Magellan Strait was not visible but could be felt by the varying currents setting us to and from the shore, often with choppy waves, so we had to be very cautious. We had many radio contacts with coastal stations, merchant and naval ships, and also with Heijo - Wolfgang feared the east winds and the shallow waters near the coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, so he stayed further east and dropped behind us.

When we approached the Le Maire Strait on 29th December in an increasing north-easterly wind Wolfgang was doubtful whether it was the right time to enter the narrow strait. We confirmed that the door was wide open - the ebb tide started to flow southwards at up to 4 knots, and the wind, though blowing fiercely, gave us an additional 8 knots. The radio contact with Heijo ceased and two hours later we had passed through this narrow passage safely. Neither Cabo San Diego on Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) nor the rollers in the western part of the strait could be seen in the rain and spray. With the wind decreasing we sailed to Bahia Aguirre (or Puerto Espanol) and after sunset motored to a sheltered anchorage.

Next day we left for the Canal Beagle, or Beagle Channel (in Chile pronounced `Big Lee'), but had to return because we could make no progress to windward. A French yacht accompanied us back to the anchorage - she had fought all night without success. Poor Heijo, now the wind blew from the west and she had missed her chance to pass the Le Maire Strait with favourable winds.

The rules in this area are simple : bring experienced and well prepared crew wrapped in warm clothing with you aboard a really seaworthy yacht, add a lot of spare time for South American bureau-crazy and bad weather - and seize the first promising chance to get through. If there is a weak link in that chain success will be uncertain.

December 31st saw us entering the Canal Beagle with the wind from the north-west - and warm. This seduced us to spend the year's last evening in the cockpit, safely moored to a buoy in peaceful Caleta Banner on Picton Island - what a contrast to the preceding days and nights! We really enjoyed these hours until the beginning of 1992, sipping excellent wine.

On New Year's Day we sailed and motored westward to Puerto Williams and cleared customs. The harbour there is well sheltered, the Club Nautico offers a good dock, a bar and last but not least hot showers. The village lives mostly from the military station, but in the summer season an increasing number of cruise ships bound to or from Antarctica stop here to allow the guests to participate in a rodeo or an excursion over Navarino Island. The weather was fair, but due to the clear air and the lack of ozone the sun burnt terribly.

After consultations with naval officers and restocking and refuelling we cast off the lines at noon on 3rd January. Kotic had left a little earlier and Elena followed her through the Canal Beagle and then turned south to the Bahia Nassau, always avoiding the fields of kelp near the shore.

At first the weather stayed fair, but early on 4th January the west wind rose and blew fiercely, so the Chilean coastguard advised us to anchor in a sheltered bay and wait for better weather. However when Elena was nearing the bay another radio message reached us - the station at Cape Horn told us that it looked like slightly improving weather. Keeping in mind that Dieter and I had to return from Ushuaia on 8th January we decided to continue our course to the Cape, and arrived there at 1100 local time that day. In light winds we shook out the reefs and enjoyed six hours of fine sunshine. A helicopter came to look at us, and we opened a bottle of champagne, took pictures and sailed round Cape Horn island. The magnificent landscape and the success made us very, very happy. It was a great feeling.

Back again into the Bahia Nassau and the struggling started again. The Aries self-steering surrendered in the face of the short, steep waves from irregular directions. Rain squalls came with darkness, and we had to navigate through the Paso Gorree with caution using radar and GPS. In the morning Elena was made fast at the Club Nautico at Puerto Williams. The trip to Cape Horn had taken us two periods of 23 hours - not too bad for a heavy 38ft yacht.

Next day we sailed to Ushiaia and were back in civilization - post and tourist office, busy supermarkets, loud traffic, elegant restaurants and almost all other amenities. (I was not aware that I had missed them). We heard that Heijo that was in Perry Bay on Staten Island with a broken self-steering and rudder, and needed to be towed to a harbour where she could be lifted out for repairs, not easily done in this region.

Dieter and I joined an excursion by bus into the surrounding area, tasting what could be appreciated during a longer stay. On 8th January our flight offered us a bird's eye view of Tierra del Fuego, the Magellan Straits and Patagonia. We strolled for two days in Buenos Aires, got excellent steak dinners and enjoyed a tango show at a night club. But it would have been more interesting to sail further, northbound into the Chilean channels where glaciers come down to the salt water, so nicely described by Hal Roth in Two Against Cape Horn. Who will give us this opportunity?

(1797 words)