The travel agency brochure was unusually interesting this time. Each cruise description started my mind racing, especially the one of a South American trip. Just the names conjured up all sorts of visions for us: Buenos Aires, Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn, Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Chilean Fiords, and Valparaiso. We had dreamed of seeing these places for many years. What was especially wonderful was the price. It was the lowest I had ever seen for this particular cruise. We sat down and discussed finances and time constraints and decided that this would be our big trip for the year.

The ship was scheduled to sail in early January, the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. That was an extra bonus because winter had gotten off to an early start and we were already tired of it. A phone call to the travel agency informed us that a low cost cabin was still available and we could book it for the date we wanted. The departure from Buenos Aires took place exactly on schedule and the trip was on.
After several days of sailing and stopping at ports in Uruguay, Patagonia, and the Falkland Islands the ship came to the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego. This is the great triangular shaped island at the southern tip of South America. The name in English means “land of fire” and the place got the name because the early European explorers noted campfires of the indigenous people on the shore while sailing past. When the locals were seen in their canoes, each one had a small fire burning in a clay hearth on board to keep warm.

The first European to set eyes on this region was Ferdinand Magellan, leading an expedition for the Spanish king in 1519. He was sent to see if there was some way around the land-mass of South America so that ships could sail directly from Spain to the west coast of the continent. The 1513 march of Balboa across the Isthmus of Panama indicated the existence of the previously unknown Pacific Ocean. In order to establish themselves on the Pacific shore, the Spanish Conquistadores unloaded people and material on the Caribbean side and went overland through the jungle to the Pacific. It was immediately obvious that a direct sea route would be better, if one existed.

Magellan did indeed find the much-sought passage which now bears his name. It took him 37 days to explore the 363 mile-long strait. On a November day in 1520 his three vessels emerged into what seemed to be a great and calm ocean, which he named “Pacific.” Had he arrived a few days earlier or later, when a ferocious west wind and storm might have been blowing, this great ocean might have received another name. Magellan sailed across the vast Pacific only to die at the hands of unfriendly natives in the Philippines. Only one surviving ship with a few men continued sailing westward, eventually reaching Spain and circumnavigating the world for the first time in history. The expeditions, in the years following Magellan, encountered more typical weather than he did. In 1525 another Spanish expedition entered the Strait from the Atlantic side and encountered a series of storms lasting two months. They were blown back out, but finally got through in seven weeks. Over the next 25 years four more expeditions explored the Strait with mixed results. The passage was now known, but not much used, mainly because of the violence and uncertainty of the weather.

It was not until 1578, when the Strait was entered from the Atlantic by a flotilla of three vessels, that it was again successfully traversed. This time the commander was an Englishman, Francis Drake. Luck was with him on his voyage of piracy and circumnavigation. He made it through in the record time of 16 days. His luck, however, ran out as soon as he entered the Pacific where he encountered a fierce storm and was blown hundreds of miles southward to the vicinity of Cape Horn. It was a month long storm and one of his ships was lost before he could continue sailing northward. All sailing vessels entering from the Atlantic side had great difficulties in the narrow Strait, navigating into the prevailing westerly winds. Our modern cruise ship had no such problem, as it did not rely at all on wind power for locomotion.

In the days of “wooden ships and iron men”, sailing in the vicinity of Cape Horn was considered to be the ultimate challenge. Tierra del Fuego, the Strait of Magellan, and Cape Horn are all located in the 50-degree southern latitudes, known to seamen as the “Furious Fifties”. These locations were between the “Roaring Forties” and the “Howling Sixties”. These names all apply to the belt of prevailing westerly winds which blow unimpeded over the Southern Ocean all around the world. When these winds pass over the southern tip of South America they produce gales up to 46 miles per hour 23 percent of the time. On average, such conditions can be encountered once in every four days. Passing over land, the winds are channeled between the hills and strike ships as violent squalls called “williwaws”. They vary in direction and often reach velocities of about 115 miles per hour. We experienced and felt none of this on our modern cruise ship.

Traveling in these waters may not sound like everyone’s idea of a dream cruise, but no one was complaining about not getting a tan. No, the attraction here is different. This is a very remote and infrequently visited part of the world with long and dramatic historic associations. For us it was a thrill to sail the same waters as Magellan, Drake, and Darwin, and to see what they saw. Passing by Cape Horn, where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet, conjured up images of Clipper Ships and whaling vessels regularly sailing these waters as they went on about their business.

Just a few hints if you plan to go. Cruises usually operate during the Southern Hemisphere summer, so be prepared for hot weather in Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. Once in the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego, warm clothing is the order of the day regardless of the season. If the sun is shining in that location, get out on deck to enjoy it because it probably will not last long.