s/v Nine of Cups Tierra del Fuego & Cape Horn

February  2006

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Tierra del Fuego is comprised of one large island, Grand Tierra del Fuego and several smaller islands and is shared by Chile and Argentina. The islands are quite remote and are separated from mainland South America. Magellan named the area "Land of Fire" because of the fires he saw burning ashore when he first viewed the area. It's a toss-up as to whether the fires were to keep the locals warm or to warn their neighbors of the approaching foreigners.     Because we had come from northern Chile through the canals, it was necessary to stop at Puerto Williams, Chile to clear out of Chile before heading on to Argentina. While we were there, it only made sense to "round the Horn".     Puerto Williams, the southernmost "muncipality" in the world, is a very small town mostly comprised of a Chilean naval base. It was, however, fun to be ashore, hike and get our land legs again.      The "yacht club" is an old Chilean munitions transport vessel which was intentionally grounded. Yachts tie up to the sides of the Micalvi until there is no more room and then other yachts "raft up" to them until they are 4-5 yachts deep...an interesting twist when the outer boat needs to tote fuel jugs to his boat.

Above from left, entrance to the Micalvi from shore; a pic of the Micalvi from midships. There was a shower on board for cruisers as well a restaurant/bar behind those round port holes you can see. Nine of Cups is seen left...the inside boat (navy & white) with three boats rafted to her.  Below, an irresistible red row boat against a blue sky.

Puerto Williams is located on Isla Navarino, a wonderful island for hiking and exploring. The peaks of Dientes del Navarino are shown to the left. We hiked up Cerro Bandera for the spectacular view of the Beagle Channel above.

To our surprise and delight, wild flowers bloomed everywhere, but of course, it was summer in Tierra del Fuego. Lupines shown left covered entire fields. Right, David poses in front of a city distance sign. All points are north from here (except Antarctica) and everywhere is far away.

The local indigenous people, the Selk'nam, wore few clothes in spite of the cold (note shrinkage in photo left). The Martin Guisinde museum in Puerto Williams, though small, provided an excellent overview of the original inhabitants. The mask and body painting were part of cultural coming of age rituals.      Right, is the local cemetery, a beautiful, peaceful resting spot overlooking the Beagle Channel.      Below, a calafate berry. Similar to a blueberry, legend has it that anyone who tries a calafate berry will return. We not only tried the berries (which we picked ourselves), but we tried calafate jam and ice cream.

A special "zarpe" (official permission) was required to sail around Cape Horn. We thought it would be a quick trip. We waited for a reasonable weather window and headed out to Puerto Toro, the southernmost "town" on the planet, where we docked next to the fishing boats for the evening. High winds closed the port and we stayed an extra day waiting for the wind to subside.

We had every intention of anchoring a night in Puerto Maxwell  and then heading around the Horn, but fair winds and an extraordinary dolphin escort beckoned us on. On February 12, 2006 at 5pm, we snapped the photos above as we rounded the Horn west to east. Shortly after this picture was taken, the wind increased to 40 knots and we fought our way to Caleta Martial and anchored for the night. Winds increased and continued (we clocked just under 60 knots)for three days and we were finally rewarded with a respite and a gorgeous sunrise. We headed back to Puerto Williams, anchoring once again in Puerto Toro for the night. Once back in Puerto Williams, we remained only a day before checking out of Chile and heading 25 miles back up the Beagle Channel for Ushuaia, Argentina.

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