Nina’s Diary Today we sailed around Cape Horn.
05 February 2012 | Caleta Martial
Nina
Nina's Diary
Today we sailed around Cape Horn.
We wake up early and I had Weetbix for breakfast. We unanchored and a load of kelp came up with the anchor. We had to use the gaff and the boat hook to get it off. When I was pulling the anchor up I got dad's gumboot toe bit stuck in the anchor winch. Oops! We left the Caleta and sailed to Cabo De Hornos. It was windy (40 knots) and really wavy, all 4 of us had to stay outside! I have never been so seasick. We finally got around the cape with Iron Lady. We took lots of pictures and we anchored in Caleta Leon which is the only sheltered bay in Isla Del Hornos. Mum, Lucas and I went to shore in the dinghy. Dad stayed behind on the boat because it was windy and rainy. Going onshore was hard because the beach was made of big rocks and the waves were breaking. We surfed in with the paddles and the wave carried us high up on the rocks. Ian, the official there form the Armada helped us ashore and we explored the island.
Isla Hornos is an island with green hills and steep cliffs. There are hardly any trees and all the green stuff is waist high and mostly bushes, tussock and mossy cushiony stuff. WE walked around on the boardwalks. The wind was so strong it hard to walk and in most of the photos we took my hair is sticking straight up in the wind. It looked like I had a Mohawk. We waked to the albatross monument with was really cool, just like the postcards. We walked to the lighthouse which is connected to the house that Ian lives in with his family for a year. We tied our VDS flag (Veleiros do Sul, our Brazilian sailing club) in the lighthouse and wrote something in the Golden book of visitors (which is actually blue and huge). We met Ian's family. They have a boy (7) and a girl (13). We got our passports and boat logbook stamped and had juice with biscuit. They get a cruise ship visiting 4 times a week!
We walked back and the wind increased to 65-70 knots. It was hard to get of the beach but we made it and zoomed back to the boat where dad was waiting. We unanchored and the good news was no kelp! We motored to where Iron Lady was anchored on another island and the waves got better.
We anchored and went over to Iron Lady for dinner. It was really yummy (meat and potatoes and carrots in the oven) and I was starving since we had no lunch. We looked at the photos both boats had taken of the other boat sailing around the cape and half of the time we only saw half of the boat or only the tip of the mast showing because of the waves.