Sorry to have been out of touch, caught up with life at home. I will be returning to the boat in Argentina this week to prepare for repairs, survey, etc. I will update once I have laid my eyes on her again.

Fort Worth Boat Club Member Vicki Brown, kindly wrote about our photo presentation held at the club early last April. It was published in the monthly newsletter "Full and Bye."


Vicki's article:

If you weren't there you missed a great evening April 2, when Miles Thompson and Matt Fanning shared parts of their recent adventure sailing the 62 ft wooden classic ketch "Lone Star" down the southern coastline and inland canals of Chile, including Cape Horn, and offshore up the coast of Argentina through the "Screaming Fifties and the Roaring Forties." Even on a Thursday evening, the ball room was full and the 50+ folks who were lucky enough to get there have had nothing but good things to say.

Miles has been the professional captain of this sailing vessel for 21 years and has logged over 40,000 offshore miles, to include a 12 year circumnavigation. With all that under his belt, the Horn was still a challenge.

Miles has been posting photos and brief diary notes frequently during this trip, as well as information about the years of preparation. His website www.lonestarcapehorn.com includes a Google Earth map with plot points that link back to photos and his diary. It's worth a few minutes of your time to explore the map. Very enjoyable reading.

Chronology:

Panama Canal 1/4/08 (second transit, first transit in 1991), Galapagos Islands 1/14/08 (LONE STAR crossed the equator for the third time!); Salanis, Ecuador 1/27/08, Lima, Peru 2/5/08, Valparaiso, Chile 3/4/08, (home for a rest till November 1, 2008), Puerto Montt, Chile 11/24/08Isla Farquahar (add wooden plaque to a tree) 12/10/08, Straits of Magellan 12/21/08, Tierra del Fuego 12/25/08 (Merry Christmas!), Beagle Canal (Glaciers galore) 12/28/08, Isla Herschel 1/14/08, (the staging point for the actual rounding), Mar Del Plata, Argentina 2/5/09 (offshore passage of seven days, in storm conditions), Buenos Aires, Argentina 2/9/09 (Winter base and refit).
I was interested to hear about the tight controls the Chilean Navy uses to manage visitors in this wild and remote area.

From Miles' web postings:

"The Armada is very strict and very professional. We must list the canals and ports we will traverse and stop in until our next check-in. All this information is sent to Valparaiso for approval. In the event we have a problem, they will know where to look for us. In addition, we are required to check-in twice daily via VHF, SSB, or email with our position, current course, speed and ETA to our next Armada port. We are also asked to check-in with any lighthouse we pass in order for our position to be forwarded to the Armada. We keep a very detailed radio-telephone log listing all attempts and successful communication. The Armada is very helpful, very courteous, and has a job to do. They are the absolute rule in Chile."

The big day:

"After a 0600 weather check on Sunday morning, 18 January, 2009, we decided to go for it. It was quite a chore picking up our stern lines and anchors. The stern lines were at near full length and it took a while to run a crewmember ashore to untie, coil, and stow the coiled lines in a bag. We wanted nothing loose on deck for our sail down south. Our anchorage near the horn, Puerto Maxwell, is full of kelp, and our anchors were quite a mess when we retrieved them. It took nearly half an hour to remove the kelp, and get the anchors hanging free. The gusty winds kept blowing us into more kelp, and I was worried that we would foul the propeller and lose power. We worked together retrieving chain, while I tried to keep our stern into the wind, and out of the heavy fields of kelp.

I was a bit apprehensive, and hesitant, as I watched the gusts come rolling over Isla Hermite and blast us. It was the thought of leaving a safe and secure anchorage, and going into the jaws of the lion. This was me forcing myself to operate outside my normal conservative nature, however, we had a job to do, and our opportunity to complete it was quickly passing. I was wondering how big the seas were offshore, and how high the wind was gusting.

The seas in the Cape Horn area are notorious and monstrous at times. There is nothing to break them up as they just circle Antarctica, passing New Zealand and Africa and back to Cape Horn. Once we had our ground tackle up and secure, we eased our way through a narrow cut and headed south. I decided to use the storm try-sail rather than a reefed mainsail. It is easier to handle, and less sail area.

We made contact with Alcamar Hornos, the Armada Station on Cape Horn, to received weather information, and to notify them of our QTH, or intentions of movement. Winds of 26 to 36 knots, with gusts over 40 knots was there reply. Let´s go, and get his girl back up north!

We set up on a close reach with try-sail and stay-sail. The winds were 26 to 33 knots and gusts over 40. After about a half hour, we started to face the seas and LONE STAR felt a little under powered, but our heel was not excessive, so we kept sail down. At only six knots, we sailed holding well to windward of the surrounding islands and of Cape Horn itself. Everyone was on deck, dressed in full foul weather gear with warm layers underneath, and crouched low in the cockpit, while we slugged our way south with spray hitting us in the face. There was not much being said, and you could cut the tension with a bull whip! At one point, while a particularly heavy gust was upon us, I shouted "this is fun, huh boys", the response by all was &$"! yes! Now the blood was pumping.

At 1430 today, January 18, 2009, LONE STAR with crew Bo Huggins, Steve Baker, Steve Gibson, Matt Fanning, and Doc Hildreth sailed from west to east around Isla de Hornos, dipping below 56 degrees south, and into the Atlantic Ocean. LONE STAR handled the 10 to 12 foot seas well. Conditions were too strong to attempt a shore landing, however, the moment of rounding will never be forgotten.

We are now on our way back to the Beagle Channel before more heavy weather sets in. Our thanks to everyone who was part of this great achievement. We have all added greatly to LONE STAR's legacy."

What Miles did not say online is that he flew the Fort Worth Boat Club Burgee during the rounding. He presented the burgee to Commodore Karen at the end of the evening. I don't think too many boat clubs can boast having a burgee with that particular experience.

If you visit the trophy room you will see Miles' name on the "Mudhen" trophy. We now characterize it as commemorating the junior sailor who has the most fun. Miles reminded us that originally it was to recognize the sailor with the most time with mast tip in mud. A dubious honor, but if you don't capsize sometimes, you ain't sailing hard enough!

Many thanks to Miles and Matt for giving us a glimpse of their journey.