Thursday 26 November 2009

The Drake and Cape Horn

Our guest weatherman Joerg Kachelmann called for a rough Drake Passage for this our second day sailing north, and neither he nor the Drake disappointed us. As we approached Cape Horn the wind was blowing 45-50 knots out of the northwest, whipping up the sea and creating waves bigger than 10m/32 ft in height. We were rocking and rolling for sure, but the Fram is excellent in rough seas and she kept us relatively steady under the circumstances. She is a heavy, wide ship with very effective stabilizers- this is the combination you need off Cape Horn! Here is our position as of 1530h this afternoon as shown on the radar image on the bridge.

The big waves coming towards us slowed us down a little bit so we couldn't reach Cape Horn in good light to see it from a distance... maybe next time!

Despite the rock'n'rolling, we had a very active day on board, with lectures, slideshows and videos on-going. And now it is time to pack our suitcases and prepare for the journey home.