South America Feb 2020

We are leaving the land behind. As the natives once said, the land is "disintegrating"

We are somewhat sheltered from the wind on our balcony

Three oceans meet here causing unpredictable weather. It is VERY windy today The ocean that lies west of Cape Horn is notorious for extremely high rogue waves I remember reading about a cruise ship that suffered storm damage a few years ago and had to be repaired in Ushuaia
We are 5 miles from the Cape and the Captain announced we cannot proceed further safely Note: We are on DECK 9 !	On a calm day the Cape would look like this

In the theater we were shown what we would have seen had the weather cooperated
Over 800 ships are wrecked in these waters with the loss of over 10,000 sailors	This is the monument on the Cape we would have seen. An Albatross in Flight The maritime symbol of the souls of sailors lost at sea.


Imagine the difficulty for early sailors navigating these waters in sailing ships Those that made the voyage safely were granted certain liberties. If they had rounded Cape Horn the sailors were entitled to wear a gold loop earring in their left ear because this was the ear that had faced the Horn in an eastbound passage.
Cruise ships perform a ceremony for those who have reached the Cape I guess 5 miles away was enough proceed with it and not disappoint the passengers A crew member dumps water on the passenger's head and presents them with a Viking like helmet They also get a certificate.


	We watched lines of our fellow passengers waiting their turn for the ceremony It was cold and windy just watching them So we had our own celebration
Nachos and Faijitas in the bar


	And the ever present CHEESECAKE!