Necessity is just south of Cape Horn

Necessity
Eva and Jan Fr. Mack
Mon 9 Jan 2012 23:47
Our position is 55:59:58S 67:14:10W
Some boats wait for weeks before going around Cape Horn. Going around the Horn is of course one of the "must do's" down here, but the weather is often a serious obstacle. This is truly the domain of storms and difficult seas. Coming up Paso Occidental we new the weather conditions were fairly good. A fresh weather forecast made it clear. We will head for sea and do the Horn the proper way, not just by hopping down from one of the nearby anchorages. Yesterday Necessity turned south in Canal Thomson (we were greeted by dozens of whales, one less that an "whale length" from Necessity), came out Cooks Bay and headed east. The conditions were just right. A small gale from behind gave the right Cape Horn feeling without bothering us. It was raining a bit, it was overcast, but with good visibility. We had the right Cape Horn feeling. Did it last? Not really. Approaching Cape Horn the sun came out and the wind died. It was really too nice. Fortunately the find came up again from the
east. Suddenly it was not calm enough to go ashore. That is possible only in very settled weather. If you do go ashore they will even stamp your passport. We are not complaining that we miss this opportunity and look forward to having a little celebration once we get into an anchorage in three hours time.
It is odd to think that we are now in the Atlantic again. It is six years since Necessity was last in that ocean.
Cheers from
Hans-Jacob, Bjarte and Jan Fr.