Novel Approach: Tip of South America

I was so entranced by Joshua Slocum’s account of going through the Strait of Magellan in 1895, “Sailing Alone Around the World” (multiple publishers), that I had to go. It involved long air trips to get there, but it was worth it. This was several years ago.

The striking thing that stays with me is that the scene was a study in black, grays and white and that the only beauty there was provided by the weather, which could be quite dramatic — dark gray in one direction and, in the other, bright sun on distant water showing under deep-black storm clouds.

One day we saw a rainbow that came right down to the water between ship and shore. That is the only color that I remember.

There can be no question of the strait’s importance to sailors: leave it and you are in very ugly waters. We left the strait and went south to Horn Island (Cape Horn), and the sea turned rough as soon as we left the shelter of the neighboring islands.

Our ship was the Hanseatic, owned by Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH (Ballindamm 25, D-20095 Hamburg, Germany; phone +49 (0) 40 / 3001 4600 or fax 3001 4601). I have also been on their Bremen and can recommend both ships. Both had English-speaking German officers and an open bridge and a very obliging staff.

G.F. MUEDEN

New York, NY