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93-632: 54°46′05″S 71°14′25″W  /  54.768049°S 71.240152°W  / -54.768049; -71.240152 The Ballenero Channel (Spanish: Canal Ballenero ) runs between the Tierra del Fuego and Cook , Londonderry and the Stewart Islands and joints the Pomar Channel (north of O'Brien Island) and O'Brien Channel (south of the O'Brien Island) to the Desolada Bay and to

186-607: A Romanian explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by the Argentine government to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, Popper has been identified as a central figure in the Selk'nam genocide . Following contact with Europeans, the native Selk'nam and Yaghan populations were greatly reduced by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, by infectious diseases to which

279-489: A colossal rock, hard as diamond." John Masefield wrote: "Cape Horn, that tramples beauty into wreck / And crumples steel and smites the strong man dumb." A memorial presented in Robert FitzRoy 's bicentenary (2005) commemorates his landing on Cape Horn on 19 April 1830. Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song entitled "Ghosts of Cape Horn". In 1980 Keith F. Critchlow directed and produced

372-513: A few miles south of Puerto Williams, is the closest town to the cape. Many modern tankers are too wide to fit through the Panama Canal, as are a few passenger ships and several aircraft carriers. But there are no regular commercial routes around the Horn, and modern ships carrying cargo are rarely seen. However, a number of cruise ships routinely round the Horn when traveling from one ocean to

465-454: A few recreational sailors continue to sail this route, sometimes as part of a circumnavigation of the globe. Almost all of these choose routes through the channels to the north of the Cape (many take a detour through the islands and anchor to wait for fair weather to visit Horn Island, or sail around it to replicate a rounding of this historic point). Several prominent ocean yacht races , notably

558-493: A gale of wind directly in our teeth. We stood out to sea, and on the second day again made the land, when we saw on our weather-bow this notorious promontory in its proper form—veiled in a mist, and its dim outline surrounded by a storm of wind and water. Great black clouds were rolling across the heavens, and squalls of rain, with hail, swept by us with such extreme violence, that the Captain determined to run into Wigwam Cove. This

651-510: A glacier-carved depression in a pull-apart basin that has developed along the Magallanes-Fagnano Fault zone. Podzols and inceptisols occur beneath Nothofagus betuloides forests in Tierra del Fuego. The Tierra del Fuego region has a subpolar oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfc ) with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderately mild winters: the precipitation averages 3,000 mm (118 in)

744-406: A main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego , often simply called Tierra del Fuego or Isla Grande, with an area of 48,100 km (18,572 sq mi), and a group of smaller islands. Of the main island the westernmost 29,484.7 km (11,384 sq mi , 61.43%) belongs to Chile, and 18,507.3 km (7,146 sq mi , 38.57%) belongs to Argentina. The archipelago is divided by an east–west channel,

837-471: A major hazard for recreational sailors, however. A classic case is that of Miles and Beryl Smeeton , who attempted to round the Horn in their yacht Tzu Hang . Hit by a rogue wave when approaching the Horn, the boat pitchpoled (i.e. somersaulted end-over-end). They survived, and were able to make repairs in Talcahuano , Chile, and later attempted the passage again, only to be rolled over and dismasted for

930-457: A plains region ( Spanish : Región de las Planicies Orientales ) plus a sub-Andean zone in-between the last two zones ( Spanish : Región Sub-Andina Oriental ). The geology of the archipelago is influenced by the effects of the Andean orogeny and the repeated Pleistocene glaciations . The geology of the island can be divided into large east–west-oriented units. The southwestern islands of

1023-480: A point above the 50th parallel south again back in the Pacific—a considerably more difficult and time-consuming endeavor having a minimum length of 930 miles (1,500 km) for each leg . The 50th parallel south on both coasts of South America represent a set of benchmark latitudes of a Horn run, and is a region of the ocean that according to Herman Melville , "takes the conceit out of fresh-water sailors, and steeps in

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1116-654: A second time by another rogue wave, which again they miraculously survived. In 1526 the Spanish vessel the San Lesmes commanded by Francisco de Hoces , member of the Loaísa expedition , was blown south by a gale in front of the Atlantic end of Magellan Strait and reached Cape Horn, passing through 56° S where "they thought to see Land's End." Since the discovery, the sea separating South America from Antarctica bears

1209-620: A ship, or provide medical care, were in the Falkland Islands . The businesses there were so notorious for price-gouging that damaged ships were sometimes abandoned at Port Stanley . While most companies switched to steamers and later used the Panama Canal , German steel-hulled sailing ships like the Flying P-Liners were designed since the 1890s to withstand the weather conditions around the Horn, as they specialized in

1302-465: A still saltier brine the saltiest". Several factors combine to make the passage around Cape Horn one of the most hazardous shipping routes in the world: the fierce sailing conditions prevalent in the Southern Ocean generally; the geography of the passage south of the Horn; and the extreme southern latitude of the Horn, at 56° south (for comparison, Cape Agulhas at the southern tip of Africa

1395-554: A storm, and were blown well to the south of Tierra del Fuego . The expanse of open water they encountered led Drake to guess that far from being another continent, as previously believed, Tierra del Fuego was an island with open sea to its south. This discovery went unused for some time, as ships continued to use the known passage through the Strait of Magellan. By the early 17th century the Dutch East India Company

1488-462: A vessel with little or no warning; given the narrowness of these routes, vessels have a significant risk of being driven onto the rocks. The open waters of the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn, provide by far the widest route, at about 800 kilometres (500 miles) wide; this passage offers ample sea room for maneuvering as winds change, and is the route used by most ships and sailboats, despite

1581-756: A westward passage of the Horn, as they do in the Global Challenge race. Ice is a hazard to sailors venturing far below 40° south. Although the ice limit dips south around the horn, icebergs are a significant hazard for vessels in the area. In the South Pacific in February (summer in Southern Hemisphere), icebergs are generally confined to below 50° south; but in August the iceberg hazard can extend north of 40° south. Even in February,

1674-476: A year in the far west, but precipitation decreases rapidly towards the eastern side. Temperatures are steady throughout the year: in Ushuaia they hardly surpass 9 °C (48 °F) in summers and average 0 °C (32 °F) in winters. Snowfall can occur in summer. The cold and wet summers help preserve the ancient glaciers . The southernmost islands possess a sub-antarctic climate typical of tundra that makes

1767-437: Is a prominent area to watch rare, endemic dolphins, and the less-studied pygmy right whales . Pinnipeds inhabiting the areas include South American sea lions ( Otaria flavescens ), South American fur seals ( Arctophoca australis ), the carnivorous and seal-eating leopard seals ( Hydrurga leptonyx ), and gigantic southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonine )  – the largest extant marine mammal that

1860-483: Is a smaller 4-metre (13-foot) fiberglass light tower, with a focal plane of 40 metres (130 feet) and a range of about 21 kilometres (13 miles). This is the authentic Cape Horn lighthouse ( ARLS CHI-006, 55°58′38″S 67°15′46″W  /  55.97722°S 67.26278°W  / -55.97722; -67.26278  ( CHI-006 ) ), and as such the world's southernmost traditional lighthouse. A few minor aids to navigation are located farther south, including one in

1953-413: Is a snug little harbour, not far from Cape Horn; and here, at Christmas-eve, we anchored in smooth water. William Jones, writing of his experience in 1905 as a fifteen-year-old apprentice on one of the last commercial sailing ships, noted the contrast between his ship, which would take two months and the lives of three sailors to round the Horn, and birds adapted to the region: An albatross appears out of

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2046-421: Is also home to the lizard with the world's southernmost distribution, Liolaemus magellanicus . North American beavers , introduced during the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island forests. The governments have established a wide-reaching program to trap and kill beavers in Tierra del Fuego. Like the mainland of Chile and Argentina to the north, this archipelago boasts some of

2139-435: Is at 35° south ; Stewart Island / Rakiura at the south end of New Zealand is 47° south ; Edinburgh 56° north ). The prevailing winds in latitudes below 40° south can blow from west to east around the world almost uninterrupted by land, giving rise to the " roaring forties " and the even more wild "furious fifties" and "screaming sixties". These winds are hazardous enough that ships traveling east would tend to stay in

2232-568: Is commonly referred to as the Cape Horn lighthouse . However, the Chilean Navy station, including the lighthouse ( ARLS CHI-030, 55°57′49″S 67°13′14″W  /  55.96361°S 67.22056°W  / -55.96361; -67.22056  ( CHI-030 ) ) and the memorial, are not located on Cape Horn (which is difficult to access either by land or sea), but on another land point about one mile east-northeast. On Cape Horn proper

2325-739: Is generally extensive, with averages from 5.2 eighths in May and July to 6.4 eighths in December and January. Precipitation is high throughout the year: the weather station on the nearby Diego Ramírez Islands , 109 kilometres (68 miles) south-west in the Sea of Hoces , shows the greatest rainfall in March, averaging 137.4 millimetres (5.41 in); while October, which has the least rainfall, still averages 93.7 millimetres (3.69 in). Wind conditions are generally severe, particularly in winter. In summer,

2418-512: Is known to underlie some of the oil wells in northern Tierra del Fuego. The Magallanes–Fagnano Fault , a sinistral strike slip fault crosses the southern part of the main island from west to east. It is an active fault , located inside and parallel to the Fuegian fold and thrust belt , and marks the boundary between a southern belt of Paleozoic meta sediments and a northern Mesozoic belt of sedimentary sequences. Fagnano Lake occupies

2511-524: Is not a cetacean . The following table lists islands over 1 km . Area figures are from the USGS unless otherwise specified. Today, the main economic activities of the archipelago are fishing, extraction of natural gas and oil , sheep farming , and ecotourism . Tourism is gaining increasing importance as it attracts numerous upmarket visitors. Much of the tourism is based on "southernmost" claims: for example, both Ushuaia and Puerto Williams claim to be

2604-620: The Whitbread Round the World Race first competed in 1973–74. The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht, with no restrictions on the size of the crew (no assistance, non-stop). Finally, the Global Challenge race goes around the world the "wrong way", from east to west, which involves rounding Cape Horn against the prevailing winds and currents. The Horn remains

2697-626: The Beagle Channel , immediately south of the main island. The largest islands south of the Beagle Channel are Hoste and Navarino . The western part of the main island, and almost all the other islands, belong to Chile. They are part of the Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region , the capital and chief town of which is Punta Arenas , situated on the mainland across the strait. The largest Chilean towns are Porvenir , capital of

2790-582: The Diego Ramírez Islands and several in Antarctica. Despite the opening of the Suez and Panama Canals, the Horn remains part of the fastest sailing route around the world, and so the growth in recreational long-distance sailing has brought about a revival of sailing via the Horn. Owing to the remoteness of the location and the hazards there, a rounding of Cape Horn is widely considered to be

2883-545: The Le Maire Strait and Schouten and Le Maire made their great discovery: At the time it was discovered, the Horn was believed to be the southernmost point of Tierra del Fuego; the unpredictable violence of weather and sea conditions in the Drake Passage made exploration difficult, and it was only in 1624 that the Horn was discovered to be an island. It is a telling testament to the difficulty of conditions there that Antarctica, only 650 kilometres (400 miles) away across

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2976-472: The Pacific Ocean . It is part of the official route between Puerto Williams and Strait of Magellan : from islote Anxious - Canal Magdalena - Canal Cockburn - Paso Brecknock or Canal Ocasión - Canal Unión - Paso Occidental - Paso Norte - Canal Ballenero- Canal O'Brien - Paso Timbales - Brazo noroeste del Canal Beagle - Canal Beagle - Puerto Williams (and back).(Chilean ships can use Paso Aguirre) It

3069-473: The Strait of Magellan . The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego , with an area of 48,100 km (18,572 sq mi), and a group of many islands, including Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez Islands . Tierra del Fuego is divided between Argentina , which controls the eastern part of the main island and a few small islands in the Beagle Channel, and Chile , which controls

3162-595: The Volvo Ocean Race , Velux 5 Oceans Race , and the solo Vendée Globe and Golden Globe Race , sail around the world via the Horn. Speed records for round-the-world sailing are recognized for following this route. Cape Horn is located on Hornos Island in the Hermite Islands group, at the southern end of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago . It marks the north edge of the Drake Passage ,

3255-426: The clipper route , by which sailing ships carried trade around the world. The waters around Cape Horn are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs . The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914. Sailing around Cape Horn is still widely regarded as one of the major challenges in yachting . Thus,

3348-516: The strait between South America and Antarctica. It is located in Cabo de Hornos National Park . The cape lies within Chilean territorial waters, and the Chilean Navy maintains a station on Hoorn Island, consisting of a residence, utility building, chapel, and lighthouse. A short distance from the main station is a memorial, including a large sculpture made by Chilean sculptor José Balcells featuring

3441-458: The "southernmost city in the world". On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, the government has promoted the establishment of several electronic companies via tax exemptions, particularly in the city of Río Grande . Energy production is a crucial economic activity. On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego during the period 2005–2010, petroleum and natural gas extraction contributed 20% of

3534-459: The 1940s Chile and Argentina lodged their Antarctic claims. In the 1950s, the Chilean military founded Puerto Williams . In the 1960s and 1970s, sovereignty claims by Argentina over Picton, Lennox, and Nueva Islands in Tierra del Fuego led the two countries to the brink of war. In 1986, the Argentine congress decided that the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego should be a new province. This happened in 26 April 1990. The archipelago consists of

3627-623: The 1984 movie portrayed another decision to go round the Horn as a precipitating factor in the mutiny (this time west-to-east after collecting the breadfruits in the South Pacific), in fact that was never contemplated out of concern for the effect of the low temperatures near the Horn on the plants. The transcontinental railroads in North America, as well as the Panama Canal that opened in 1914 in Central America, led to

3720-563: The Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego , located on the main island, and, on Navarino Island, Puerto Williams , which is the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province . Puerto Toro lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams. Arguably, it is the southernmost village in the world. The mostly uninhabited islands north and west of the main island are part of Magallanes Province . The eastern part of

3813-482: The December solstice. Cape Horn yields a subpolar oceanic climate ( Cfc ), with abundant precipitation—much of which falls as sleet and snow. Cape Horn is part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos , whose capital is Puerto Williams ; this in turn is part of Antártica Chilena Province , whose capital is also Puerto Williams. The area is part of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region of Chile. Puerto Toro ,

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3906-404: The Drake Passage, was discovered only as recently as 1820, despite the passage having been used as a major shipping route for 200 years. From the 18th to the early 20th centuries, Cape Horn was a part of the clipper routes which carried much of the world's trade. Sailing ships sailed round the Horn carrying wool, grain, and gold from Australia back to Europe; these included the windjammers in

3999-541: The Horn is well below the latitude of the iceberg limit. These hazards have made the Horn notorious as perhaps the most dangerous ship passage in the world; many ships have been wrecked, and many sailors have died attempting to round the Cape. Download coordinates as: Two lighthouses are located near or in Cape Horn. The one located in the Chilean Navy Station is the more accessible and visited, and

4092-543: The South American nitrate trade and later the Australian grain trade . None of them were lost travelling around the Horn, but some, like the mighty Preußen , were victims of collisions in the busy English Channel. Traditionally, a sailor who had rounded the Horn was entitled to wear a gold loop earring—in the left ear, the one which had faced the Horn in a typical eastbound passage—and to dine with one foot on

4185-425: The Southern Ocean, free of any interruption from land. South of the Horn, however, these waves encounter an area of shallow water, which has the effect of making the waves shorter and steeper, greatly increasing the hazard to ships. If the strong eastward current through the Drake Passage encounters an opposing westerly wind, this can have the effect of further building up the waves. In addition to these "normal" waves,

4278-674: The archipelago, including Cape Horn , are part of the South Patagonian Batholith , while the Cordillera Darwin and the area around the Beagle Channel form the principal mountain range hosting the highest mountains. The Magallanes fold and thrust belt extends north of Almirantazgo Fjord and Fagnano Lake , and north of this lies the Magallanes foreland, an old sedimentary basin that hosts hydrocarbon reserves . Orthogneiss dated at 525 million years

4371-505: The area west of the Horn is particularly notorious for rogue waves , which can attain heights of up to 30 metres (98 feet). The prevailing winds and currents create particular problems for vessels trying to round the Horn against them, i.e. from east to west. This was a particularly serious problem for traditional sailing ships, which could make very little headway against the wind at the best of times; modern sailing boats are significantly more efficient to windward and can more reliably make

4464-468: The bow-ports and hawse-hole and over the knightheads, threatening to wash everything overboard. In the lee scuppers it was up to a man's waist. We sprang aloft and double reefed the topsails, and furled all the other sails, and made all snug. But this would not do; the brig was laboring and straining against the head sea, and the gale was growing worse and worse. At the same time sleet and hail were driving with all fury against us. We clewed down, and hauled out

4557-491: The classic accounts of a working ship in the age of sail is Two Years Before the Mast , by Richard Henry Dana Jr. , in which the author describes an arduous trip from Boston to California via Cape Horn: Just before eight o'clock (then about sundown, in that latitude) the cry of "All hands ahoy!" was sounded down the fore scuttle and the after hatchway, and hurrying upon deck, we found a large black cloud rolling on toward us from

4650-421: The coast of Chile. The first person to successfully circumnavigate the world single-handed via Cape Horn was Argentinian Vito Dumas , who made the voyage in 1942 in his 33-foot (10-metre) ketch Lehg II ; a number of other sailors have since followed him, including Webb Chiles aboard " EGREGIOUS " who in December 1975 rounded Cape Horn single-handed. On March 31, 2010, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland became

4743-510: The displacement of the native populations did not begin until the second half of the nineteenth century, at the height of the Patagonian sheep farming boom and of the local gold rush . Today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south. The earliest human settlement occurred approximately 8,000 BC. The Yaghan were some of

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4836-597: The earliest known humans to settle in Tierra del Fuego. Archeological sites with characteristics of their culture have been found at locations such as Navarino Island . The name Tierra del Fuego was given by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan while sailing for the Spanish Crown in 1520; he was the first European to visit these lands. He believed he was seeing the many fires ( fuego in Spanish) of

4929-663: The finest trout fishing in the world. Sea-run brown trout often exceed 9 kg (20 lb), particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and the San Pablo, and in the Lago Fagnano . Waters adjacent to Tierra del Fuego are very rich in cetacean diversity. Sightings of southern right whales in Tierra del Fuego have increased in the 2000s, humpbacks , and some others such as blue whales , southern fins , southern seis , and southern minkes . Beagle Channel

5022-525: The first small boat to sail around outside Cape Horn was the Irish 42-foot (13-metre) yacht Saoirse , sailed by Conor O'Brien with three friends, who rounded it during a circumnavigation of the world between 1923 and 1925. In 1934, the Norwegian Al Hansen was the first to round Cape Horn single-handed from east to west—the "wrong way"—in his boat Mary Jane , but was subsequently wrecked on

5115-532: The five-year expedition upon which he based The Origin of Species , described his 1832 encounter with the Horn: ... we closed in with the Barnevelts, and running past Cape Deceit with its stony peaks, about three o'clock doubled the weather-beaten Cape Horn. The evening was calm and bright, and we enjoyed a fine view of the surrounding isles. Cape Horn, however, demanded his tribute, and before night sent us

5208-412: The gradual decrease in use of the Horn for trade. As steamships replaced sailing ships, Flying P-Liner Pamir became the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn laden with cargo, carrying grain from Port Victoria , Australia, to Falmouth , England, in 1949. Cape Horn has been an icon of sailing culture for centuries; it has featured in sea shanties and in many books about sailing. One of

5301-852: The ground, on a northeast-facing slope at the island's southeast corner. Cape Horn is the southern limit of the range of the Magellanic penguin . The climate in the region is generally cool, owing to the southern latitude. There are no weather stations in the group of islands including Cape Horn; but a study in 1882–1883, found an annual rainfall of 1,357 millimetres (53.4 inches), with an average annual temperature of 5.2 °C (41.4 °F). Winds were reported to average 30 kilometres per hour (8.33 m/s; 18.64 mph), (5  Bf ), with squalls of over 100 kilometres per hour (27.78 m/s; 62.14 mph), (10 Bf) occurring in all seasons. There are 278 days of rainfall. (70 days snow) and 2,000 millimetres (79 inches) of annual rainfall. Cloud coverage

5394-644: The growth of trees impossible. Some areas in the interior have a polar climate. Regions in the world with similar climates to southern Tierra del Fuego are: the Aleutian islands , Iceland , the Alaska Peninsula , the Faroe Islands , Macquarie Island , and the Heard and McDonald Islands . Only 30% of the islands have forests, which are classified as Magellanic subpolar . The northeastern portion of

5487-615: The gusts. Alan Villiers , a modern-day expert in traditional sailing ships, wrote many books about traditional sailing, including By way of Cape Horn . More recent sailors have taken on the Horn singly, such as Vito Dumas , who wrote Alone Through The Roaring Forties based on his round-the-world voyage; or with small crews. Bernard Moitessier made two significant voyages round the Horn; once with his wife Françoise, described in Cape Horn: The Logical Route , and once single-handed. His book The Long Way tells

5580-569: The heavy winds and cool summers in the Faroe Islands did not allow the growth of trees from other regions in the world. The imported trees are used ornamentally, as curtains against wind, and to fight erosion caused by storms and grazing in the Faroe Islands. Among the most notable animals in the archipelago are austral parakeets , gulls , guanacos , South American foxes , kingfishers , Andean condors , king penguins , owls , and firecrown hummingbirds . Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego

5673-587: The heyday of the Great Grain Race of the 1930s. Much trade was carried around the Horn between Europe and the Far East; and trade and passenger ships travelled between the coasts of the United States via the Horn. The Horn exacted a heavy toll from shipping, however, owing to the extremely hazardous combination of conditions there. The only facilities in the vicinity able to service or supply

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5766-691: The indigenous inhabitants, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada . In 1525, Francisco de Hoces was the first to speculate that Tierra del Fuego was one or more islands rather than part of what was then called Terra Australis . Francis Drake in 1578 and a Dutch East India Company expedition in 1616 learned more about the geography. The latter expedition named Cape Horn at Hornos Island . On his first voyage with HMS  Beagle in 1830, Robert FitzRoy picked up four native Fuegians , including " Jemmy Button " ( Orundellico ) and Yokcushlu , and brought them to England. The three who survived

5859-656: The indigenous people had no immunity , and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island. Despite the efforts of the missionaries, many natives died. Today, only a few Selk'nam remain . Some of the few remaining Yaghan have settled in Villa Ukika in Navarino Island ; others have scattered throughout Chile and Argentina. Following the signing of the Boundary Treaty of 1881 , Tierra del Fuego

5952-519: The journey as "chiefe Marchant and principall factor," in charge of trading aspects of the endeavour. The two ships that departed Holland at the beginning of June 1615 were the Eendracht of 360 tons with Schouten and Le Maire aboard, and the Hoorn of 110 tons, of which Schouten's brother Johan was master. It was Eendracht then, with the crew of the recently wrecked Hoorn aboard, that passed through

6045-427: The main island and a few small islands in the Beagle Channel belong to Argentina. They are part of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctic Territory and South Atlantic Islands Province , whose capital is Ushuaia , the largest city of the archipelago. The other important city in the region is Río Grande on the Atlantic coast. The Cordillera Darwin in the southwestern part of the main island contains many glaciers that reach

6138-417: The main island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans, and Croatians settled on the main island, leading to increased conflicts with native Selk'nam . These late nineteenth century gold rushes led to the founding of numerous small settlements by immigrants, such as the Argentine settlements of Ushuaia and Río Grande and the Chilean settlements of Porvenir and Puerto Toro . Julius Popper ,

6231-412: The murk, to examine us in our plight. The gale is of hurricane force, but the bird sails serenely and unhurriedly through the air, within a few feet of the ship's rail, on the windward side. Then it turns into the eye of the wind, and disappears in the murk —westward —without any discernible effort in its aerial gliding, while we are still drifting to leeward, incapable of emulating its brilliant defiance of

6324-402: The name of its discoverer in Spanish sources. It appears as Mar de Hoces (Sea of Hoces) in most Spanish-language maps. In English charts however it is named the Drake Passage . In September 1578, Sir Francis Drake , in the course of his circumnavigation of the world, passed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean. Before he could continue his voyage north his ships encountered

6417-452: The nineteenth century. Missionary Thomas Bridges (1842–1898) learned the native language and compiled a 30,000-word Yaghan grammar and dictionary while he worked at Ushuaia. It was published in the 20th century and is considered an important ethnological work. An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of placer gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego. This prompted massive immigration to

6510-508: The northern part of the forties (i.e. not far below 40° south latitude); however, rounding Cape Horn requires ships to press south to 56° south latitude, well into the zone of fiercest winds. These winds are exacerbated at the Horn by the funneling effect of the Andes and the Antarctic Peninsula , which channel the winds into the relatively narrow Drake Passage. The strong winds of the Southern Ocean give rise to correspondingly large waves; these waves can attain great height as they roll around

6603-441: The ocean. While Mount Darwin had previously been thought to be the tallest mountain in the archipelago, this distinction now belongs to the unofficially named Monte Shipton at 2,580 metres (8,460 feet). The topography of Tierra del Fuego can be divided into four regions: an outer archipelago region ( Spanish : Región Archipielágica ) to the south and west, a mountainous region in the south ( Spanish : Región Cordillerana ),

6696-595: The old clipper route via Cape Horn. The first of these was the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race , which was a single-handed race; this inspired the present-day Around Alone race, which circumnavigates with stops, and the Vendée Globe , which is non-stop. Both of these are single-handed races, and are held every four years. The Volvo Ocean Race is a crewed race with stops which sails the clipper route every four years. Its origins lie in

6789-534: The only forests in the world to have developed in a climate with such cold summers. Tree cover extends very close to the southernmost tip of South America. Winds are so strong that trees in wind-exposed areas grow into twisted shapes, inspiring people to call them "flag-trees". Tree vegetation extends to the southern tip of the region, Isla Hornos , although the Wollaston Islands are mostly covered by subantarctic tundra except in wind sheltered areas where

6882-497: The other. These often stop in Ushuaia or Punta Arenas as well as Port Stanley. Some of the small passenger vessels shuttling between Ushuaia and the Antarctic Peninsula will pass the Horn too, time and weather permitting. A number of potential sailing routes may be followed around the tip of South America. The Strait of Magellan , between the mainland and Tierra del Fuego, is a major—although narrow—passage, which

6975-483: The possibility of extreme wave conditions. Rounding Cape Horn can be done on a day trip by helicopter or more arduously by charter power boat or sailboat, or by cruise ship. "Doubling the Horn" is traditionally understood to involve sailing from a point above 50 degrees South in the Pacific around the Horn to a point above 50 degrees South in the Atlantic, and then sailing back against the prevailing westerly winds to

7068-510: The reef-tackles again, and close-reefed the fore-topsail, and furled the main, and hove her to on the starboard tack. Here was an end to our fine prospects.... After nine more days of headwinds and unabated storms, Dana reported that his ship, the "Pilgrim" finally cleared the turbulent waters of Cape Horn and turned northwards. Charles Darwin , in The Voyage of the Beagle , a journal of

7161-669: The region is made up of steppe and cool semi-desert. Six species of tree are found in Tierra del Fuego: canelo or winter's bark ( Drimys winteri ); Maytenus magellanica ; Pilgerodendron uviferum , the southernmost conifer in the world; and three kinds of southern beech : Nothofagus antarctica ; Nothofagus pumilio ; and the evergreen Nothofagus betuloides . Several kinds of fruit grow in open spaces in these forests, such as beach strawberry ( Fragaria chiloensis var. chiloensis forma chiloensis ) and calafate ( Berberis buxifolia ), which have long been gathered by both Native Americans and residents of European descent. They are

7254-538: The region's economic output. 54°S 70°W  /  54°S 70°W  / -54; -70 Cape Horn Cape Horn was identified by mariners and first rounded in 1616 by the Dutchmen Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire , who named it Kaap Hoorn ( pronunciation ) after the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands . For decades, Cape Horn was a major milestone on

7347-433: The remaining land area. The southernmost extent of the archipelago is just north of latitude 56°S . The earliest known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to approximately 8,000 BC. Europeans first explored the islands during Ferdinand Magellan 's expedition of 1520. Tierra del Fuego and similar namings stem from sightings of the many bonfires that the natives built. Settlement by those of European descent and

7440-565: The silhouette of an albatross , in remembrance of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn". It was erected in 1992 through the initiative of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horn Captains Brotherhood. Due to severe winds characteristic of the region, the sculpture was blown over in 2014. A 2019 research expedition found the world's southernmost tree growing, a Magellan's beech mostly bent to

7533-422: The south-west, and blackening the whole heavens. "Here comes Cape Horn!" said the chief mate; and we had hardly time to haul down and clew up, before it was upon us. In a few moments, a heavier sea was raised than I had ever seen before, and as it was directly ahead, the little brig, which was no better than a bathing machine, plunged into it, and all the forward part of her was under water; the sea pouring in through

7626-450: The southernmost point of land outside of Antarctica, the region experiences barely 7 hours of daylight during the June solstice, with Cape Horn itself having 6 hours and 57 minutes. The region experiences around 17 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of daylight during the December solstice, and experiences only nautical twilight from civil dusk to civil dawn. White nights occur during the week around

7719-408: The story of this latter voyage, and of a peaceful night-time passage of the Horn: "The little cloud underneath the moon has moved to the right. I look... there it is, so close, less than 10 miles (16 km) away and right under the moon. And nothing remains but the sky and the moon playing with the Horn. I look. I can hardly believe it. So small and so huge. A hillock, pale and tender in the moonlight;

7812-785: The table; a sailor who had also rounded the Cape of Good Hope could place both feet on the table. One particular historic attempt to round the Horn, that of HMS Bounty in 1788, has been immortalized in history due to the subsequent Mutiny on the Bounty . This abortive Horn voyage has been portrayed (with varying historical accuracy) in three major motion pictures about Captain William Bligh 's mission to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to Jamaica. The Bounty made only 85 miles of headway in 31 days of east-to-west sailing, before giving up by reversing course and going around Africa. Although

7905-449: The trees can survive. Forests from Tierra del Fuego have expanded beyond local importance. These forests have been a source of trees that have been transplanted abroad in places with similar climate, but which originally were devoid of trees, such as the Faroe Islands and nearby archipelagos. Most species were gathered from the coldest places in Tierra del Fuego, mainly sites with tundra borders. This effort resulted in positive changes, as

7998-654: The voyage were taken to London to meet the king and queen and were, for a time, celebrities. They returned to Tierra del Fuego in the Beagle with FitzRoy and Charles Darwin , who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands. During the second half of the nineteenth century, Salesian Catholic missions were established in Río Grande and Dawson Island . Anglican missionaries, who had established missions on Keppel Island in 1855, established new missions in 1870 at Ushuaia . These missions continued to operate through

8091-438: The wind at Cape Horn is gale force up to 5 percent of the time, with generally good visibility; however, in winter, gale-force winds occur up to 30 percent of the time, often with poor visibility. Many stories are told of hazardous journeys "around the Horn", most describing fierce storms. Charles Darwin wrote: "One sight of such a coast is enough to make a landsman dream for a week about shipwrecks, peril and death." Being

8184-422: The yachting equivalent of climbing Mount Everest, and so many sailors seek it for its own sake. Joshua Slocum was the first single-handed yachtsman to successfully pass this way (in 1895) although in the end, extreme weather forced him to use some of the inshore routes between the channels and islands and it is believed he did not actually pass outside the Horn proper. If one had to go by strict definitions,

8277-455: The youngest person to single-handedly sail around Cape Horn in her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. In 1987 The British Cape Horn Expedition, headed by Nigel H. Seymour , rounded Cape Horn in the world's first ever 'sailing kayaks', called 'Kaymaran'; two seagoing kayaks which could link together with two sails mountable in any of the four sailing positions between the two kayaks. Today, there are several major yacht races held regularly along

8370-508: Was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously, it had been claimed in its entirety by both countries. In 1945, a division of Chilean CORFO (Spanish acronym for Production Development Corporation), engaged in oil exploration , discovered oil in northern Tierra del Fuego. Extraction began in 1949 and, in 1950, the Chile state-owned ENAP (National Petroleum Company) . Until 1960, most oil extracted in Chile came from Tierra del Fuego. During

8463-597: Was formerly known as Whaleboat Sound , as in US Hydrographic Office, South America Pilot , (1916). Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego ( / t i ˈ ɛər ə d ɛ l ˈ f w eɪ ɡ oʊ / , Spanish: [ˈtjera ðel ˈfweɣo] ; Spanish for " Land of Fire ", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland , across

8556-582: Was given a monopoly on all Dutch trade via the Straits of Magellan and the Cape of Good Hope , the only known sea routes at the time to the Far East . To search for an alternate route and one to the unknown Terra Australis , Isaac Le Maire , a wealthy Amsterdam merchant and Willem Schouten , a ship's master of Hoorn, contributed in equal shares to the enterprise, with additional financial support from merchants of Hoorn. Jacob Le Maire , Isaac's son, went on

8649-468: Was in use for trade well before the Horn was discovered. The Beagle Channel (named for the ship of Charles Darwin's expedition), between Tierra del Fuego and Isla Navarino , offers a potential, though difficult route. Other passages may be taken around the Wollaston and Hermite Islands to the north of Cape Horn. All of these, however, are notorious for treacherous williwaw winds, which can strike

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