Rounding Cabos de Hornos
Today we rounded Cape Horn…and I’ve never felt so small…but so full of life and humble at once
Among large winds and larger waves, today will remain a day forever embedded in my mind. We could see the edge of the earth during the entire sail and the anticipation did not provide any anxiety, only a comfort that kept a smile on our faces.
I was at the helm during the majority of the sail, steering us around this beautiful site. With each gale we grew closer and with each gust of wind, the waves heightened from 5 to 10 to 15 feet. The swell continued to grow but Old Boras never did show herself or rip down upon us—but her presence was surely felt among the albatrosses.
I kept my eyes on the horizon but also sensed the seasickness approaching the point of no return. As we literally rounded Cabos de Hornos she awoke for the first time at sea and tore my passageway up while we crept through the a passage often referred to as ‘Sailers Graveyard.’
It was quite humorous for I spoke to the ocean with my breakfast only to look up, with water in my eyes after what felt like an ab workout only Buddy Morris would enjoy, to stare the Cape directly in her eyes. After the second round of upchucking, which of course Tyler captured on his Go Pro, I had to laugh, as the ocean gods were reminding me that this very turn around the most southern point in the relative world always wins and must always be respected.
The feeling of sailing around Cabos de Hornos was nothing I expected. As you have read along, this journal, this voyage has always been a dream of mine and I’ve always looked at the Cape as a relative competition, but a different feeling took over my emotions.
I felt proud.
To realize that in 1858, 156 years ago, a man named William B. Roth sailed these waters on his boat named ‘The Hesperus,’ and that his story was passed from generation to generation with me now having a small role in that story as a representative of my family made me feel extremely proud.
Proud of him, proud of our relatives, proud that his exploration, regardless of if he intended to inspire others or not, has done just that. He enabled an 8-year old to dream an uncommon dream in a small town thousands of miles from the edge of the earth. His journey of self-exploration jump-started mine, and to be just a page in that on-going narrative is something I’ll forever be proud of.
