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The map below was generated using NASA's World Wind v.1.4 software showing the region of the Straits of Magellan from just east of where Punta Arenas is located on the Strait to where the mouth of the strait opens to the Pacific Ocean on the west.  The map extends to the south to just where the Magdalena Channel enters the Straits of Magellan south of the Del Hambre Pass.  Our route brought us through the Magdalena Channel and north to Punta Arenas, Chile.  From Punta Arenas we again turned south sailing back down the channel and around Cape Froward, the southermost point of the continent of South America where the Cross of the Seas stands atop the Cape.  We continued to the north west through English Pass, Tortuoso Pass, Largo Pass, and out into the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.  The place names on the map below were hand inserted and are referred to for some of the photos that will follow for this segment of the trip.

 

One of the Chilean lighthouses that we sailed past both going north to Punta Areans and then again when were were heading south toward Cape Froward was Faro San Isidro.  The lighthouse sits atop a small island off the north shore of the Strait of Magellan in the Del Hambre Pass not all that far from the town of Puerto Del Hambre.  The lighthouse consists of a white keeper's residence with an attached tower with a horizontal red band around the tower.  The station appeared to be well maintained when we sailed past it in February '09.  It was convenient, too, knowing that we'd be sailing back past the lighthouse again later in the afternoon when the light would be different.

 

click image above for a larger view

 

click image above for a larger view

 

 

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click image above for a larger view

 

click image above for a larger view

 

Later in the afternoon, as we were headed for Cape Froward, in the distance ahead of us we could see a freighter headed west in the Strait of Magellan.  Much later after we had rounded Cape Froward, we overtook and passed the freighter as we were approaching Paso Tortuoso.  A shot of the frieghter in the distance ahead of us is shown below.

 

 

OK, so this segment is redudant and repeats some of the images contained on the Ushuaia - Punta Arenas page, but it seemed to make sense to do that since we could only see Cape Froward distantly to the northwest when we came out of the mouth of the Magdalena Channel when we were north bound toward Punta Arenas to clear Chilean immigration and customs.

 

 

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An annotated version of this image is also shown with the larger view.

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Approaching Cape Froward in the late afternoon is an unusual time for a cruise ship to be passing the southernmost point of land of the continent of South America.  Generally, cruise ships that arrive in Punta Arenas in the morning are busy with shore excursions until late afternoon and they tend to round Cape Froward around twilight or later.  Consequently, we had a treat in getting to see the third Cross of the Seas that stands atop Cape Froward in the bright light of day.  The photo to the left shows all of Cape Froward silhouetted in the late afternoon.  The tiny Cape Froward light that marks the tip of land is barely visible against the brightly reflecting waters of the Strait of Magellan in the photo to the left above.  The right image is a 600 mm telephoto shot of the Cross of the Seas showing the open steel skeleton of the cross that allows the strong prevailing westerly winds of the region to blow through the structure of the cross. 

This is the third and and largest cross erected atop Cape Froward.  It's worth recounting a bit of the history of the Crosses of the Seas here.  The first was constructed of iron and was erected and commemorated in December 1913 to celebrate 1600 years since the Edict of Emporer Constantine who granted Christianity religious freedom in the Roman world.  The force of the winds, however bent and broke the first cross, which stood 9 meters (~28 feet) high, in 1930.  The second cross was commemorated in March, 1944 and was 21 meters tall and built of reinforced concrete.  It was constructed to commemorate the choice of Punta Arenas as the base for the Ninth National Echaristic Congeress.  Again, due to the strong prevailing winds and earth tremors, the 2nd cross collapsed in 1956.  The present cross was erected to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to Chile in 1987.  The current Cross of the Seas stands 24 meters or 79 feet tall with a crosspiece position north to south that is 10 meters (33 feet) across.  The diameter of the cross piece, to provide a sense of scale, is 2 meters or ~6.5 feet.  The present cross is a circular high strenth steel lattice designed to allow the winds to blow through it.  Hopefully, this magestic marker of the southern tip of the South American continent will last considerably longer than its predecessors.

 

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click photo for a larger view

 

Cape Froward

 

 

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The small Cape Froward light marks the tip of South America along the north shore of the Strait of Magellan.  The Cross of the Seas is seen standing atop Cape Froward in the image to the left.

The wide angle view above was shot with a Nikon D3, the sensor in the FX mode at a focal length of 17 mm and shows the region near Cape Froward (extreme right point of land) from the southwest.

 

 

 

Obviously, all of the photographs shown above were shot in the Straits of Magellan.  The segment of the Strait northward from the mouth of the Magdalena Channel to Punta Arenas and then back south again and around Cape Froward, however, is such a broad, wide body of water that to my mind it hardly seemed like what the word "strait" conjurs.  That said, after rounding Cape Froward and headind west north west toward Ingles Pass or Tortuoso Pass, the nature of the Strait changes somewhat and narrows considerably.  The images and segment which follows is from that narrow segment of the Strait.  These images were shot as a strong storm was gathering that we were sailing toward as we made our way westward in the Strait toward Cabo Pillar, which marks the southern tip of the western terminus of the Strait of Magellan.  When the Splendor entered the open waters of the Pacific Ocean around 2300 hrs that night, it was into 90-100 mph winds and seas that were running 20-25 feet.  The stability of the Splendor was truly amazing despite the seas that we were in.  It was interesting to ride in the elevators on the ship... periodically as we would rise and the slice down and through a big wave there would be a very deep, resonant bass boom up through the elevator shaft from the hull.  I truly wish it had been daylight when we made this part of our passage so that I could have seen the waves and Cabo Pillar!

 

 

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As we slid by Isla Carlos III, there is a small channel light to mark the island for ships heading east through the Strait.  We were in the Ingles Paso (English Pass) when we caught up with the freighter that we saw making her way toward Cape Froward earlier in the day.  The sequence of three photos shown here were taken within the span of probably on about 5 min, which gives you an idea of speed we were moving at vs. that of the freighter.  We passed another small channel light within the Tortuoso Pass; after we were through Tortuoso Pass, looking back you could see the freighter making her way around one of the points of land that defines the pass. 

 

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click photo for a larger view

 

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Looking up, there were hanging glaciers, and looking forward you could see the ominous weather system we were sailing into as we made our way further west in the Strait.  Not too long after the photo on the right below was shot, it began raining pretty hard, and the rain didn't let up that I'm aware of as daylight faded away...

 

 

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All images are Copyrighted by Gary Martin, 1996-2009. No images can be downloaded or used for any purpose without premission in writing from the copyright holder.