from the airstrip at the naval base was an adventure as well. Our aircraft was a Bombardier short-takeoff twin engine, but because of the 25-plus knots flowing directly down the strip, all the pilot had to do was rev the engines and the takeoff was near vertical. ✧
In all, the best sailing adventure of my life.
The Cape Horn Monument was solemnly inaugurated Dec. 5, 1992. The Chilean chapter of the Chilean Association of Cape Horners erected it in memory of the seamen from every nation who perished in the battle against the inclemency of nature in the seas around the legendary Cape Horn. Chilean sculptor José Balcells Eyquem created the 7-meter-high monument, which consists of two independent pieces, each made of five steel plates 6 mm thick, and is designed to withstand gusting winds of up to 125 mph. The Chilean Navy constructed the monument between October and November 1992. The monument was paid for with contributions from maritime companies and public and private entities related to the sea from Chile and many other countries. Many of the donors were direct relatives of Cape Horners as well as shipowners who had made the voyage. The structure failed on Nov. 29, 2014. I have been unable to find details about the storm force that took it down or the subsequent reconstruction. At the base of the hill upon which the monument rests are two tablets, one with the details about the memorial and the other with this beautiful poem (see below) by Sara Vial, a writer from Valpariso.
I am the albatross that awaits you at the end of the earth. I am the forgotten soul of the dead sailors who sailed around Cape Horn from all the seas of the world. But they did not die in the furious waves. Today they fly on my wings toward eternity in the last crevice of the Antarctic winds. Cape Horn Monument 2004.
issue 64 2022
77
