Caleta Martial
by Kate Laird

We are anchored off a long sandy beach in Caleta Martial on Isla Herschel, about ten miles due north of Cape Horn. The barometer has dropped 12 millibars in the past 24 hours as an intensifying low passes to the South along the Drake Passage.

We left Caleta Margarita yesterday morning expecting a three-to-four day passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. The first fifty miles across Bahia Nassau started out with a fine downwind sail, wing and wing, making seven-plus knots. Unfortunately the wind steadily shifted to the SW and strengthened and forecasts downloaded during the afternoon showed that if we kept going we would have to deal with head winds gusting 35-40 knots as we transited the shallow waters south of Cape Horn. Rather than confront these conditions early in the trip, we decided to change course and sit out the next 24 hours in Caleta Martial.

It turned out to be a good call. All afternoon, the wind has been gusting 30 from the SW with driving rain. The forecast NW winds for tomorrow morning should give us a much easier time in the Drake Passage. All's well on board - good food, games of Scrabble, and lots of good chat. (posted by guests Tony and Coryn)

For more about Seal see http://www.expeditionsail.com.