Cape Horn/Drake Passage... How rough is it?

[arzz]

It gets interesting around post #44

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=480550

[dfish]

I'm hoping for some excitement, but nothing like what arzz described. I guess it would provide for some great story telling later on.

 

Deb

[Liv4cruzin]

The Hotel Mgr. was telling us about the previous voyage at our C.C. Meet & Greet on Tues. He said there was a 90+' wave & winds over 100 mph. Now that's what I call exciting.

[pspercy]

The posted photo shows the strength of the wind.

 

Indeed it does.

That's quite a sea, remember the camera flattens it out a lot.

[MightyQuinn]

Passengers on that Veendam sailing have some great stories to tell about their exciting experience. No doubt, the tales will get better & wilder as time goes by. Oh to have been there - I'm seasick green with envy. :cool::cool:

[dfish]

The Hotel Mgr. was telling us about the previous voyage at our C.C. Meet & Greet on Tues. He said there was a 90+' wave & winds over 100 mph. Now that's what I call exciting.

 

Yes, I would tend to agree that 90 ft. waves and winds over 100 mph could be termed exciting. ;)

[scm1848]

I can't believe anyone could consider 98 feet swells and 110 mph winds "exciting". I truly believe it was life-threatening. Our room steward said the afternoon before it really got rough that 50% of th passengers were sick; the poor crew was having to deal with that, in addition to their own fears. He said it was the worst he had seen in his 13 years at sea, and the next day, the captain said it was the worst he had seen in 27 years!! Many people were injured, including an elderly lady who had to remain behind in Ushuaia for hip surgery. We had to prop pillows around us so as not to roll out of bed while trying to sleep.

 

My former husband, an airline pilot, said that a plane could survive only 1 of 3 "mistakes" - weather, pilot error or a mechanical. On the Veendam, we had weather. Had we broke a propeller or lost power, we were done. No life jacket or lifeboat would have saved us. No rescue would have been possible. We spent HOURS like that - from approximately 1 or 2 p.m. on Monday through the early morning hours of Tuesday. In addition to normal rough sea creaking and groaning, we had huge vibrations and impacts when the entire ship would rise out of the water and then slam into the sea. We lost a sheaf that caused an anchor to dangle 1,000 feet from the bow for hours, adding to the drag factor. It took 3 hours to "fix" that. Boards were warped on the observation deck. When any of this was truly repaired for the next cruise heading to the Antarctica I don't know. I would not want to be on that cruise. I hope for their safe passage.

 

I like "exciting" - this was not! It was a nightmare!!

[IIcaptain]

We floated through the Beagle Channel with not a hint of a breeze at sunrise. Spectacular way to approach Ushuia.

One of my best Nautical Moments.

[bob brown]

There's that old saying....." a ship in a harbor is safe.....

but that is not what ships are for".....

[crickey196]

We are booked for the Jan 6, 2012.....this cruise has been on our bucket list for a few years and are finally going to do it....just showed some of these reports to my wife and her eyes sure went buggy....but then she said "looks like an interesting cruise you have me booked on"....it is going to be a long year's wait to leave but will enjoy reading this thread....

Any one looking at going on the 12/20/2011, Christmas and New year, always wanted to go this way, so we are looking at booking.

Sounds like a great adventure, we came back to Sydney on the 16th October 2010, 1 day out from Sydney was high seas and windy, and freezing, so one can never tell.

Stayed up most of the night hanging onto the seats in the casino, Ah well your a long time dead, so we are going, booking after the Christmas break.

Merry Christmas from the wet in Queensland.:cool:

[dfish]

I understand the feeling that the experience was a nightmare. I was being facetious when I said it could be termed exciting. I think I'd be hugging the toilet. I am glad for those who were on the ship that they made it safely to port.

 

In a situation like that, I could only put my faith and trust in the Captain, officers and staff who have been trained to deal with those situations.

 

While I'm hoping for an exciting cruise, I would really prefer to not experience a storm like that at sea.

 

Debbie

[Liv4cruzin]

I didn't mean to infer that your traumatic experience was merely 'exciting'. I'm sure it was a harrowing experience. I'm one of the strange ones who enjoys a REALLY bumpy ride. When the hotel mgr. made that comment to our group, he was only trying to assure the current Pax that what we had experienced was mild in comparison to the last cruise.

[CowPrincess]

Reading some of these first-hand accounts has really diminished my interest in this itinerary. So glad everyone is safe!

[mconthehighseas]

Cow Princess, I can understand you feeling that way. I was also on the Dec 8-20 cruise on the Veendam, and I will admit to being scared during the storm. I did know that this part of the world was known for horrendous storms - after all, that is one reason why they built the Panama Canal. I just hoped that since it was "summer", that we would not encounter them.

 

Whenever you have two different seas meeting, whether it is the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, or in this case the Southern Ocean and the Atlantic, you have a higher chance of rough seas. When you add bad weather to that, things can get dicey.

 

The funny thing is that on the cruise before us, they had fairly calm seas at Cape Horn - it was some of their best weather! They had very high winds at Punta Arenas and snow in Ushuaia! There was some rough water in the Atlantic after Cape Horn, and they had to miss the Falklands. I thought that since we were able to get to Falklands, it would be smooth sailing, but I was wrong. But after the storm we had good weather in the Ushuaia and P.A. You just can't predict how things will turn out.

 

Some people were thrilled that they got to weather a storm. If that's not your idea of fun, this may not be the itinerary for you. I was willing to chance it because the cruise was at a great time for us, and I was hoping we would get to the Falklands. I think it worked out for us, but everyone is different.

[ibfishing2]

Great reading. I'm still looking forward to this trip.

[Hawaiidan]

Anything worth doing has some level of risk and discomfort.

History has shown this to be one of the roughest seas in the world.

The adventure is unparalelled. The payoff like no other

Mark Twain put it well

" 20 years from know you will remember not of what you did but rather that which you did not do"

[TiogaCruiser]

Anything worth doing has some level of risk and discomfort.

 

Mark Twain put it well

" 20 years from know you will remember not of what you did but rather that which you did not do"

 

And that's a whole different set of concerns as we age.....

 

I believe the word as "regret". ;)