BRITISH KAYAK EXPEDITIONCAPE HORN

OFFICIAL EXPEDITION REPORT",

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CONTENTS

Cape Horn from the South - Photo Nigel MatthewsBasalt Cliffs, Isla Grevy - Photo Nigel MatthewsContentsMap of RouteThe Beginnings - Nigel Matthews - The Journey - Frank R. GoodmanDiary of Journey - Frank R. GoodmanPersonal Preparation - Jim HargreavesPersonal Preparation - Frank R. GoodmanPersonal Preparation - Barry J. N. SmithPersonal Preparation - Nigel MatthewsThe Weather - Frank R. GoodmanThe Land - Frank R. GoodmanThe Birds - Barry J. N. Smith & Frank R. GoodmanEquipment Report - Barry J. N. SmithPhotographic Report - Nigel MatthewsMedical Supplies Report - Jim HargreavesFood Report - Jim HargreavesNavigation Report - Barry J. N. SmithExternal Rescue Report - Barry J. N. SmithPersonal Reflections - Barry J. N. SmithPersonal Reflections - Jim HargreavesPersonal Reflections - Frank R. GoodmanAn Account of the Rounding of Cape Horn - Barry J. N. SmithAcknowledgmentsThe Expedition TeamReferences

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1.\/11 "fDEL FUEC;O

ISLA NAVARINO

II

Bahia Nassau

PLANNED ROUTE:Puerto WilliamsWest along Beagle ChannelSouth through Murray CanalPaso NassauGrupo WoolastonGroupo HermiteCape HornReturn viaBahia NassauPaso GoreePaso PictonBeagle ChannelPuerto illiams

ACTUAL ROUTE:--+----+--Figures indicatecamp sitesandnights outfrom Pto.Williams

o 10_ IiIijjj IiIijjj 11 i 11NAUTICAL MILES

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THE BEGINNINGS Nige/ Matthews

Out of the blue came the news that Colin Mortlockhad decided to withdraw from the venture. There waslittle doubt that the three remaining members wouldcarry on. Colin opting out brought about a majorchange in the basic structure of the expedition. Wewould continue as a democractic unit without a formalleader. Background experience was similar, each hadstrengths and weaknesses: hopefully we wouldcompliment each other. Decisions would be"committee" .

Four still seemed the best number, a replacementwas needed. From a short list, Jim Hargreaves wasinvited to join. He had been a member of the firstBritish expedition down the Colorado and no newcomerto big water. He was also elected to the onerous task ofquartermaster.

While each had some special area to look after, weworked with the underlying principle that we wouldobtain whatever we could. Barry worked wondersamassing a huge pile of equipment ranging from radiosto plastic knives and forks. Frank had the job ofsecretary and trying to raise financial support while Ihad the photographic and medical side of things.However as the months passed jobs overlapped.

Money was a constant worry particularly the airfares out there. When it seemed as if we'd never get toGatwick let alone Punta Arenas, the eternal optimismof Frank encouraged us all with, "I just know we'll getthere" .

After the Nordkapp expedition of 1975, ColinMortlock and myself decided to make another journeyby kayak. No firm decision as to the area was made butwe had already decided that four would be an idealnumber for the next expedition. Frank Goodman andBarry Smith were invited to join us.

Finance, the bane of all expeditions was uppermostin our minds. What was the secret of raising sufficientfunds to get us all there and back? Would the public beprepared to donate to an expedition? The answer wascertainly not, unless the objective of the expeditioncaught their imagination. What we needed was ahousehold name, an Everest or Cape Horn.

Cape Horn, why not indeed?What had been intended as a flippant comment was

taken up. Charts were pored over. The route had to beplanned. Maybe a circumnavigation of Tierra delFuego? Too far for the time we had available. PuntaArenas out into the Pacific round Cape Horn and intothe Atlantic? Endless possibilities. Other considerationsfinally dictated to us. The political differences betweenChile and Argentine made a trip entirely in Chileanwaters the least complicated. The political relationsbetween Britain and Chile were also strained but inretrospect we saw little of this: only friendship andhospitality.

Eventually we decided that our starting point wasto be Puerto Williams, a purpose built Naval base in theBeagle Channel on the Island of Navarino and served bya small airstrip. Through the generosity of the ChileanNavy we could be flown in and our kayaks shipped thelast 150 miles to the base if we could get them to PuntaArenas.

From Williams the round trip taking in the Hornwould be almost 250 miles. Notoriously bad weatherand extremes of temperature reduced our proposeddaily mileage to 10-15 miles. We could carry food forthirty-two days supplementing this along the way withfish and fungi, berries, other wildlife and shellfish. Toallow time for the journey out, a two month maximumwas worked on, our departure to be in early December.While this period of the year, the Chilean summer,would not give us the calmest weather at least thetemperatures would be at their highest.

More detailed planning of the route, thoroughsearching of the pilot. for sheltered bays, exposedcrossings and tidal rates took place in the crampedconfines of a Bude caravan during the National SurfingChampionships. It wasn't that we were dedicated, thesurf was poor!

Further local information was gained fromCommander Pugh at the offices of the Chilean NavalAttache in London, and William Gardiner who hadbeen headmaster at the English School in Punta Arenasand was himself a canoeist. Slides William Gardiner wasable to show us gave a great deal of encouragement. Thesea was occasionally calm and the coastline sometimesflat enough to take a tent. About the same time we weresent an article from a boating magazine makingreference to landing points on the Horn. Perhaps it waspossible after all! Armed with this meagre informationthe route was committed to the chart, later to befollowed almost exactly.

THE JOURNEY Frank Goodman

Although many people have passed around CapeHorn, few people have explored the intricacies of thechannels between the Horn and the Magellans.Information about this area is very scarce indeed, andwhat was available seemed to be aimed at the largervessels likely to use the area, and therefore much of theinformation was not relevant to canoeing.

It is the almost total lack of information of coursethat makes the Cape Horn archipelago such an excitingchallenge to the canoeist. We had only a small scalechart and the scant information contained in the SouthAmerican Pilot when we left England. Talks in PuertoWilliams with the Chilean Navy and the local crabfishermen produced only conflicting reports about tideraces. The Chilean Navy was able to provide some tidalinformation giving times of high water and the range forthe first few days of our journey.

The essence of sea-canoeing can be summarisedunder 4 headings:

1. Tides.2. Weather.3. Landing places.4. Escape routes.The tide range never exceeded 3 metres on springs,

and this, coupled with our experience of a 3 knot north-going stream in the Murray Canal on the ebb convincedus that tidal movement would be the least of ourproblems. This indeed was the case, and apart from anoccasional check for drift, we found that we couldsafely ignore tidal effects. I

Although the South American Pilot spoke ofinstantly changing weather conditions, we did notbelieve this until we had experienced it! Twice wewitnessed calm conditions change to full gale in less

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than ten minutes. Several times the wind backedthrough 90 degrees instantly, with no change of cloudpattern and often visibility would reduce from overthirty miles to half a mile in a matter of seconds. Thusthe weather completely dominated our thinkingthroughout the journey and all decisions were madeonly after a very careful appraisal of likelymeteorological events.

Although there were many areas where thecoastlines are cliff-bound, we never experienced muchdifficulty in finding suitable landing places. This was acombination of careful scrutiny of the coast line aheadof us and a level of fitness that enabled us to paddle afew extra miles without fatigue if necessary. The rainfallis such that almost every bay or beach had a rivulet ofdrinking water available to us.

Although we planned every day on the principle of"Where do we go and what do we do if the weatherdeteriorates?" there were three major obstacles in ourjourney where realistic escape routes in rapidlydeteriorating weather conditions were not possible.

These were:1. The ten mile crossing from Hoste Island to

Grevy across Paso Nassau (Day 8). This wasaccomplished by setting out at four o'clock in theafternoon as wind speeds dropped after the passage of adepression.

2. The journey around Cape Horn Island itself(Day 12). This was a fifteen mile, five hour paddle withat least three hours of total commitment on the westernside of the island. We began in calm conditions at 5.30a.m. with clear skies and some approaching cirrus. Welanded on the east side of the island at 10.30 still in calmconditions, but by mid-day there was a full gale blowingagain. The sky remained clear and there was noindication that the wind would increase.

3. The crossing of Bahia Nassau from thenorthern end of Woolaston Island to the S.E. corner ofNaverino (Day 16). This was the most committingcrossing of all as it involved a sixteen mile paddle(almost the equivalent of the English Channel) with noland at all to the east. Also we had achieved our mainobjective by this time, which meant that it was easy tounder-estimate the danger as we were 'on our wayhome'. We set off in calm conditions about ten o'clockin the morning after an hour-long discussion with regardto its feasibility. A vicious day previously had left anearly morning legacy of cumulonimbus clouds thatcleared away to the south east. We finished the crossingin a force five/six with some relief!

All members of the team tackled Cape Horn in anentirely different way from their normal approach tosea-canoeing, which often involved looking for testingsituations in the form of long crossings, difficult tideraces and overfalls and testing wind conditions. -Ourapproach was one of caution, and a healthy respect forthe unknown. Although none of us felt that we had beenpushed to our physical limits, the heavy blow at the endof the second day, the huge swell and tricky clapotis offCape Horn and the aches and pains we all experiencedafter our third day on the water made us realize that ourmargins were quite small. One minor piece of bad luck,a lapse in planning or a little less stamina could haveeasily spelt out another story.

Mentally, we were all under a long term strainowing to the extreme unpredictability of the weather butthis was amply compensated for by the tremendousfeeling of remoteness and grandeur that we allexperienced.

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DIARY

August 1977Four kayaks, packed with dehydrated food, campinggear and ancillary equipment, leave London by sea forPunta Arenas, Magellanes, Chile.November 1977.Chilean Navy trans-ship kayaks to Puerto Williams onthe Beagle Channel.November 28thExpedition team gather in Nottingham for fitness testsat the University Medical School, and for last minutepreparations.December 1stTeam fly from Gatwick for Punta Arenas, via NewYork, Miami and Santiago.December 5thTeam arrive in Punta Arenas.December 7thSpecial arrangements by the Chilean Navy allow theteam to fly on to Puerto Williams, the expedition start-point.DA Y 1 December 11thTwo kayaks severely damaged in shipment, had to berepaired, and all gear including radios and filmingequipment packed into the boats. The team left at 1.00p.m. Camp made after a ten mile paddle against thewind. Nigel's kayak discovered to be severely twisted,and handling badly.DA Y 2 December 12thNigel's kayak repaired by heating over camp-fire,straightening, and re-glassing into shape. A sixteen milepaddle into strong head winds finishing with a bad force8 blow before landing for the night.DA Y 3 December 13thWind north westerly, and helpful as the team movedsouth through the Murray Canal against a three knottide race. Good eddies each side of the channel. Windslackens and Centolla (King Crab) fishermen give us alarge crab, which is fastened to lim's canoe. Windincreases from N. W. and we decide to run for CaletaDouglas. lim and Frank miss the narrow entrance andfinish three miles south of planned destination. Short-wave radio used to establish contact with Nigel andBarry, who are in the right place but worried. lim andFrank complete a 28 mile day with a hard push backinto force 6/7 winds. The crab is washed away!DA Y 4 December 14thRest day. All team members have slight physicalproblems after the rigorous paddling. A bright daygusting 8. We feed on goose eggs and fungus, dig inYaughan Indian beach middens and see Condors.DA Y 5 December 15thSet off in force 3. Crossed Murray Canal and mouths ofseveral inlets. Cold. Made lunch-stop into night-stop asweather worsened. Camped on bog in forest. Rain andwind all night. 17miles covered.DA Y 6 December 16thBroke camp in wet and paddled to Isla Yellow ready forthe crossing to the Woolaston Group. Early camp afteronly eleven miles. Dried out in perfect evening. Earlybed, woken at 10.00 p.m. by gale from the N.DAY 7 December 17thSet off in calming seas, but returned to the samecampsite as weather worsened, gusting 40 knots by mid-

day. Slept.DA Y 8 December 18thAwoke to bad visibility and a blow. Wind moderatedslowly during a day spent exploring the island on foot.Set off in force 2/3 westerly about 4.00 p.m. Hit 6 ft.breaking sea on crossing but arrived on the WoolastonGroup in 2Yz hours. Made a late camp after 17 milespaddled.DA Y 9 December 19thCalm. Set off in perfect conditions but whales in the bayupset our route planning. Made for an island but sixwhales cut us off! Carried on after whales moved out tosea. Paddled 22 miles and stopped at a radio hut. Bigwelcome from the Chileans who had heard us on theirradio. Gale in the night.DA Y 10 December 20thA difficult launch off rocks in a force 5/6. Crossed toHershal Island and landed at Copihue Radio Hut forcoffee. Eight miles paddled. Wind increased to gale.Decided to stay put. Cape Horn Island looks gloomyacross the spray-streaked sound.DA Y 11 December 21stBlowing full gale and gusting to 45 m.p.h. outside thehut which was sheltered. Difficult walking. Slept.DA Y 12 December 22ndUp and on the water by 6.00 a.m. Wind force 1 to 2.Paddled south and then west. Crossed to N. shore ofCape Horn Island in very long low swell. The N.W.corner of the island is magnificent with huge stacks andan arch, detached from the main cliff. A huge swell of15 metres height became difficult as the clapotis fromthe base of the cliffs was superimposed. Awesome, withspray drifting 10 metres high along the shore and thebreaking waves sounding like howitzers. Two hours ofthis to get to Cape Horn itself. With the swell runningalong the face of the cliffs of Cape Horn things becameeasier and we managed to get slides and movie.Rounded Cape Horn, 9.15 a.m., 22nd December, 1977.Another hour and we were in the shelter of the eastcoast and we landed. Lay in the sun, but gale again by12.30. Bad camping. Put up fly-sheet only and bivied onthe boulder beach. 14miles paddled.DAY 13 December 23rdRest day. Climbed to top of Cape Horn, 400 metres.Very hard going in either dense vegetation or bog. Windindicator jammed at maximum - 70 m.p.h. Lot ofpenguins, most with pair of chicks. Also eagles,cormorants and albatross.DAY 14 December 24thOn water by 6.00 a.m. Last of gale blowing out. Madegood progress north and called at radio hut on IslaWoolaston. While ashore the radio operator saw anarc a (Killer Whale) in the channel. One of the marinesfired at it several times and missed, but it went away.Continued north. Paddled 24 miles.DA Y 15 December 25thXmas Day. Stayed put on beautiful sandy beach calledCaleta Middle. Looked for shell-fish but found none.Very bad blow after lunch. Slept. Rain in night.DA Y 16 December 26thBoxing Day. Nottingham Radio Ham picks up amessage from the Falkland Islands saying we haverounded the Horn. Away at 6.00 a.m. Lots of cu-nimbus about. Paddled to Cabo Ross at north end ofWoolaston. Decided not to cross Bahia Nassau. Afteran hour changed our minds as weather improved quicklyfrom the N. First hour calm, then force 3 from N.W.slowly strengthening and backing west. Finished the 16miles crossing in force 6 after 4% hours. Another large

whale close. Continued along east coast of Navarino,but wind backed S.W. and helped us. 24 miles paddledto a sheltered campsite.DAY 17 December 27thRelaxed after the major crossing, but psychologicallywanted to get back to base. Hard paddling as we gainedthe Beagle Channel and headed west into the wind.Rained all day. Paddled 25 miles.DAY 18 December 28th12 miles to go for Puerto Williams. Tents dry, but rainstarted as we launched. Hard work again in force 6head-wind. Short seas. Lots of spray. Roundedheadland and saw Pto. Williams three miles away. Seadropped off as we gained the shelter of the bay.Williams seemed deserted, but as we neared the harbourpeople tumbled out of houses and lined the jetty. Wehad a marvellous welcome with ships' sirens and waterhoses. The whole population of the town met us on thebeach. The Naval Commander said "When you left, Ithought you were loco. Now I think you're only halfloco!"Cable sent to England to say that the expedition wassuccessful and safe. 1

Number of nautical miles covered 227Number of days on the water 18December 31stFlew out of Puerto Williams in light plane after packingup canoes for shipment home.Some trouble with visas in Chile but eventually arrivedat Gatwick, mid-day January 12th, 1978.

PERSONAL PREPARATIONJim Hargreaves

The fact that I work as an instructor in outdooractivities, specialising particularly in canoeing, meansthat my daily work helps to keep me in a fairly goodstate of canoeing fitness. My work is mainly with adults,and I am therefore able to undertake longer, moretaxing canoe journeys than if I dealt only with youngpeople. In addition, I also go canoeing frequently in myspare time. To be perfectly honest I did not feeldisposed towards special training or physicalpreparation of any kind, I felt this would have madecanoeing a chore rather than a pleasure, and I thereforedecided to follow the philosophy of one eminentexpedition er and" Get fit doin' it".

Despite the amount of canoeing I do in the courseof my job, I felt very guilty when I discovered howmuch preparatory work the others had put in. Perhaps Iwas being unfair to myself in actual fact, as Frank'sbusiness commitments did not allow him to canoe asfrequently as he would have liked. This coupled with thefact that he was the oldest in the group and thus felt,unfoundedly, that he would therefore be the weak link,drove him into a masochistic training schedule whichreduced him to a mere wafer of his former, ratherportly, self. Barry is also a very active instructor, anddid a great deal of paddling before he went. Nigel, dueto an unfortunate football injury was unable to grip aboat for many months before departure, and probablysuffered, physically, more than anyone else. Iundertook, therefore, no special training of any kind,preferring to face the event with a degree of residualfitness, hoping that this, along with a little 'mind overmatter' would carry me through.

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All of us found it very gruelling at times, thoughrarely concurrently, and will was often taxed as much asmuscle. By the third day, for the first time in ten yearsof very active canoeing, I suffered from the dreadedTeno-synovitis. My left wrist (I am right handed) wascreaking like a retired celibate monk's bed on hiswedding night! Starting each subsequent day's canoeingwas a very painful ordeal, and after two more days Icouldn't even stuff my sleeping bag into its waterproofouter without considerable discomfort. I evencontemplated taking 'Fortral' tablets, a stronganalgesic, but resisted, and luckily, after three moredays my wrist returned to normal. In my experienceTeno-synovitis is normally treated with strict abstentionfrom exercise, in my case this was impossible, but forsome reason the condition improved, despite arduouspaddling. I will never know if the onset of this conditionwould have been rendered less likely by a morecomprehensive training programme. I doubt it.

It is very important to be fit, both physically andmentally, for any expedition which may make demandsupon the body's reserves. Although sheer strength mayin itself carry you through a trying situation, there havebeen many occasions on exploratory expeditions in thepast when men who were endowed with very littlestrength of arm, have out-survived others of herculeanframe. This can only be attributed to mentaldetermination, and it is this which, if developed, canmake the difference between living or dying, succeedingin your ambitions, or failing. Not that our will to livewas at any time tested, but our determination to succeedwas, and our unity in this respect was so strong that wenever really anticipated failure. On the odd occasion itwas necessary, when morale was at a low ebb, orstrength was wanting at the end of the day, to get atransfusion from one of the others who was not in the'Doldrums' a joke or some cheerful remark was alwaysforthcoming, and your weakness, hidden from view bypride, would never become apparent.

To conclude, one of the most difficult aspects ofany fitness training programme for a specific event, is toplan your training schedule so as to reach a coincidentalpeak. Having said that, any training is better than none,and if you prefer the trauma of unusually hard workbeing thrust upon a totally unprepared, bewilderedbody, that's up to you.

If you prefer to get fit doing it, don't expect anysympathy.

PERSONAL PREPARATIONFrank Goodman

There are two types of dream that people are apt toindulge in. One is the pipe-dream, where the brainconjures up a fantasy that is so manifestly beyond thepossibility of fulfilment, that no positive steps are evertaken to try and achieve realisation. The other is thedream that stimulates action because its substance is notcompletely beyond the bounds of possibility.

The dream of rounding Cape Horn by kayak wasnever a pipe-dream to me, because I was already deeplycommitted to sea-canoeing, and knew that with a bit ofluck the journey was possible. Certainly the ideastimulated me into action in terms of making it a reality,and I had no qualms about the logistics. My only realconcern was to make sure that I was physically capable

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of making a committing journey. At forty seven I feltthat I was too old to start a really vicious trainingprogramme, and I decided to cut down on food, as Iwas definitely over-weight, and to start running atlunch-time. A convenient distance was just over a mileand a half, and although in theory, I wanted to runevery week-day, on average I managed three times aweek. I don't enjoy running and the only consolationwas that my time for the run slowly got faster and myheart-rate slowly reduced. To improve my stamina Idecided to force myself into a twelve mile paddle on theTrent twice a week, but I soon became utterly boredwith this, and eventualiy decided that the mostinteresting way of getting reasonably fit was to take upslalom again. I had not done any slalom at all since 1970when I had reached the dizzy heights of Ist , div. I alsohad never paddled a low profile slalom canoe. Much tomy surprise, I found that I was utterly hopeless atgetting through a slalom gate, and I really enjoyedworking away at my lost slalom skills and learning thenew ones that were pertinent to low profile boats. I amstill convinced that practice through slalom gates,whether on still or moving water is the best and quickestway to gain both skill and confidence for any sort ofcanoeing. In addition to competing in slaloms and gatepractice, I also paddled 7 Y2 miles on the Trent everySunday afternoon, this was harder than it sounds as theTrent is flowing quite fast above King's Mill near CastleDonnington, and I slowly increased my speed until Icould paddle upstream, 3.75 miles to Swarkestone inone hour, and make it back again in half an hour. Atschool I had spent five years learning algebra. At last Ifound a use for a minute portion of what I had learnt ...such is the price of education! A simultaneous equationcan be applied and the answer was that I was paddling ata speed of 5.25 miles per hour on a river with an averageflow of 2.25 m.p.h. This pleased me more than the hardwork of paddling! Although the above sounds a ratherlow profile of training, I found that I did get muchfitter, and that I was able to burn off a few youngsterswho paddled with me on occasion. My weight did notreduce, however, and prior to leaving for the Horn weall had a fitness test and I was still 25070 fat!

PERSONAL PREPARATIONBarry Smith

Training is a necessary element in all competitivesports. That it has been so slow to infiltrate activitieswhere the aspect of competition is less overt is perhapssurprising. To rock climb at a high standard andsucceed on difficult new routes for most people requirespractice on artificial climbing wall, weight training etc.Sea canoeing comes further down the competitiveladder. In spite of the caustic regional rivalry whichsometimes appears to characterise this sport, paddling isessentially a team effort. Vivid memories are oftenmade of near epics in helping other parties or in concernfor other members of your group. Thus personal fitnesscan be quasi-competitive in that one perhaps wishes tobe the strongest member of the group, or at least not aweak link in the chain, but on a committing journey inan isolated area it is a vital safety factor.

Two factors determined my attitude towardstraining for the expedition. We were flying to ourstarting point, involving an inactive period of only

about ten days during which our body condition woulddeteriorate very much. Furthermore, we anticipated noeasy build up to the paddling, no walk in to base camp,and a high level of physical and mental fitness wasconsidered vital to cope with difficult water andunknown terrain during the early days.

Working at a college of physical education I wasfortunate to be able to draw upon some valuableresources. As part of a science project a cine film wasmade of me paddling in a range of strenuous andexhausting situations. This provided the visual basis fora limited analysis of paddling technique, and resulted ina multi-gym weights programme with exercisesspecifically relating to strength and stamina inkayaking.

I paddled irregularly, but whenever possible, on thelocal waters of the Firth of Forth, although time seldompermitted for long distance stamina to be improved.Running, with limited interval training, was used toimprove general fitness, but I was not particularlysuccessful nor sufficiently determined to overcome thispain barrier.

PERSONAL PREPARATIONNigel Matthews

As I am based in a county in the middle ofEngland, about as far from the sea as you can get,regular sorties to the coast were difficult, especially aswork commitments left very little spare time. Before Iundertook the Irish Sea crossing I had paddled at leastonce a day on the sea almost every day for six monthsbecause at that time I lived on the coast. My hands hadbecome hard and my legs and backside were accustomedto the confines of a sea-boat cockpit. Unfortunatelywhile paddling thirty mile stretches in all sorts of seaconditions became easy, training in general became veryboring.

This mental aversion to training meant that nospecial preparation for the Nordkapp expedition wasundertaken other than a circumnavigation of Skye atbreakneck speed the Easter before, and competingregularly at slaloms. Retirement from the slalom scene,and less involvement with coaching, however, reducedpaddling to a minimum. Easter 1977 saw an abortiveattempt on Cape Wrath where the only conditioningwas a lengthy portage across the headland - much tothe amusement of the lighthouse keepers who knew ofour plans to attempt the rounding of Cape Horn thefollowing Christmas.

The summer was more successful and we made aleisurely circumnavigation of Mull. While obviouslybeing aware of the need to be fit I felt that as long asthere was a general level of fitness the ability to paddleday after day depended more on a sound mentalattitude. General fitness was achieved and maintainedby playing squash as often as possible, by playingfootball once a week, by spending one night circuittraining in the gym and one night on the ski slope. Imade no special effort to build up strength or stamina inthe upper body.

Medical tests before and after the expeditionshowed no great variation in fitness between teammembers. Experience would seem to count as much asfitness assuming that a reasonable diet and adequatesleep throughout the expedition helped us to maintain

the fitness we had built up. In similar circumstances Iwould follow the same training programme, keepingactual paddling to the minimum for maintenance ofskill levels, then work on a general fitness scheme ofrunning, circuit training, squash and a major game. Afactor which must not be overlooked is the ability to sitin the boat for long periods. The seat should be designedfor comfort and it should be tested by each individualpaddler.

It must also be borne in mind that no two personsare going to be entirely happy with the sameprogramme, but training in company is usually moreinteresting than training alone. On the other hand theonly way to build up the confidence required toundertake expeditions of this degree of challenge is to bepsychologically prepared, to know that even though youare one of a group you must be completely in control ofyourself in terms of self rescue, because we were insituations where we were separated in very dangeroussituations which can be quite an unnerving experienceoff the Horn!

THE WEATHER Frank Goodman

Contrary to the impression gained by a cursoryglance at a world atlas, Cape Horn is not as far south asmost people suppose. In fact it's latitude south of theequator is comparable to the latitude of Edinburgh andthe border counties.

DfPRf~~/ONS IN SOUTH AMERICA- F"REQU£NCY ~ DIRECTION

(,,0 IlO

Scal.,: miles

Taken from: The Human Geography of Southern Chile.Gilbert Butland, Inst. of British Geographers Pub.No.24,1957.

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This places Cape Horn just as surely in the latitudeof the westerlies as are the British Isles in the northernhemisphere. As atmospheric circulation is reversed inthe southern hemisphere, Cape Horn is subjected to aseries of depressions moving in a direction just north ofwest, whereas our's approach from the WSW.

Since depressions are essentially areas of lowpressure with the winds spiralling in towards the centre,it is clear that the idea so commonly held, of windscirculating for ever around the southern ocean cannot infact be true. While the centres of the depressions moveever eastwards, the winds associated with them movearound the low pressure areas from all points of thecompass. Why then is the weather of the RoaringForties so feared? Is it worse than the weather of thenorthern hemisphere? And if it is, why?

The answer seems to be that the southern ocean isindeed more windy than the comparable latitudes in thenorth and the reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, thehuge area of Antarctica to the south has no counterpartat the north pole and this keeps the pressure gradient ofthe south very steep, and also injects masses of very coldair into southern hemisphere atmospheric circulation.Secondly, the lack of land surface to the north ofantarctica allows the pattern of depressions to developwithout upper atmospheric distortion, and this meansthat the depressions move much faster from west toeast, and are usually smaller and more vigorous thannorthern hemisphere depressions.

We kept a record of wind-speed, barometricpressure and temperature during our journey, but thiswas usually limited to early morning, mid-day andevening readings. The resulting tables are shown over-leaf. A comparison between the barometric pressureand the actual conditions experienced left me utterlyconfused ... there seemed to be little correlation. It wasonly after our journey that I understood the lack ofpattern, when a Chilean Naval Met. Officer pointed outthat since the area often experiences five depressionsmoving through in two days, my net of three readings aday was too coarse.Wind The South American Pilot states that wind speedsof force 7 and above can be expected for 30070of thetime in summer. Our records showed exactly this figure,so we can assume we experienced an average summer atCape Horn. The strongest wind we measured was on thetop of Cape Horn where my wind gauge jammed at 70m .p.h. This was at a height of 1400 ft. The sea-levelwind speed would have been considerably less than this.Several times we measured speeds of 45 m.p.h., and theChilean Navy considered the afternoon of Xmas dayone of the worst in living memory. We were camped onthe lea side of an island and slept in our tents, whichremained standing.

Winds from the north were considered preludes towesterly gales by the Chileans, although our onenortherly gale did not result in a westerly of comparablestrength. This pattern was associated with winds of thewarm sector of a depression being followed by strongwinds of a cold front.

Very rapid increases in wind speed were commonand twice, on the morning the 14th, and on the eveningof the 19th of December, winds rose from near calm tofull gale in approx. ten minutes. Clear days with brightsunshine were often very windy, and the Chilean navalpersonnel spoke of: "The brighter the day, the strongerthe blow". Sudden changes of wind direction sometimestook place with no indications in the atmosphere. Wecould only assume that these were small depressions not

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associated with fronts. Warm fronts, with their classiccloud pattern, usually gave steady increases in windspeed as they moved eastward. Cold fronts andocclusions seemed quite unpredictable as to the windsassociated with them. Temperature inversions over thecold water formed during the night on occasions, givinga shallow layer of calm air over the sea at dawn, eventhough the overcast could be seen rushing past above.As the day progressed, the inversion would suddenlysweep away and the normal westerly would descend tosea-level very quickly. We took advantage of theseconditions by rising early and getting on the water by 6o'clock. Usually by 9.00 a.m. the inversion had liftedand conditions changed from calm to a force three or'four almost instantly.

Strong katabatic winds descending from themountain peaks are notorious in this area. They areknown as 'willawaws' and have de-masted vessels lyingin supposedly sheltered anchorages. Fortunately, we didnot experience this type of squall. The bad blow weexperienced at the end of our second day was the rapidlyincreasing wind associated with the passage of a front,and several other squalls we encountered seemed to becaused by downdraughts from cu-nim clouds.Temperature The air temperature ranged between 5 and7 degress C, which was decidedly cold when associatedwith a strong wind. Temperatures rose rapidly once thesun came out to shine through the unpollutedatmosphere. My thermometer was of the bi-metal striptype, and seemed to suffer from a 'greenhouse effect' ifit lay in the sun, giving a hilarious reading of over 100degrees F. one day! We guessed that we hadtemperatures in the 70's F if we could find a shelteredspot in the sun in the early afternoon. These were rareoccasions!Rainfall Cape Horn lies in the rain-shadow of theislands to the north and west. Rainfall decreases veryrapidly from the 200 inches known to fall on the westcoast of Chile. We guessed that it could well be as low as30-40 inches, judging from the size of the streams andthe dryish nature of some of the bogs we explored.Clouds Warm and cold frontal systems wereaccompanied by their classic cloud types, of course, butthe speed of approach often meant that the nimbo-stratus of a warm front was upon us almost before wehad noted the high cirrus! Cumulo-nimbus clouds wereoften present, but I cannot recall hearing any thunder.Two points were outstanding. Firstly, the highproportion of lenticularis clouds was very obvious.These often formed below the overcast racing above,and their smooth outlines hanging stationary below theragged stratus often gave a sinister feeling to the sky.Lenticular clouds are associated with vertical waveswithin the air-flow and we presumed that the vigorousmovement coupled with a mountainous terrainaccounted for their prevalence. Secondly, the air wasvery humid, and a very small lowering of temperaturewas sufficient to condense water-vapour. Thus peakscould spawn clouds so that they looked like activevolcanoes with smoke pouring away in the wind. Oftenclouds would form in situ without any up-lift due to theland, and visibility of over thirty miles could be cut to amile or less as cloud formed over a wide area in amatter of seconds. Although this cloud was often verylow, it never reached sea-level and we never experiencedfog. Really poor visibility at sea-level was always due torain.

The extreme unreliability of the weather wasunderlined by the naval meteorological service which

would not give a forecast, but issued synopses that wereonly good for four hours. Unfortunately our radioswere too weak ever to pick up even this help, in spite ofspecial broadcasts for us by the Chiiean Navy.

Although all the team had considerable experienceof predicting weather by keeping a careful watch on thesky, the lack of warning signs meant that our skillscould not be called into play, and when patterns weredetectable, the subsequent changes were very rapidindeed. In spite of this state of affairs keeping a highlevel of adrenalin in our blood stream, we felt that the

weather was probably kinder to the canoeist than theyachtsman. The hour or two of light winds that markthe passage of ridges of high pressure between thedepressions allows the canoeist to sneak forward atregular intervals, whereas the same respite from therecurring gales can be of little compensation to theyachtsman out in the ocean.

The huge depressions of the northern hemispherehave pinned me on the shore for a week or more inScotland, whereas two days was the longest we weredelayed in the south. This may not be typical, of course.

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Page 9

THE LAND Frank Goodman

Heavy glaciation has occurred at least four times inthis region, and within a few miles of our route, thehigher mountains bordering the Beagle Channel to thewest spawn hugh glaciers that reach sea-level in manyplaces. The almost mathematical precision of thestraight sides of the Beagle Channel suggest a faultwidened by glaciation.

The rock of Cape Horn itself is a grey diorite,which resembles granite except that it has smallercrystals. It contains felspar, hornblende and mica. Partof the west coast of Grevy consists of huge columns ofbasalt, and on the shore of Isla Yellow, a flow ofPahoehoe lava onto the beach speaks of not too distantvolcanic activity.

Our most interesting discovery was that the cliff ofCape Horn is in fact one face of an arrete, and nestlingwithin yards of the Southern Ocean is a small corrie laketucked into the eastern shoulder of the peak, yetcompletely invisible from the sea.

Much of the land surface is covered in bog and thepeat appears to be at least ten feet thick in places. Mostof the bog mosses and lichens were unknown to us, butwe had no specialist knowledge anyway. Since ourreturn we think we can recognise ColabanthusQuitensis, a small flowering bog plant and two lichens,Parmelia sp. and Xantharia Candelaria.

In the drier, better-drained areas, Tussock Grassgrows luxuriently, often to a height of eight or nine feet.This gives the vegetation a lushness that is quitesurprising. On reflection we felt that it may well be thatareas well-known to us, like the western islands ofScotland, are kept unnaturally barren by the grazingeffect of sheep. The undergrowth was not thorny, and Ionly saw one thorny plant that looked like a berberis Ihad in my own garden. This was probably BerberisBuxifolia, or B. Heterophylla.

The most common plant is the evergreen southernbeech tree, Nothofagus Betuloides. Sheltered from thewind, this tree grows to a height of sixty feet or more,but exposure can reduce it to a shrub just a few incheshigh. On Cape Horn Island, much of the bog wasinterspersed with areas of beech growing to a height ofapproximately three feet. As the twigs form a dense matthat is just not strong enough to walk on, but too denseto walk through, it makes progress overland very toughgoing indeed.

A bright orange fungus Cyttaria Darwinii grows onthe beech trees. The brightly coloured sphere, the size ofa small orange are instantly recognisable from thedescription given in Darwin's "The Voyage of theBeagle" these are edible, and I found them pleasant tochew, but tasteless. The only other edible plant wefound was wild celery.

Although we fished on occasion we never caughtanything! We did find plenty of mussels to eat, and alsoa delicious limpet, called Lapas by the Chileans. It isanoroximatelv three inches across the base and has aY3" diam. hole at its apex. I have checked out referencebooks since our return and it appears to be FissurellaCostaria. It is easily prised off the rocks at low water.

The kelp we found growing around the shore in themore sheltered channels is edible, though we never triedit. The kelp will not grow in depths of water greater than8 fathoms.

Page 10

PR.EVAILING WINDSOUTHEItN

BEECH / BOG ASSOCIATION: BLOCK SECTION

On some of the drier, exposed bogs of Cape HornIsland fingers of beech scrub penetrated the bogs alongthe line of the prevailing wind. These were effectivebooby traps, we discovered as the beech only rose abovethe bog surface by a few inches, but actually grew in atrough several feet deep. We fell in!

Although the general mechanism of this associationwas clear to us, we couldn't decide whether the beechfingers had encroached into the bog or whether thereverse was true. None of us had ever seen this sort oftrenching anywhere else. It reminded me of some desertswhere the ridges lie parallel to the prevailing wind. Sinceour return I have asked various experts on bogs aboutthis interesting association, but no one has ever seenanything comparable elsewhere. It may be unique toCape Horn Island.

EWIND

KELP BEDCALM WHITE HOI<~ES

DEPTH RANGE {OF' KELP 'ROOTS' l

SI-lELTERED SHORE - TVPICAL PR.OFILE

The calm inshore of the kelp took us a long wayround, so we usually paddled outside the kelp even if itmeant breaking seas. We kept out of the kelp beds asmuch as possible, as we didn't think we could EskimoRoll in the strong strands.

THE BIRDSBarry Smith and Frank Goodman

In view of the large number and varied species ofbirds found in the islands south of the Beagle Channel itis unfortunate that no member of the expedition couldlay claim to expertise in the field of ornithology.Kayaking provides a unique mode of transport into theless accessible habitats, and our journey was oftenpunctuated by new and unexpected sightings whichcontributed greatly to the enjoyment of the day'spaddling.

The nesting colony of penguins on Cape HornIsland provided us with an opportunity to spend severalhours photographing the eccentric behavioural patternsof these delightful birds. The birds of prey were mostdramatic and, although the condor was a rare sighting,there was no mistaking its awesome size and disdain forenergetic wing movements. Until we grew accustomedto the chaotic and clumsy motion of flightless steamerducks retreating from our boats the turbulent breakingwater was often mistaken for beasts of another kind inthe distance!

Because our interest in bird watching was strictlysubsidiary to canoeing, it must be stressed that thespecies list is not comprehensive and its accuracy cannotbe guaranteed. In some instances the passage of timeand insufficient field notes are the problems, and in theothers it has been difficult to differentiate betweensimilar marked birds.

SPECIES SEEN

Magellanic PenguinRockhopper PenguinSooty ShearwaterBlack-Browed AlbatrossFuegian Storm Petrel (Wilson's Storm Petrel)Magellanic Diving PetrelKing ShagBlack-Drowned Night HeronBlack-Faced Ibis (Buff-Necked Ibis)Lesser Megellan GooseKelp GooseMagellanic Flightless Steamer DuckFlying Steamer DuckSouth American Green-Winged TealAndean CondorChilean Buzzard (Eagle) (Black-Chested Buzzard Eagle)Forster's Caracara (Striated Caracara)Fuegian Oyster Catcher (Megallanic)Black Oyster Catcher (Blackish)Great SkuaDolphin GullKelp GullSouth American Tern .Chilean Cinclodes (Grey-Flanked and/or Blackish)Bar-Winged Cinclodes and/or Dark Bellied CinclodesCrested DuckDark-Faced Ground TyrantChilean SwallowCape Horn Grass WrenHouse WrenRufous-Backed NegritoRufous-Collared SparrowAustral ThrushAustral BlackbirdBlack-Chinned Siskin

Patagonian FinchSouth American Snipe (Common)Giant Petrel (Fulmar) (Southern Fulmar (Petrel)Ashy-headed GooseRock CormorantUpland Goose? Wandering Albatross? Royal Albatross? Red-Tailed Buzzard (Rufous-Tailed Hawk)

We would like to thank Mr. Ronald Templeton forhis advice and suggestions. The references outlinedbelow provide further information concerning this area.REFERENCES:The Birds of Chile, Johnson A.W., private publication,best obtained through Inter-Library Loan or specialistbookshops e.g. Scottish Ornithologists Bookshop, 21Regent's Terrace, Edinburgh.Birds of Isla Grande, Humphrey P.S., 1970,Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.e.

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GLIDING ALBATROSS USE WINDGRADIENT AND UP- CURRENTSOVER WAVES FOR LIFT.

Pro,!r"'s, alon<J back of wove 0$ In an e99-shoped sflral Or' ~'5ure or el.9hrIn wond, of les> than 15"". win.'!, flap on climb.

eo/hers get extra'iH c.Iose.ro wcte r-sc rfoc e . Wons-tipprimaries. Flc:t upwardand never ~ou(h.

Some bird-books state that albatross cannot risefrom a calm sea, and were thus pinned to the roaringforties. We saw many albatross rise easily from a calmsurface with just two flaps of their wings!

TERNS KEEP DRY WHEN HUNTING.

shoh·

The terns just stopped flying and shook themselvesin mid-air as they rose from the kelp.

Page //

ti

EQUIPMENT REPORT Barry Smith

We opted for clothing and equipment which waswell tried and tested rather than risk new designs andfabrics which may let us down. Past expeditionexperience and stringent financial economy were factorswhich determined this, and in the major area where wediverted from this principle - photography - wefound that more practice with the cameras andwaterproof housings would have saved many slides.

We used Nordkapp kayaks since this is the boatwhich we are most experienced in, and it is also the bestexpedition kayak in the world. There were no specialalterations for the Cape Horn trip, the modified hulland deck hatches being standard options. Wepersonalised the kayak with our own deck elastics andcockpit storage arrangements, and had the frontbulkhead fitted according to our leg length. Thisprovided greater storage capacity in the hatches and afirmer foot support. One of the kayaks was severelyholed and another both holed and warped, due to beingvery heavily loaded and badly freighted during transitfrom Great Britain. The holes were expertly repaired,and the damaged stern section of Nigel's boat treatedwith ingenious improvisation under the direction ofFrank. The area was heated over an open fire, and thentensioned with ropes in the bow of a tree overnight. Thisresulted in two twists in the section - fortunatelyworking to cancel each other out! The kayaks weighed65lb empty and 185-1951b on the first day. Thus, in thecase of Frank, the total weight was about 400 lb leavingsufficient freeboard for confident paddling. Loadingimproved stability, and approximately 60 per centweight in the stern suited most situations. The kayakshandled extremely well in the great variety of wind andsea which we experienced. Obviously no boat will beperfectly equipped for all conditions, but a fine balancehas been achieved with the Nordkapp.

For paddling we used wet suit trousers andneoprene spray decks extending into a waistcoat. Forthis to work, and to avoid a cold back, the trousers needto be high waisted. A suitable alternative would havebeen a short-armed suit with a conventional neoprenespray deck. With water and air temperatures around sixdegrees Centigrade and the possibility of a capsize oftenin our minds, we were not tempted to dispense with thisgarb. Pile-lined clothing would have been morecomfortable for paddling, but we did not feel confidentof its insulating properties when being regularly soakedin water or during immersion.

Hard-soled neoprene boots kept our feet warmwhilst paddling and were excellent on land whensearching for camp sites, boat carrying etc. Thepatented neoprene 'smittens' were efficient handprotectors on windy days and allowed good contact onthe paddle shaft. Both thin pure wool sweater and'thermawear' tops were used to provide additionalwarmth underneath a canoe anorak. The heavy gauge'Gore-Tex' was waterproof and did indeed allow watervapour to pass out without condensing. Neoprene cuffsare compact and do an excellent job in preventing heatloss from a vulnerable part of the body. Wool, andwool-mix hats coming well down over the ears wereadequate, although Frank occasionally wore a neoprenebalaclava. A waist bag is a useful item for immediaterequirements e.g. food, film, flares, dark glasses, face

Page 12

cream, knife etc., but again it is very much a matter ofpersonal choice how these things are carried.

Our food was double packed in polythene so as totake up a minimum amount of space. Other items,especially clothing, which required additionalprotection from possible sea water intrusion, werepacked in bags.

These were of neoprene-proofed nylon, stitchedand taped, and with a plastic clamp clip to make awater-tight seal. Made to fit through the hatch entrance,they provided an excellent safeguard although ourhatches were almost always dry. Together with twolarger bags they also facilitated moving equipment whencamp site and kayaks were separated.

The question of buoyancy aids is an evocative onewhich is only in part circumvented by saying we rarelywore them. We felt more mobile in the upper bodywithout them. In retrospect there were perhapsmoments when we should have worn them, but we werevery aware of the need to keep together in the event ofan incident. Having them only readily accessible aswater breaks on the deck should really only becontemplated after considerable thought over a longexperience of canoeing.

Likewise, our attitude towards self-rescue wasdetermined by the experience of the group and theconditions we were paddling in. It is advantageous topractise procedures amongst the team in controlledsituations. Unfortunately our training programme didnot allow for this and we compensated, especially afterour separation at Caleta Douglas, by laying carefulcontingency plans, and in keeping vigilant and in closecompany on the water.

The selection of a paddle is another personaldecision. Between us we used two all-wood standardslalom paddles (21Ocm) with spoon blades; one similarbut with a slightly longer and narrower blade (23Ocm);and one fibreglass shafted with wood laminateassymetrical blades (218cm). The slalom blades had theadvantage of being built for rough treatment. The sprintpaddles lacked this but probably took some of the hardwork out of a long day. Until more scientific work iscarried out on the physiology and dynamics of paddleaction the line between style and technique will remainblurred. 'Whatever gets you through the day' as a resultof personal experience is perhaps an answer, and wewere content with our selection.

We each carried a variety of flares which providedfor maroons, rockets, hand-held and smoke. The natureof the area did little to give us confidence in these.

We knew that for most of the time there would befire wood available. Consequently we took a one-pintparaffin stove and a half-pint petrol model, togetherwith a small amount of fuel. We were not disappointedin our fires, and a small collapsible grill was well worthcarrying to provide a cooking surface.

For tents we used a pyramid design, originallymade for the windy conditions of the polar continents.We took two in order to allow for the possibility of oneblowing away. They featured linking extensions whichwe never used due to pitching difficulties. There wasplenty of room for equipment and cooking in badweather, and they stood up very well to the violentsqually conditions.

Although we would have preferred to use sleepingbags filled with an artificial fibre because of their goodinsulation properties when wet, high quality light downbags were selected as less bulky and lighter. Lightweight'Fiberfill 2' duvets were warm and wind-proof, and

would have been especially useful had our bags beensoaked.

Both sealed-cell camp mats and airbeds providedadequate insulation. Pile-lined clothing, warm, durable,and easily washed, was excellent to wear on land. Thiswas supplemented by 'thermawear ' and good woollenpullovers. For wind/rain protection we used a lightpolyurethane-proofed nylon suit. These were veryefficient, packed up very small, and served theirpurpose well.

Land footwear varied, and included sailing boots,kletterschue, and neoprene boots. For wetter conditionsthe boots would have been most suitable, with thosedesigned for sailing kinder to the feet and easily bentaround spaces in the boat.

The diagram below gives the lay-out of equipmentpacked into one kayak. In this case Frank's. My ownpacking arrangement is given here also and shows thatthere is no single answer to packing a canoe. While it istrue to say that we kept the idea of 'Last in, first out' inmind, our main concern was to use every availablespace. Thus, we filled up with odd tins of food workeddown between waterproof bags. This made packing andunpacking more tedious, but ensured we carried themaximum load possible.Loading Plan: My Kayak.Foredeck: Chart, compass, cag, buoyancy aid.Aft Deck: Spare paddles, toe-line, crash-hat,

Call-buoy radio.Fore-hatch: Waterproof bags containing: I2S

envelopes, Spare tent equipment,diary, 1 litre paraffin, collapsablewater bottle, film, duvet, socks, polar-suit, 2 pullovers, therrno-sweater ,waterproofs, wash-kit, 2 foodpacks.

Cockpit: Tent pegs, camp-mat, pullover, tentpoles, gloves, flask.

Aft-hatch: Sleeping bag, Y2 pint paraffin stove, 2litres petrol, sailing boots, cookingpans, torch, spare batteries, spare cinefilm;) foodpacks.

Waist-bag: Lunch food, flares, hat and sowester,film, dark glasses, face cream, knife.

AF"T - l>EC.K,Spare. paddk.s.,to~.ljne.c..ro:.h -h.ot", c.om,erQ- tripod

~ORE:-.DECKCha •.~. <:.o"'pas" , cog.bU0!Jal'\C.~ Qld, smittensW.S baIQc.1ova, flares

NORDKAPP HM EXPEDITION KAVAK -LOADING Pl..AN

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AI::. A~I,)A-S"c.:5Icep;,,~.bojPolar-~v;t.

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;< "l"j"'1 or Food.

Those people who generously supported us arereceiving individual reports on the testing of theirequiment.

PHOTOGRAPHIC REPORT Nigel Matthews

The financial return or otherwise of any expeditionlies usually in the hands of the photographer. Picturescan be sold to magazines and newspapers and, moreimportant, they are needed for the inevitable lecturetour. A choice has to be made: is there only onephotographer or does everyone take pictures? Wereached a compromise. We had a photographer buteveryone had a camera.

It was clear that the best selling pictures would bethose showing the most dramatic action but, incanoeing, the photographer is usually too busy paddlingto press the shutter, let alone focus, when conditionsbecome hairy. We hoped we would be lucky.

There are numerous books and publicationsoffering advice on the many aspects of photography.Unfortunately the only people with experience of ourparticular aspect was ourselves. Without doubt anindependent film crew could produce pictures thatwould portray all the aspects of the journey, but thiswas not possible even if we had been in favour of it.

Unwisely, misguided by offers of sales to televisioncompanies, movie film was taken in addition to thenormal stills. A trial run with Super-S, filming theattempt on Cape Wrath, gave us several hundred feet ofhow not to do it. Undaunted we decided to try again.

Through the offices of "Monitor", J.J. Silber'sadvertising agency, we were loaned Canon equipment.For various reasons we didn't receive the equipmentwhich we would have liked. Instead we had:-

2 Canon AEl bodies2 Canon SOmmfl.Slens1 Canon 2Smm f2.S wide angle lens1Canon SO-200mmfS.6 zoom lens1 Canon S14 Super S movie camera1Canon GIll pocket automatic 3Smm camera1 Canon Datematic pocket automatic 3Smmcamera

In addition to this equipment loaned by Canon wealso had a Canon SI4 movie camera belonging to FrankGoodman and a Nikonos 111 3Smm underwater camerathe property of Nigel Matthews.

For each lens we had skylight filters to protect themas much as anything, together with rubber lens hoods.The filter collection was completed by a variety of 1-2-3diptre close up lens, yellow, green, orange, red andpoloroid filters.

K.E.M. Electronics of Hendon supplied us withAqua-Marine waterproof housings for all the landcameras, together with a folding, rifle type, shouldersupport.

There were a variety of blower brushes, cleaningtissues, batteries of all types, optical tools, changingbag, sticky tape, lens hoods etc., etc.

Film was almost entirely Kodak:-60 rolls Kodachrome 64 Super SSrolls Kodachrome 2S 3Smm

60 rolls Kodachrome 64 3Smm60 rolls Ektachrome ED 200 3Smm2 rolls Anscochrome SOO3Smm

20 rolls Kodak Tri-X b & w 3SmmS rolls Kodak Pan X b & w 3Smm

10rolls llford HPS b & wThe film was shot almost entirely by one member

Page 13

of the team, Frank Goodman. He had many problemsto contend with. The foremost one was that of keepingthe camera dry. The waterproof housing restricted theuse of some of the controls and was abandoned. As thecamera was carried in a waterproof bag in the cockpit,getting it out took so much time that he was likely to beleft behind and "stars" were reluctant when required tocome back for a second shooting. Except in the calmestconditions he needed support by rafting when he wasfilming.

All sixty rolls were soon shot and rationing had tobe introduced. All film was shot at 24fps to allow easysound synchronisation. With the obvious exception ofthose special effect shots to be projected in slow motion.

At this point it is still impossible to comment oneither the success or otherwise of the movie film as it hasnot been projected. To have any hope of selling the filmit has not to be projected for fear of scratching it. Tohave a duplicate made at current prices is a majorfinancial undertaking at this stage. For T.V. purposesthe film would have to be copied via a video process tol6mm.

The problems of shooting movie film from smallmoving boats are numerous if the results are to be of acommercial quality. The obvious solution would be tofilm either from a large boat or a helicopter. Neither ofthese possibilities was acceptable to the team as having asafety boat a telephoto's length away would defeatmuch of the point of the expedition. Now that theachievement has been made perhaps a second roundingshould be undertaken for filming purposes.

Still photographs were taken almost entirely by twomembers, Nigel Matthews and Barry Smith. The formershooting colour reversal and black and white, the lattercolour reversal. Both used AEl's in Aqua-marinehousings while Nigel also had a Nokkonos. The Canonswere used either with standard 50mm lens or 28mmwhile on the water. The Nikon was always used with itsstandard 35mm lens.

The housings proved to be very successful so longas they were kept absolutely dry internally. In normaluse they were completely water-tight though problemsarose while changing film on the water. Initially thehousings were a bit cumbersome but after a few days usebecame second nature. The housing consists of a veryheavy duty but pliable plastic bag, with a glove in itsside and an optical glass window in front and rear. Thecamera inserted viewfinder and lens are aligned with thewindow. The seal is made with a very simple buteffective pressure clip tightened with knurled nuts. Allcontrols are easily operated.

In the canoes both of us designed retaining strapsto hold the cameras against our bodies when not in use.These were merely elastic straps passed around the bodyin addition to the normal neck straps. The camera couldbe lifted to the eye but did not swing about when left.They would also help prevent loss should either of uscapsize. The body straps proved to be so successful thatfor energetic land shots mine has stayed on the cameraever since.

Wherever possible colour shots needed to beduplicated with a black and white shot, a chore at thetime but well worth the effort. Colour and monochromenecessitated two cameras around the neck or tuckedunder elastic straps on the deck of the boat. Round theneck they presented quite an encumbrance.

While being somewhat easier than the shooting ofmovie, getting action pictures in what was pictorially themost spectacular situations was very frustrating. Being

Page 14

~-----------------

thrown around, trying hard to stay upright, hold apaddle in one hand and then focus and shoot with theother is quite a feat. The results are too oftendisappointing. The shot perched on top of a 20ft. wavelooks as if it was shot off Skegness on a calm day. Themajority of the "rough sea" shots were taken from dryland. Waterspots were a constant problem. No soonerwas the lense cleared than another wave soaked it.

As with any form of photography it is essential toget throughly familiar with the equipment before youhave to use it in earnest. In our special case we needed tobe able to take shots one handed and very quickly, a featmade easier by automatic cameras. Although manual,the Nikkonos was set and usually left to wait for anydramatic change in exposure. Unfortunately itsmechanics did not prove to be reliable. It did delay itsfailure until the Horn was rounded, however.

Having completed the expedition the photographicaspects continue at a hectic pace. Depending on theattainment of the expedition pictures can be highlysought after. Many empty promises are made. One localpaper offered to take all our b/w process it, print theshots they wanted and talk about the priceafterwards! !!!

The easy solution seems to be to use an agent whodeals with ALL the pictures, avoiding situations wherepictures are obtained free of charge from one sourceand at the going rate from another. Where possible thearrangements to sell pictures should be set up beforedeparture and ideally film sent back while theexpedition is in progress. (This will maintain interestback home, reveal the problems with shooting before itis too late and give prospective buyers a temptingpreview of what they are going to get. Even though filmis dealt with through one agency some form ofinsurance or liability needs to be taken out, a factorlearnt at bitter cost by the "mis-Iaying" of the choicefour dozen pictures of our trip. If an agent is engaged heneeds to be given complete control of sales if any profitat all is to be made. Special arrangements can be madefor supplying pictures to sponsors etc. beforehand.

Every team members wants copies of the picturesfor lecture purposes. Quality duplicates are expensive.Often, the local chemist rattles off copies with thefamiliar blue - green cast. The extra expense is worth itin the end. Get some samples first!

On the whole, our equipment was good. A longer,faster zoom would have been useful as would a macrolens.

With these additions to the gear I'd do it almost thesame way again but resolve to stand in the cold and wetmore, to be first up and last to bed, to be at the front,the back, the size and on the bank, to capsize in theroughest water for the dramatic shot, always have filmin the camera, always be wound on and never up.Always bracket exposures and get the one from theother angle, clean the gear morning and night, neverlose my temper and swear when the shutter sticks andthe rewind dies. I would catalogue all the pictures whenwe got back, make perfect prints from the rightnegatives the day before I'm asked for them, get themdelivered before they're ordered and never ever wonderwhether it was worth it when the picture of Cape Horncomplete with thirty foot breaking wave taken over thefront of my kayak is captioned in a leading canoeingmagazine, "A view from a canoe".

MEDICAL SUPPLIES REPORTJim Hargreaves

It is very easy when making a list of essentialmedical supplies for an expedition to err on the side ofopulence rather than necessity, particularly when spaceis not a governing factor. In the case of our expeditionthe amount of space available was very much an over-riding factor which influenced the types and quantitiesof the medical supplies which we carried. As soon asyou start leaving things out in favour of what youconsider to be more vital items, the thought immediatelycrosses your mind that because you've left it outsomeone will surely need it. The fact that all treatmentwould be administered by enthusiastic amateurs with noformal training (we had no doctor) meant that complexmedical equipment and dangerous drugs were precludedfrom our list. This meant we had to try "and cater forevery imaginable common ailment or injury with verybasic medical application. One other factor whichinfluenced the choice of supplies was the remoteness ofour expedition from skilled medical help of any kind.This obviously meant that someone suffering fromserious injury or illness could have been maroonedwithout trained medical help for many days.

All the medical supplies listed below were doublepacked in polythene, and then divided into large andsmall BDH containers, and then split amongst thegroup. In addition to the comprehensive kits we carriedevery-day packs, which contained basic supplies to dealwith day to day conditions such as headaches, blisters,sores etc. These were also double packed and then putinto a BDH container, but were stored so they werereadily accessible at all times without the necessity oflanding.

In the event the only medicament which wasapplied in real earnest was Lomotil with Neomycin.This was used to ease a very acute attack of stomachsickness and diarrhoea. It proved to be an admirablecure, and can be thoroughly recommended for this, themost common of expedition ailments.

Our very special thanks must go to Dr. MikeJeffries and his assistant, Mrs. Valerie Symons, whoboth contributed an enormous amount towards thisaspect of the expedition's equipment. Mike Jeffriesadvised me on various up to date drugs and medicinessuitable for a variety of conditions and eventually, fromthe list of requirements presented to him, produced asupply which could cope with most of the more likelymaladies. He was unsparing in his donations of timeand advice to our venture, and without his valuablecontribution, the task of preparing the first aid packswould have been an enormous headache!

Mike Jeffries' assistant Valerie Symons also gaveunsparingly of her time. Each prescription was packed,bottled and labelled with the following details:-a. NAMEb. USEc. DOSAGEd. INCOMPATABILITlES (WITH OTHERDRUGS)e. POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS

This must have taken many long hours ofpainstaking work, and we are all very grateful to Valerie

for her kind efforts.The following is a list of the medical supplies as

carried on our expedition with the ailments/injuriesthey were designed to treat:

ITEM CONDITIONI x lOOgBoric Lint2 x lOOgCotton Wool2 x 3" Bandages4 x 2" Bandages4 x I" Bandages2 x 2" Crepe Bandages2 Triangular BandagesI Netelast Dressing Size E2 x I" Zinc Oxide PlasterI x I" Micropore20 x 2mls Hypodermic Syringes20 x 21g Hypodermic Needles20 x 2mls Fortral amps.36 Tabs Fortral 25mg200 Solprin200 ParacetamolI x 25gms M.S.Paste60 tabs Talpen 250mgs40 tabs Septrin DispersableIOgrns Bongela2 x 50gms Ceteflex Cream2 x 25gms Brulidine3 Samaritan Cream10gms Fucidin40 tabs Altacite12 Anusol100 Lomotil with NeomycinlOOPiriton30 Avomine10gms Brolene10ml Brolene30gms Mycil30 caps Dexadrine 15mg50 Electrosol30gm Dermonistat20 Infection swabs2 x lOOgmsUvistat Sun screenHibitane Mouth infections50 Stemetil Tablets 5mg Stomach Upsets500 Multivite Tabs Vitamins6 Tubes Lipsyl Chapped lips30 Puritabs Water Sterilisation200m1T&R Embrocation Sprains, Strains, Stiffness250 Tabs Ascorbic Acid 5Omg. Vit. C

Finally, our thanks must also go to Joe Tasker ofMagic Mountain for giving us the list of supplies hetook on the Changabang West Wall Exhibition, it wasthis list which provided me with a foundation uponwhich to judge our own needs and supplies.

Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Dressings etc.Analgesics/Local anaestheticAnalgesics/Local anaestheticAnalgesicAnalgesicMild Analgesic (Soluble)Mild Analgesic (Soluble)AbscessesAntibioticAntibioticMouth SoresAntisepticBurns and ScaldsAntimidgeAnti-BacteriaIndigestionSuppositariesDiarrhoeaHayfever and ItchingTravel SicknessEye OintmentEye DropsSkin InfectionStimulantSalt TabletsFungal Skin etc.

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FOOD REPORT Jim Hargreaves

Quite how I ended up organising the food for ourtrip I shall never know, except that the other threemembers were quicker off the mark in avoiding it than Iwas, which only left one alternative! The planning,preparation and packing of the food for any expeditionis, traditionally, an unenviable task, and yet singly it isprobably one of the most influential factors affectingthe overall success of any venture. Nothing isguaranteed to under-mine health, strength and moralemore than a monotonous diet, or one that fails to takeinto account the, physical outlay necessary to completethe objective. Traditional style mountaineeringexpeditions of the past, with their vast armies of porterswere faced with enormous self inflicted logisticalproblems; how to transport the food necessary to feedthe people carrying the food! Enormous food dumpsresulted. None of this helps a canoeing expedition. Theover-riding factors influencing the quantity and qualityof food taken on self contained canoe journeys arespace versus weight. In our case we knew that the areawe were going to was one which was notorious for badweather, an area where long periods of unpredictablesqualls could easily render the group tent-bound formany days. To give ourselves a fair chance of success wehad to carry as much as possible to allow for days lostdue to bad weather, however we were obviously going tobe limited by the capacity of our kayaks. We decidedthat about a month's food was therefore a faircompromise considering our proposed total travellingdistance of 235 miles. We knew that we would be able toeke out the rations if necessary, and so plans were madeto pack food for four men for twenty eight days.

The next problem, after you've decided how longyou're going to need food for is formulating a series ofmenus. Most people will probably imagine that this isthe stage when expert dieticians are consulted, thecalorific return of various foods adjudged and eachmember consulted as to his idiosyncratic likes anddislikes. I suppose this is the stage when these thingsought to happen but didn't in our case! The food wetook was simple, wholesome and nourishing, this isborne out by the fact that it took very little time toprepare, tasted good and we all arrived back feelinghealthy.

The first thing to be considered was variety in thefood packs. This is essential, to a degree, but canbecome over complicated if you allow yourgastronomical imagination too much licence. The aim isa satisfactory food pack, not a Fortnum and Masonhamper! Having exchanged correspondence with BillTilman, who reputedly planned his expeditions on theback of a post .card, I was left with the opinion thatsimplicity was the answer The result was four basic foodpacks, A, B, C and O. Each of these packs contained adifferent menu revolving around the normal basic dailymeals.

The menus were made up as follows:MENU A MENUBBREAKFAST BREAKFASTAlpen WeetabixSausages and beans 40z tin KippersHealthy Life biscuits RyvitaMarmalade Jam

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Tea/coffeeLUNCHDried mixed fruitOld Jamaica chocolateSardinesAssorted biscuitsSweetsTea/coffeeEVENING MEALBeef and tomato soupChicken SupremeSmashDehydrated peasTea/coffee

Tea/coffeeLUNCHDried mixed fruitFruit and nut chocolatePilchardsAssorted biscuitsSweetsTea/coffeeEVENING MEALOxtail soupFarmhouse StewSmashDehydrated mixed vegetablesTea/coffee

MENUCBREAKFASTHealthy Life biscuitsBacon grillAlpenMarmaladeTea/coffeeLUNCHDried mixed fruitPlain chocolateTuna fishAssorted biscuitsSweetsTea/coffee

MENUDBREAKFASTWeetabixPowdered eggRyvitaJamTea/coffeeLUNCHDried apricotsMeat spreadsAssorted biscuitsSweetsMars barTea/coffee

EVENING MEAL EVENING MEALChicken soup Mushroom soupBeef curry Brown stewMinute rice SmashDehydrated vegetables Dehydrated vegetablesTea/coffee Tea/coffee

Each of these food packs were prepared as one manpacks and then packed in twos, every item contained inthe packs was sealed in individual polythene bags. Tobegin with the bags were heat sealed, and although, thisgave a very neat end result it proved to be much quickerin the long run to tie knots in the bags. In addition to allthe food items mentioned on the menu list each foodpack carried the following standard items:

MilkSugarSaltMatchesToilet paperThe lunch time spreads and fish portions were

carried separately, stuffed into odd spaces in the boats.One advantage was discovered here in having atranslucent deck pigment, you could see where thingswere in your hatches, this was very useful whensearching for goodies buried in the bowels of yourkayak.

Each food pack was double packed in heat sealed500 gauge polythene tubing. Finally each of the packswas labelled A, B, C or 0 and each kayak loaded withseven packs of each (These were four man day packs)this meant only one person had to unpack food daily.

Cooking was done as one group in good weather,mostly over open fires, the evergreen beech providedabundant firewood. During bad weather we cooked inour tent pairs.

Generally speaking the planning of the food wasnot particularly difficult, although the packing of thefood was a bit of an epic which was performed in onenight. All the food was laid out in piles all over my

house, and people were made responsible for fittingdifferent foods into portion packs. This worked verywell, nothwithstanding the vast quantities of mashedpotato powder all over the bedroom walls, and thescientific experiments conducted in the toilet as toexactly how many sheets of paper were required by oneperson for one visit!!

To conclude, very many thanks to the many peoplewho helped us with this aspect especially Nigel, AnneJan, Rhi, Malcolm and Rosie.

Finally I would particularly like to thank Mars andthe North of Scotland Milk Marketing Board for theirgenerous donations to our expedition.

NAVIGATION Barry Smith

Admiralty Chart number 1373 covers the area ofour journey. This is at a scale of 1:550,000. We werelucky enough to be able to borrow an Argentinian chartwhich was slightly bigger giving a scale ofapproximately 5 miles to the inch.

In addition there are more detailed extracts forsome of the more important bays.

We each had a 'Sestrel' compass mounted on thefront deck, and carried a 'Silva' type compass to helplayoff courses .. We did, not feel the need for parallelrules, but a pair of dividers was useful for making aquick time and distance estimate.

Unfortunately there are no larger scale mapsavailable and the chart, although accurate in outline,provided little detail on inland topography, the natureof the coastline, the position of smaller streams, etc.

Although canoeing borrows certain techniquesfrom the world of coastal sailing, and this is especiallytrue for open crossings and during poor visibility, theskills employed with map and compass are basic. Thereis no mystic involved in navigating a kayak; likewisethere is no substitute for experience.

We were never out of sight of land. As such thecompass was useful for verifying the position offeatures and to check our observations and drift.Thereafter we navigated mainly by chart reading,diligently keeping in touch with the chart as any plottedfeature came into view. In this way the ever rapidchanges in the weather would not leave us short of acontingency plan.

Tide tables were only available until December31st, and from December 11th the maximum range forPuerto Williams was 2.19 metres and usuallyconsiderably less. The Admiralty Pilot South AmericaVolume 2) was singularly lacking in information for us.Most of the sheltered bays were obvious from the chart,and only in three instances does it mention tidalstreams. These gave little concern to the Chilean Navy,and information from local fishermen wascontradictory to our own opinions in some instances.From this it emerged that the maximum spring rate inconstricted areas and off salient points would be two tothree knots. Off Cape Horn there is a permanent oneknot drift to the east. Consequently tidal considerationsplayed a minor part in our planning, and weconcentrated in keeping one step ahead of the weatherchanges.

EXTERNAL RESCUE Barry Smith

The Chilean Navy's desire for us to have an escortboat was finally overcome. We agreed that it was in thebest interests to set up a series of radio links whereby' wecould obtain weather information, give our position andmake an emergency call if necessary.

We each carried a 'Callbuoy' radio strapped to theback deck.

There are radio stations on Navarino Island, by theMurray Channel, on Burnt Island, and the islands ofWollaston, Herschel, and Deceit leading down to CapeHorn. These incredibly isolated huts are usually mannedby between two and four radio operators, and serve thedual purpose of monitoring ship movements andrelaying weather information of their own and from thestation on Diego Ramirez Islands, fifty miles south-westof Cape Horn. Language problems necessitated the useof the phonetic alphabet and code. In an attempt toovercome potential transmission difficulties the stationswould be listening at set times, thus allowing threetransmissions each day. More details would be relevanthad the system worked! In spite of the painstaking workof the Chilean Navy, the limited range of our sets, andthe mountainous nature of the terrain combined againstus. We actually heard Puerto Williams on twocelebrated occasions but no meaningful contact wasmade. We were left to sort out our own problems, andthis is what we had expected.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONSBarry Smith

Dutchman Willem Schouten from the village ofHoorn is credited with having discovered the mis-namedcape in 1616. Since then there has emerged an enormousquantity of literature comprising epic tales of personalheroism and tragedy set in the area south of the Straitsof Magellan. Of' the land hereabouts the SouthAmerican Pilot considers it ' ... as about as inhospitableland as is to be found in the globe'. If we failed in ourobjective then we had bitten off more than we couldchew. Success, then it must have been easy, you musthave been lucky.

Fortunately, even with the benefit of hindsight,neither is true. The concept that this intricate group ofislands linking Tierra del Fuego with Cape Horn Islandwas accessable by, and indeed most easily expored by,kayak has been vindicated. During the period 11th -28th December the Chilean Navy at Puerto Williamsrecorded average wind and sea conditions for the area,with the worst day they have ever seen in the BeagleChannel on Christmas Day.

Personal reflections need tempering by the fact thatCape Horn is 7,500 miles away, a long and expensiveflight with the kayaks sent in advance. To leave theshelter of technical detail and simply explain why it wasso worthwhile is surprisingly difficult. The single aim, asimple lifestyle, and the satisfaction of being self-sufficient carrying one's home complete in the kayak,these are a few of the more easily definable rewards.

The area embraces a multitude of landscapes -mature forest and alpine peaks on Navarino Island,

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hanging glaciers on the north shore of the BeagleChannel, barren moorland on Herschel Island, and thehorned peaks of the Wollaston Group like Tolkein'sMountains of Shadow, foreboding yet alluring asvirgins to the romantic heart. Every camp site holds itsown attractions and, especially if poorly sheltered, itsmisgivings; and there is always a new world to explore.Digging in midden heaps for Indian remains,photographing the local fauna and flora,beachcombing, looking for shellfish and fungi tosupplement our food packs, keeping the fire going andtrying to think up new recipe variations for our dailydiet. And always an eye on the weather, the sea and thebarometer to make maximum use of any reasonableconditions. These are some of the simple pleasureswhich occupied us when we were not paddling.

Undoubtedly rounding the Horn and the day spenton the island were the high points. But there areinnumerable coves, stretches of untrodden coastline andperiods of paddling when body and soul achieved adegree of unity, which have left a permanent impressionon my mind. There was always the hospitality of thepeople of Chile who, although doubtful of our sanityand fearful for our safety, gave us every possibleassistance.

PERSO AL REFLECTIONSJim Hargreaves

It would be impossible to summarise in a tome, letalone a brief precis, the memories, sentiments andreflections of a journey such as ours. From the outset Iviewed the expedition objective as being perfectlyfeasible and rational, had there been any doubt in mymind I would never have become involved in the firstplace.

The single outstanding factor in my mind remainsnot what we actually achieved, but what we wereprepared to do to achieve it. Our expedition wasextremely fortuitous inasmuch that the group'scompatability, our canoeing skill and judgement andthe prevailing weather conditions all coincided at theright time. Had this not been the case the outcomewould almost certainly have been different.

The planning and preparation for the expeditiontook, from the very start to the very end, almost twoyears. This seems to be an unjustifiably long time foreighteen days of canoeing, however all of us agree that itwas well worth it, although at times I personally foundthe degree of commitment required and the intrusion ofexpedition affairs into my home life somewhatharrowing. I would certainly think twice, however,before undertaking this degree of involvement again.The reason why our plans were so complex and lengthyto formulate was mainly due to the logistic side ofthings. Cape Horn is a difficult place to get to, and thisfact alone, without the encumbrances of SouthAmerican bureaucracy, made the planning side of theventure much more difficult. There were many timesduring this period of preparation when the words 'CapeHorn', instead of being synonymous with fear andadventure, stimulated only boredom and frustration.Organising, carrying out and winding up an expeditionis damned hard work!

When I reflect on the actual journey from PuertoWilliams to Cape Horn and back, it is hard to suppressan intense feeling of satisfaction and pride, but when I

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look back on the organisational side of it I am left quitecold. When I was still looking forward to the journey Iwas numbed by the enormity of the task that lay ahead,when I now look back I realise I had still understimatedthe amount of work involved!

It was a kayak journey which will always stand outin my mind as being full of excitement and reward. Theexcitement came, not from the technical difficulty, butfrom the uncertainty of the outcome of the undertaking.

Technically the canoeing was easy, althoughphysically strenuous. Psychologically it was probablymy most taxing canoeing experience ever.

By far the most satisfying and fulfilling aspect ofthe expedition I found, was the team work involved, theunified determination it produced and the friendshipwhich has sprung from this. So many expeditions havesuffered from incompatability, the instant death blowto morale, and success becomes, subsequently, moreand more difficult to achieve as relationshipsdeteriorate. Although we had the odd disagreement,invariably over some petty matter which ultimately,didn't affect the aim of the expedition, generallyrelationships were very good, and I, at least, feel thatthe seeds of a life long friendship were sown andcultivated during our journey. To conclude this aspectperhaps I may quote that outstanding explorer andadventurer, Eric Shipton, from his book, 'Upon ThatMountain' .... "One of the most acute problems ofexpedition life is the difficulty of preserving harmonyamong members of a party. All manner of things, greatand small, are liable to promote discord. Garrulity isnotoriously hard to bear; silence can be no less trying.Even an unconscious display of virtue can be asintolerable as any vice, gentlemanly pose as hastytemper, efficiency as clumsiness, knowledge asignorance, energy as sloth. In conditions of strain orboredom one is quick to resent the way a man drinks hissoup or wears his hat, or the silly manner in which hisbeard has grown, or a thousand other trifles that innormal circumstances would pass unnoticed. When oneis short on rations it generally seems that one'scompanions have secured a larger portion of the meal;and they invariably occupy more than their share of thetent. Disagreement about the route is common cause ofopen hostility. On occasions when this has occurred,and we have each gone our own way, I have foundmyself hoping that my opponent will fall down acrevasse rather than that he should get there first. Iremember once that someone became very angry when Iplayfully threw an egg at his face, it's not that at thetime there was any scarcity of eggs, nor was the eggparticularly bad. There is no limit to peoples'unreasonableness!" We, at least, were able to avoidsome of these problems.

I have always been one for activities which provideinstant thrills, as opposed to more protracted forms ofadventure. For me the immediate thrill of running agiant rapid has always had more attraction than, say, acommitting solo sea crossing. Each is equally exciting inits own way, and comparably dangerous, but indifferent ways. Perhaps this stems from a desire to bevery frightened, but only for a brief period, as opposedto the prolonged mental concern that might accompanythe sea crossing. It was this aspect which I found alienduring our expedition. It is important to the serious seacanoeist to shut out from his mind the potential of asituation, and concentrate on what is actually necessaryto keep moving. I found that I was lacking in this

facility to start with, but with application soon felt athome, however, the five hours spent passing down thewest coast of Cape Horn produced a confliction ofemotions ranging from a great sense of well being to avery deep fear.

Just before we departed for South America I re-read the Cape Horn pilot for the thousandth time, " ....as about as inhospitable a land as is found in the globe.The land is mountainous, presenting an alternation ofmatted forest, bare rock and deep bogs, and isintersected by many deep channels into peninsulas andislands. The scenery is magnificently stern; cloud andmist usually screen the higher peaks and snowfields". Iimagined that for the next two months I was going to befighting for existence, sitting in a little tent perchedperilously on a storm lashed ledge or battling againstgigantic seas. I tried to imagine rounding the Horn, andcould only conjure up pictures of grey skies, windwhipped seas and terrifying cliffs rising from themaelstrom. And yet, I still said goodbye to my wife andtwo beautiful daughters, turned my back on my familyand friends, and set off selfishly on this venture.

Don't ask me why, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONSFrank Goodman

Cape Horn did not provide me with the biggest seasI have ever encountered, or the longest crossing I havetackled nor the most difficult tide-race I have faced, yetoverall I can confidently say that it was the mostimpressive paddle of my life. The reason is that CapeHorn involved me in the most sustained commitment Ihave ever made when canoeing. Of course this is all inthe mind, and although the bad blow at the end of daytwo and the tricky clapotis off the west coast of IslaHornos were the only times when we could reasonablysay we were under any sort of direct stress physically,there is no doubt that the complete isolation of ourjourney added another dimension.

It is the thoughts about what might happen in agiven situation that provide adventure, plus therealization that one's own assessment of personal skillsor dangers involved may be wrong! With sea-canoeingthese thoughts are stretched out over many hours oftension when compared with the quick stabs of stressthat may attack at the start of a committing rapid.

The most memorable events for me under thesecatagories were:-

1. The sickening feeling when I first realized theextent of the damage to the kayaks in transit.

2. The worse feeling when it was realised thatNigel's kayak was hopelessly twisted. (At the end of thefirst day's paddle)

3. The even worse feeling the next morning whenI realized that the other three had no idea of theenormity of the problem presented by the bent canoe,and also their touching faith that I could straighten it.

4. The good feeling when I did!5,6 & 7 The commitment I sensed when we tackled

the three major obstacles of our journey: Paso Nassau,the Horn itself and Bahia Nassau.

I am always impressed when I find myself veryclose to primeval forces of any kind. I think the northwest corner of Isla Hornos, with its huge stacks andarches, the swell booming off their bases and the spray

drifting slowly away was the most awe-inspiring sight ofmy life. No doubt it was partly so because it was viewedfrom a kayak that had a three hour journey to safetyahead of it.

The Horn itself was impressive, but I didn't feelany particular elation when we finally realized we hadachieved our objective. The climb to the top of CapeHorn the following day left a lasting impression for tworeasons: firstly because the terrain was such difficultgoing that I was completely shattered. Barry, who was aHimalayan mountaineer remarked during the climb thatit was the hardest low-angle ascent he had ever done.This bit of information cheered me greatly, as I was sotired that I thought it was just that I wasn't up to itpersonally. Secondly, the top of the Horn revealed itssecret of the corrie lake to us, and although it was not anoriginal discovery, it was so unexpected, that in manyways it was the most satisfying discovery of the journey.Our reception when we returned to Puerto Williams wasreally touching, and another great memory was theevening we spent in the mess at the Pto Williamsbarracks when we were entertained informally by theChilean officers singing folk songs for us.

Albatross, whales, penguins, condors, seals, thewhole area ... fascinating! The most useless thing wetook .... the expedition axe, that we never used. Themost useful thing we took .... the small collapsible grillthat I made for cooking on. I made this as anafterthought a couple of hours before we left, and itsaved many a meal.from being deposited into the fire.

Although I lost over 10 Ibs. weight during theexpedition, I found that I was in good conditionthroughout. Slight shoulder strain at the end of the thirdday disappeared during our rest day, and the fatigue ofclimbing Cape Horn itself evaporated after a cup of tea!

I was relieved to find that our careful decisions paidoff, and we never got ourselves into a bad position,though we saw clearly enough that one mistake, eitheron the water or even in the siting of the tents could havespelt disaster. It was also clear that the time spentobtaining political permission to mount the expeditionwas essential, and had we not done so we would neverhave been allowed to move from Puerto Williams.

The expedition proved to me that it was perfectlypossible to conduct an expedition without a leader, andthat sensible discussion of each major problem was thebest way to proceed. Of course this means that theindividual members must all be on a par in terms ofexperience, and that they must be reasonablycompatible in the first place. One of the joys of thisexpedition was that all four of us remained friendsthroughout and that our friendship was reinforcedrather than torn apart, as so often happens.

One disappointment was that an expedition likeours, designed to survive, could not make a first-ratejob of filming our progress. So many times we were insituations that were excellent visual material but wewere unable to film or even take slides because of thedifficult conditions. Now we have done the expedition,it would be nice to go back with a camera team andmake a good film of this superb area.

I carried with me one extra responsibility duringthis expedition, and this was my concern for the kayaks.Not only was I responsible for any repairs needed enroute, but as the designer of the kayaks I felt that anymalfunction or weakness could be laid squarely at mydoor. Luckily, after the initial repairs, we had no moredamage problems. At the end of the expedition I askedthe other members of the team what they thought of the

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)

kayaks, and what criticism could they make. They allreplied that they hadn't noticed the boats at all. I mustadmit that I took this to be the highest praise.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ROUNDING OFCAPE HORN Barry Smith

Cape Horn Island presented a dramatic and awe-inspiring spectacle from our stance on the cliffs ofHerschel Island. Four miles of angry storm-tossed seaseparated us from our goal - a goal which so far hadcost nearly two years of hectic preparation, followedby a seven thousand five hundred mile jourey, and somedifficult paddling from Puerto Williams, the mostsoutherly permanent community of the world. To havecome so far and found a flat barren wind swept islewould have ben an anticlimax; but the jagged pinnaclesof rock leading up to the summit looked all tooominous.

We spent two days on exposed and desolateHerschel, gale force winds blowing incessantly andstirring up a sea which lived up to all our worstexpectations. We were fortunate in having a shack toshelter in, but even this seemed insecure against theworst of the gusts. This was followed by signs ofimproving conditions from the west and, keen as ever tomake use of any moderately good weather, we packedour kayaks ready for a dawn start on December the22nd. I passed a restless night, fitful sleep beinginterrupted by dreams of enormous rogue wavesbreaking over our small craft.

At first light we reluctantly left our refuge. Therewas much blue sky and the wind had moderatedconsiderably. High cirrus clouds, heralding theapproach of yet another depression, were approachingfrom the west. Paddling across the sound we said little,each being locked in fantasies about what the next fewhours could bring. We knew the moment of truth wouldbe upon us when we rounded the north-west corner ofthe island and faced the Pacific swell, built up by twodays of gales and unimpeded for thousands of miles.But for the moment we sheltered in the kelp, enormoustentacles stretching as far as a hundred metres andwhich has been the place of rest of many shipwreckedsailors unable to break the surface ofthe water throughthese embracing arms. We smoked a last cigarette anddecided to reconsider the situation upon arrival at thenorth-west point.

Once there, events happened very quickly. Apartfrom the rapid moving high cloud the sky was clear withthe wind blowing about force two. But the swell wasenormous, and the rebound effect from the cliffs madefor a turbulent sea which pitched our Nordkapp kayaksin all directions and called for very careful paddling. Itsoon became apparent that to retreat with the sea on ourstern quarter would be very difficult and, by a processof non-verbal communication, we opted for the boldstroke and pushed along the six mile west coast of theHorn.

Stacks ran out into the sea like enormous fangs,foam-covered and unfriendly. Where the swell met thetwelve-hundred foot cliff there was chaos and an eeriebooming noise which kept us facing firmly out to sea.And all the time there was the realisation that, withcirrus cloud coming in, the weather could change swiftlyand dramatically. We were in a dilemma, wanting to

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savour that for which we had worked so hard and at thesame time clear this terrible lee shore as quickly aspossible. Psychologically we wanted to keep close in,but this meant sharing the most turbulent water. At onestage we sought the apparent shelter between a stackand the cliff and were tossed about like matchsticks.With the water temperature at eight degrees centigradeand the waves dumping on the shore in a very terminalmanner we knew that a capsize would be very seriousindeed. Never had I appreciated the true majesty of theocean as on this day.

As we progressed towards the southern side so wegained a little shelter and some respite from the sea. Wefelt secure enough to take photographs, but even as weglimpsed the diminutive beacon which stands on theHorn itself, we knew there could be no relaxing of effortuntil our feet were back on terra firma. A sheltered coveon the eastern shore was selected as the landing place.We shook hands but said little. The fourteen miles ofpaddling on one of the most exposed shores in the worldleft us mentally exhausted, and it was only after abouthalf an hour that we started to discuss our feelings offear and elation. It was interesting to compare notes andappreciate how similar our lines of thought had been.

Within little over an hour of landing a full gale wasblowing. A combination of experience, advice from theChilean Navy and, as in all such ventures, luck hadhelped us round. We buttoned up our anoraks and setout to explore Cape Horn.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSTo get even a team of four canoeists to Cape Horn

required a lot of help and a lot of money. Had wepurchased everything at full retail price the expeditionwould have cost £10,000. In fact, owing to generoushelp from equipment manufacturers the final cost was£7,618.59. Of this sum, £2,100.50 was given as cashdonations. This left the individual members £1,379.55each, to find. The answer here was to open anexpedition account and immediately overdraw! The co-operation of Barclays Banks was needed to give us thisfacility.

The cost shown here includes the cost of processingfilms and also all the duplicate slides needed for lecturesetc., together with the costs of producing posters,brochures, T-shirts and stickers after the expedition.These last-named were an extra cost but shouldeventually help to defray there own and other expenses.Although members of the expedition are still givinglectures, and therefore the final balance sheet cannot beproduced, it would seem that the final cost of theexpedition to each member will be around £500.00. Theconsensus of opinion is that the cost was well worth it.

Below is a list of companies and persons whohelped the expedition with monetory gifts, discountedgoods, gifts of equipment, services, advice and notleast, encouragement and goodwill. They are not inorder of importance, and we would like to thank themall for their help, however big or small. No doubt wehave left at least one name off this list .... but we havedone our best to remember everyone.

In particular, we wish to thank our wives andfamilies for their un flagging support.

Mars Ltd.,The Sports CouncilSwain's PackagingDr. M.JeffriesMrs. Valerie SymonsSpringlow Sales LtdOregon Freeze Dry Foods Ltd.IanAnneRhiannonNigelRosieLizoMalcolmBobJohnJoe TaskerDr. Launcelot FlemingJ.J.GilberFox TalbotWolseyK.E.M.Wendy WrightPeter O'NeilRoger Turner42nd Glenfield ScoutsNorth of Scotland Milk Marketing BoardMr .AttenboroughBurbage Jnr. SchoolLondon Camera Exchange (Nottingham)Helly Hansen U.K.Ltd.V. and A. NewberryRushcliffe Sec. SchoolJ.J.SilberMonitor GroupCanon CamerasValley Cannoe Products Ltd.Dick GoodmanKeith CooperRobin Goodli ffeMr. MorellDexion Ltd.K.Hofmann, Santiago.Denny HofmannHugh DeformesDe BeersPoole Wood Equip.Prof. FentamDr. P. JonesPat MacCleanMark Gee PaddlesElm EngineeringPfizerFlaretexB and K Thomas (Nottm) Ltd.JavlinLeisures Services Dept. ,NottinghamHenry BrownRon

Ron TernpletonLan Chile AirwaysB.D.H.Chemicals Ltd.Howarth SportWilliam GardinerPet Cheney C.C.P.R.Gordon Richards, B.C.U.Mr.Gambles and Mr.Dover (Radio Hams)The Antarctic SurveyHapag Lloyd (Shipping)Call buoy Ltd.Eddie BanksHugh O'GormanA.C.Canoe Products (Chester) Ltd.Joseph Banks Ltd.The Wild Water CentreUltimate Equipment Ltd.Karrimor International Ltd.G. and H. ProductsGraham TisoSupreme Plastics Ltd.H.Pickles and Sons Ltd.Henry-Lloyd Ltd.Roger Egger and Co.Ltd.Scottish and Newcastle Breweries Ltd.Swiss Cutlery (London) Ltd.Peter Storm Waterproofs Ltd.Pringle of Scotland Ltd.Thermos Ltd.Star Sportswear Ltd.The Prestige Group Ltd.Laughton and Sons Ltd.Ronson Products Ltd.Morfed (South Wales) Ltd.The Ever Ready Company (Great Britain) Ltd.Polywarm LtdAlexander Duckham and CO.Ltd.J. and P. Coats (U.K.) Ltd.Salter Industrial Measurements Ltd.Banton and Co.Ltd.Baume and CO.Ltd.Philips Electrical Ltd.Hitachi Sales (U.K.) Ltd.W.L.Gore and Associates (U.K.) Ltd.Timex CorporationSeiko Time U.K. Ltd.European Public Relations Ltd.Lothian Regional Council

Recreation and Leisure Dept.World Expeditionary AssociationMr. and Mrs. D. RoscoeLoughborough University

ottingham University Medical SchoolDunfermline College of Physical EducationA.D.KingA.AbbottArmada de ChileConsula do General de Chile

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THE EXPEDITION TEAM

BARRY J.N. SMITHAge 29, was born in LondonEducationNewport Grammar School, Esse..B.A. (Hon.) Geog. History. C :rt Ed. in EducationGeog & O.D.E.D.Profession1970 Instructor, Plas y Brenin, Nat.Mount. Centre1971-5 Chief Instructor Clwyd O.D.P. CentrePresently Lecturer in Outdoor Pursuits DunfermlineCoil. of Ed.Canoeing Experience10 years canoeing experience. Divisional slalomist.Extensive sea-canoeing through the British Isles.1976 Circumnaviation of the Outer Hebrides (approx.450 miles)Expedition Experience1966 Member: British Schools Exploring Society Exp.Arctic Sweden.1969 Leader: Southampton University Geog.Expedition Group, Grenadine Islands, West IndiesR.G.S. appro.1971 Member: British Central Hindu Kush Exp.(Afghanistan) (British Mountaineering Council App.)1974 Member: British Nepalese Expedition (BMC App.)QualificationsB.c. U. Coach. Mountain Instructors Cert.Special InterestsHuman geographyPhysiology

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- -==-:.---

NIGEL MATTHEWSAge 33, was born in Bromsgrove, WorcestershireEducationHalesowen Grammar School & St. Paul's Coil. of Ed.DIP of Physical EducationProfession1966-9 P.E. Master, Tividale School Warley & SirGilbert Claughton Grammar School.1969-71 Instructor, Mountaineering and Canoeing, PlasGwynant Ad. Sch. N. Wales1971-72 Instructor, Mountaineering Canoeing andSailing Tower Wood O.P.C. Windermere, Cumbria.1972-74 Chief Instructor, Mountaineering, Canoeingand Sailing, Marle Hall O.P.C. N. Wales.Presently Senior Advisory Teacher of OutdoorEducation Leicestershire Education Committee.Canoeing ExperienceExtensive white water and sea-canoeing experiencearound the British Isles, including two English ChannelCrossings.Division Il slalomist1974 First crossing of the Irish Sea by canoe fromWicklow to Aberdaron (approx. 60 miles)Expedition Experience1975 Member: British Kayak Expedition to theNordkapp (approx. 500 miles)QualificationsB.C.U. CoachSpecial InterestsPhotographyRoute PlanningEquipment

FRANK R. GOODMANAge 47, married, two daughters, was born in Hinckley,Leicestershire.EducationHinckley Grammar SchoolLoughborough College D.L.e.ProfessionCraft Teacher in Schools, eight years experience.Senior Lecturer in Art, Clifton Coll. of Education,Nottingham, eleven years experience.1970 Set up partnership with brother to design and buildcanoes.Presently Director, Valley Canoe Products Ltd.Canoeing experienceEleven years canoeing experience in and around Britian1970 1st Division slalomist1969-70 Lived in California, U.S.A., and paddled manyof the Sierra Navada rivers. Competed in the ArkansasInternational River Race, finished 12th.1974 Crossed Irish Sea (Wicklow-Aberderon) with NigelMatthews and also equalled the world surf distancerecord by surfing over four miles on the Severn Bore.1967-76 Several original designs of canoes andequipment, including the Slip-on Skeg, Tie-Beam FailSafe Footrest, Tailored Air-bag buoyancy, Che ronBuoyancy aid.1975 Designed the expedition kayak used for the BritishNordkapp Expedition.Expedition Experience1963 and 65 Member: Nottingham Geographic Exp. toYugoslavia (Sponsored by the R.G.S.)QualificationsB.C.U. Senior InstructorSpecial interestsGeomorphology, equipment design

JIM HARGREA VESAge 32, married, two children. was born in LondonEducationKing Edward VI Grammar hool TotnesNewquay Grammar School, • [ewquayProfession1961-65 Merchant Navy1965-76 Staff Sergeant Army Phy i al Training Corp.Presently Head of Canoeing Dep . Plas y Brenin Nat.Mountaineering Centre also Local Coaching Organiserfor North Wales and Anglesey.Canoeing experienceSeven years canoeing experience.Sea canoeing experience around Bri ain.Extensive white water experien e in Britain and theCanadian Rockies.1st descent by Canadian canoe of A g aslyn Gorge,Wales.1975 Descents of the Mistaya andCanada.1970 Army Kayak and Canadianchampion. Also inter service Canadianchampion.Expedition Experience1971 Member: First British Grand CanColorado, U.S.A.1972 Member: British Army Mount K _QualificationsB.e.U. Coach. Mountain Instru tor CertificateSpecial InterestsEquipmentPhotography

avigation

~ Canyons,

lalomingles

. to the

ition

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en

USEFUL REFERENCES AND BOOKS WE FOUND HELPFUL AND INTERESTING

Hough, R. Islands Beyond Cape Horn. Geographical Magazine. June 1975, 561-566Hough R. The Blind Horn's Hate.Zydler T. Cape Horn Cruise. Yatching Monthly, May 1975 702-705Bridges E. Lucas The Uttermost Part of the Earth, Hodder and Stoughton 1948Darwin C. The Voyage of the Beagle

As I edited this report I noticed some small discrepancies in the variousaccounts. I have not tried to correct these, as no doubt my own memory and journalmay be inaccurate. I have not contacted the others either, as I know from experiencehow long the democratic process takes, with these chaps, anyway!

If there are any points you would like to discuss, any points where furtherinformation would be useful, or you would like more copies of this report, contactany of the members of the team at the following addresses:Barry J. N. Smith c/o Dunfermline College of P .E. (staff), Cramond Road North, Edinburgh.Nigel Matthews c/o Leicester O.D.P. Centre, Loughborough Road, Leicester.Frank R. Goodman c/o Valley Canoe Products Ltd., Private Road 4, Colwick, Nottingham.James Hargreaves, c/o Plas y Brenin Mountain Centre, Capel Curig, North Wales

Frank Goodman

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