Marty’s photo of the day #2374: This short excerpt from my first book , Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains this shot:
In 1616, Willem Cornelis Schouten became the first person to sail around Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America). From Schouten’s time to the present, treacherous seas have wrecked or disabled hundreds of ships as they’ve attempted to circumnavigate the horn. Strong winds, heavy currents, and icebergs have all contributed to making the journey a sailor’s nightmare.
We were an hour away from Cape Horn when a distress call came over the radio—the Cape had another victim. The Hexagon was competing in a solo around-the-world sailboat race when it rolled and broke its boom. A support boat was supposed to be nearby, but it wasn’t responding to hails. The Multanovskiy’s first mate relayed calls on behalf of the Hexagon until the support boat answered, forty minutes later. With assistance on the way, we passed a short distance from the crippled sailboat but didn’t stop