My dad, born 1896 in Denmark, sailed many years..He spent many years on the ship "The Star of Alaska", Now named "The Balcutha" and located in San Francisco..He rounded South America (The Horn) several times..He retired from sailing and became a Longshoreman in San Francisco and retired in 1960..He moved to a small town in Northern California (Middletown) until his death in 1974 at the age of 78..I am the last of his eleven children at 82 years old..
My dad was a navy radar tech on a frigate in the Vietnam war era. He's talked about scary situations being under-escorted by destroyers and having to enter unfriendly ports, but he said through it all, the most frightening experience was rounding south america through that passage. He said those waves make warships feel like volleyballs.
In the 1840s-50s, my Great-great-great-great grandfather was a sea captain from Portland, Maine who spent his brief career bringing cargo from the East Coast to the West Coast, and back, going by Cape Horn. It was always a harrowing journey, according to his journals. On his fourth trip, he made it around The Horn, but shipwrecked on the southern coast of the Oregon Territory. There was no loss of life, but a complete loss of cargo. He ended up settling in what is now Coos Bay, and the rock in the bay that he hit bears his name: Rackleff Rock. After the incident, he stayed in Oregon running a ferry across the Umpqua River, and starting my family's history in the West.
My grandfather's brother, (uncle Ray) lived in Coos Bay my entire life. I only got out there a few times, but I fell in love with that place. I look forward to going back with my family now. As a land locked kid from North Dakota to a seasoned Army traveler, Coos Bay is thought of as one of my most beautiful places I have stayed.
@@jamiegapp3298 Coos Bay, and Coos County in general, is beautiful, but very depressed. Almost all of my family have left the area for other towns and cities in the Northwest. Timber used to be the number one industry, now it is tourism. So, yes, please come visit for a relaxing time at the coast!
I've crossed both the Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan. The former one on a trip to Antarctica in a 3,175 Tonnes (293 ft Length) expedition vessel (fairly small for these waters). The forward passage was Lake Drake, the return passage a lot rougher. Fortunately I have never been affected by motion sickness. Crossing the Strait of Magellan was, however, one of my most treasured experiences. In a relatively small timber hulled vessel sailing under a mix of sail power and diesel power we crossed by night from Punta Arenas to the tiny port of Porvenir. The sea was calm, the breeze was light, the temperature freezing and a full moon was shining. The stars were also brightly visible despite the moonlight. Dolphins were our companions most of the way, swimming just ahead of the bow of the vessel, allowing its bow wave to provide them with free propulsion. Despite the intense cold and a warm pot belly stove keeping the cabin warm inside, I chose to stay on deck most of the night. Truly, a Night to Remember!
Wow you're so blessed to have experienced that wondrous event, you can truly look back on your life and be proud, always remember that, don't ever forget, peace.
Man that sounds pretty gnarly. I've always wanted to spend some time in this general vicinity - like southern South America/Patagonia to Antarctica. The descriptions, images, stories, etc. of this entire region just seem profound and mystical or something - like it's almost a different place and time and world down there. I've otherwise got a pretty strong constitution, but motion sickness is a reality for me - like so much so, that when I hear people talking about the pretty strong motion sickness they get in this area from the rough seas, I literally start to feel slightly nauseous myself lol. But also, I haven't really spent any time at sea whatsoever either - other than ferries and small boat rides not getting out of sight of land - I'm landlocked here in Arkansas so it's bit of a distance to the ocean. But if I had the time, money and opportunity, I would still like to experience this entire, broader region.
It's the weather. I have passed once on February 2003 from Maceo, Brazil bound to San Vicente, Argentina. I was an officer in bulk carrier and it was an experience I will never forget. The wind was extra ordinary strong and the waves were high. I thought we're not going to make it from Atlantic side to Pacific side because the wind gust was too strong that the ship was almost stationary. The waves was also very rough. Not all seafarers got that experience. And it's scary, but still proud to say that I'm one of those few who make it.
That trip from Elephant Island to South Georgia in that little boat (James Caird) with Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, John Vincent, Timothy is in my opinion THE GREATEST feat of seamanship and navigations skills ever
Not just the sea-voyage, using their backs as a bulwark, in the Great Southern Sea AKA "icy-deathwaters". When they got there, with next to no climbing equipment, and little food, and only water they defrosted by MELTING SHOW INSIDE THEIR COATS WITH THEIR BODY HEAT . . . they climbed an UNKNOWN 4,400 foot mountain and glacier, without any idea of if it COULD be climbed, or once climbed, descended on the other side. When they finally got to the top, they couldn't find a way down one part, the night was coming on, they suspected a storm was coming, and without other recourse, they coiled up their rope to make a sled, climbed on, and sledded down what may have been a slope that led to a cliff edge. There have been supermen, they were never Americans in Spandex, or people from our present, soft-cock days.
On a trip to Antarctica, we went through the Drake. Every barf bag was used up in a few hours and that was after the Captain hid out the ship in calmer waters during the worst of the bad weather. Day two was not too bad but if you have the slightest problem with sea sickness, you better load up on every pill or trick they sell to avoid turning green.
My mother added to her bucket list, stepping foot on every continent. Being raised with a maritime family, we have stories about just how treacherous going through either straight could be. She knew what she was going to face, that woman, and you, are exceptionally brave.
I was brought on boats. So I was only mildly seasick the first couple days going to sea on a Coast Guard ship. After that, I was never sea sick again. Now our 180 ft bouy tender rolled her guts out all day every day 45 degrees both ways given the slighest excuse. Winter North Atlantic was especially delightful.
How is everyone able to go to Antarctica? You have to be an experienced scientist with published papers and be super knowledgeable and intelligent. Then I see some random YTber who’s an EMT going to Antarctica. Just out of curiosity, how did you go? Oh, btw, do they need security? I can do security. 😂😂😂
Most of you probably don't know who Walter Cronkite was. He was a renowned journalist who wound up at CBS as a reporter and was the host of CBS Nightly News for 30 years until he retired in 1981. He was referred to as "the most trusted man in America." After he retired, he would still produce occasional "specials" for CBS. Why am I posting this here? Well, I'll tell you! Cronkite just loved sailing. I mean, he LOVED it. One of his life-long desires was to sail around Cape Horn. Well, he did just that and presented it in one of his specials for CBS. I remember they had the camera set up on the yacht, pointing at him holding his microphone talking into the lens. Since both he and the camera were on the same platform (the yacht,) you would see him lean back and forth. The horizon behind him was another matter! It was swinging wildly clockwise and counterclockwise, reflecting the strong winds buffeting the yacht. If I were to find myself in a similar circumstance, I would be horrified. But "the most trusted man in America" was just loving it! "Uncle Walter" died in 2009 at the age of 92.
Experienced captain here…. The Drake Lake and Shake is what happens at most ocean inlets, twice a day at the end of an outgoing tide. The NUMBER ONE REASON or huge waves in what is essentially an inlet is tides. Tidal flow is not discussed in this video.
I'm a little amazed that no mention was made of McMurdo Station which is a permanent research center near a monument to Robert Falcon Scott where he'd built a hut. The base was built by US Navy Seabees and Seabees are still stationed there maintaining the site. Access is closed off during the wintering over period of about 7 months. A few years ago a researcher grew gravely ill and a special mission went in during that period and brought her out. One of the Seabees I worked with was an Equipment Operator whose job was to keep clearing snow from the site. Engines are not turned as the oil would freeze. It is a voluntary duty and those who go through the winter receive a commendation and a medal for their achievement.
Scott of the Antartic's son was Peter Scott. One of his letters gave his wish that the boy (Peter) have an interest in nature. Peter Scott went on to be a leading naturalist who opened multiple nature reseves here in the UK and made some important contributions towards conservation of multiple species of bird such as the Hawaiian and Barnacle Geese.
they didn't they swam one mile, presumably from chile coast southwards a half mile and then back. it is not humanly possible to swim the entire straight. when it takes 6 paddlers 10 to cross what do you think she would have eaten or where would she sleep, during the months long swim? it clearly stated 15 minutes for one mile in cold waters. note: cold waters is still above freezing due to the warm oceans. otherwise she would be walking on ice for 15 minutes.
I was a weather observer on the USS Kitty Hawk CVA63. I was on the O10 level (The highest deck on the largest ship in the world in Oct. 1962) I believe the flight deck was 90' above the waterline. Spray was washing across the flight deck.
I was an avionics tech with an S-3 squadron (VS24) assigned to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the mid-to-late '80's. I went around "The Horn" in May/June 1987, when she transferred from East Coast to West Coast. Shortly after leaving Rio, we had approx 30 ft swells for 10-14 days. We even experienced cavitation of the upper props. Good times.
@@joerichardson4325 which type of cavitation? Hub vortex or tip vortex? Or midchord bubble cavitation? And could you physically feel the effect of this with everything else that was going on on a 90,000 ton vessel?
@@Ken_oh545 Sorry, I'm not educated in the different types of cavitation. All I can say is each time the nose went down, the aft came up enough to expose a portion of the top 2 props to air. It sounded like an off-road motorcycle was traveling the length of the ship (couldn't really distinguish if it was from forward to aft or vice versa) for a couple of secs every few moments depending on the frequency of the swells. My shop was slightly forward of midship on port side, and berthing was somewhat aft just below the arresting cables. Concerning "everything else going on", I can't speak for the entire ship, but for most of the air wing, we had a 10-14 day break in flight ops. All the birds where chained down to the max, all covers were installed, and absolutely no one was allowed on the flight deck except for a 2 man team of watches that were tethered together, from deck ops dept. We could do some troubleshooting/repairs only in hangar bay if it involved being inside a bird running systems checks, no climbing up on outside for corrosion control type work...that all came after. Hope this explains the type of cavitation we experienced! Oh! And I read Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October during this 2 week break. One of the subs experienced some type of cavitation in that story as well. Take care.
A shout out to the most badass expedition undertaken by my fellow Belgian, Adrian de gerlache, who spent the antarctic winter (on purpose, on his ship the Belgica) in 1898 in the what's now called the gerlache strait, south of the drake passage. It was also the first real scientific expedition. The islands Anvers and Brabant are named after Belgian places. Just a minor historical note I wanted to point out.
OMG, those rude French people, going around the world and just changing the name of places because they were too rude to learn the proper name !. Glad us British Heroes never ever did that sort of thing !.@@bobbyheffley4955
This video contains significant errors, as stated by several in the comments below. The most obvious is in the title of the video. Commercial shipping was common "around the Horn", such as for example those traveling from the east coast of the USA to the west, before transcontinental trains were established.
@@SynchroScore they will be returning as panama canal is drastically short of water and restricting passages to a small number per day. i have 5 containers on a ship awaiting to transit at the panama canal as i write this. they have been waiting a week.
@@ronblack7870 Yes, I've seen reports about that, the canal not having enough water for the largest ships. But containers can also go by train. There is a railway across Panama, and several other routes across North America.
I think you've been quite kind with your comment. I tried hard to find a little bit of the title's info among the brutal amount of ecopropaganda. I would actually say that there was just too little video contained in this rather large error.
"The Drake passage is retty much the only way to reach Antarctica by boat". And yet ships frequently transit to Antarctica from Australia (Tasmania). I can guarantee you those ships don't use the Drake passage.
Most of the ships were from England and Spain. It would take longer to first go to Australia. And, they would have to go through the southern tip of Africa, which is equally as dangerous.
The Shackleton story is even more amazing than how it's told here. I highly recommend reading "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" for the full story.
Before the panama canal ships DID pass between South America & Antarctica (not under - there is no tunnel😅. One of the main selling points of the panam canal WAS both distance and time saved. Economic reasons both...
He left Francis Drake stranded at New Albion, but forgot to mention that he then crossed the Pacific and circumnavigated the globe. The first English sailor to do that, and the third expedition to complete the journey. His voyage was difficult, but far from catastrophic (as the narrator voice leads us to believe) because he returned to England, and was knighted aboard his flagship, 'The Golden Hind', in 1581. He received this honour both because of his circumnavigation and because of the immense amount of treasure which he had collected from raiding enemy Spanish ships (which were also often privateers and pirates) en route. Drake certainly didn't transit the Drake Passage, but he correctly recorded its existence, and then opted to go through the Straits of Magellan; a much safer route. It's also worth mentioning that although Drake lost both ships and men, that was quite normal on long sea voyages. For instance, Magellan died of scurvy on his expedition, despite their cargo being spices. Ironically, eating some of those precious spices would have kept him alive. Even some 200 years later, Captain James Cook set sail and was the first European to set foot on the East coast of what became Australia in 1770. His famous barque, the 'Endeavour', was 60 feet / 20 metres long, and they set off with a crew of about 180 men. Only about 60 completed the voyage.
Pirate Drake who loved to navigate plundering all over the world,Spaniard Expedition leader Magellan was the first to discover and passed through,Portugal & Spain were navigators,discoverers etc the rest showed later mostly to plundering
A seadog is simply an experienced sailor NOT a pirate sanctioned by the King(Queen) that person/entity is known as a privateer. Google the definitions if you doubt me. "A privateer was a pirate with papers. As the name suggests, privateers were private individuals commissioned by governments to carry out quasi-military activities. They would sail in privately owned armed ships, robbing merchant vessels and pillaging settlements belonging to a rival country."
Hubby and sailed through the Drake Passage on an expedition cruise ship to Antarctica. . We experienced up to 25 ft waves. It took us 3 days to get through it. What a lifetime experience. Coming back wasn’t that bad. I loved it.
Thanks for the clarification I always thought it was the threat of being raided and hijacked by Penguin pirates from the frozen continent who patrol these waters
Thanks for the informative presentation on the daunting conditions in those waters. Those who brave even the safer Strait of Magellan - let alone the far more terrible Drake Passage/Mar de Hoces - deserve our profound respect and admiration. I'll never willingly go anywhere near there myself.
The fact they did it in wooden sail ships is even more impressive to me. Ships back then were smaller than modern ships. The ocean waves would have been much daunting in a smaller ship that creaks and flexes over every wave. I wouldn't want to try it now, let alone back then!
@@madMARTYNmarsh1981 "Scott" doomed himself from the start through sheer arrogance. Amundsen on the other hand had an awesome expedition vessel in the shape of Fram. Brave souls!
I served a winter and Spring on the CGC Evergreen,180ft oceanographic/ bouy tender. Then QM/Signalman school in Newport, followed by 2 1/2 years on the second CGC Escanaba ... I understand the 3rd Escanaba is on duty today! ... the 1st Escanaba was lost on convoy duty in Ww2. Named after Escanaba Michigan.
Fascinating video. 👍Maps don't do justice to how treacherous and deadly this part of our planet is. And on a related note, just imagine how utterly impossible the Northwest Passage must have been for _this_ to be the better option.
Clipper Ships of the 1800's and early 1900's traversed Drakes passage & the Magellan Straights regularly/. South Street Seaport, NYC has log records of these ships. The Wavertree, now in South Street Seaport, NYC regularly traversed the straights in both directions. In one log record, the captain told that they were caught in a storm and he needed a cat-o-nine tails and a pistol to "encourage the crew aloft."
I recall The Peking did that voyage. She was at South Street Seaport 30 years ago. She transported bird droppings to the European chemical industry.. Risk your life for bird droppings
@@FetherkoI mean, the ultimate product of those bird droppings were fertilizer, gunpowder and explosives... Pretty important stuff during the Peking's service life.
WOW, I’m 56 years old and I remember studying all of this in school. But I learned more from your video than from any other video I’ve watched. Thanks.
My great-great-grandfather sailed through the Drake passage and he would always hear echoing sounds coming from nowhere and they were always in the key of A-minor.
@@gwizz911 right on! With the shape of the icebreakers hull, I remember her rolling and pitching, when leaving a port, even in calm seas. Transiting the Horn we took a roll where everyman collectively held their breath as she rolled so far to port that we thought there was no coming back from. Amazingly, the old girl finally rolled back and we could breath again. Did you ever engage in keel jumping on her fantail deck? That was a favorite pass time in pitching seas. We could jump from main deck fantail and grab the underside piping and structures of the flight deck. Amazing to experience perceived weightlessness! Clear skies and following seas to you my fellow seafarer.
At 9:45 the temperatures are a bit mixed up. 30F to 43F is -1C to 6C not 4C to 6C. I'm guessing it should read 40F to 43F. Not a big problem: we get the idea that it's pretty cold !
My 1960s history book said that traveling around the southern tip of South America was dangerous. The ocean had dangerous waves, and many ships were sunk.
Capt. Scott did not see the difference between ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and acidic foods. Due to then recent science reports. So they died of scurvy sickness and starvation at the same time! And one man was very large and an alcoholic, but he got the same ration of food. What a mess. They hid the scurvy diagnosis for many decades as it was the sign of a bad captain.
sorry, but the relationship between scurvey and nutrition was found by Capt James COOK. And he ensured his men got a feed of fruit and vegetables everytime he landed somewhere. This was in the late 1700's. The result was that he had few if any scurvey problems. The word went out amongst the international merchant navies and within a short period of time everyone connected to the shipping business knew to eat fresh veges, fruit esp. citrus where possible. But then the lower level sailors would get into the grog, smoke, get involved with contagious people and spread it around, get drowned or die in skirmishes all over the place. Sealing and whaling was especially dangerous....
Scott was a product of British Imperialism. They refused to adopt Inuit practices learned by the Norwegians. Scott took ponies to pull the sledges because he thought dog sleds were inferior, distrusted skis and thought the pole should be approached by men pulling heavy sledges carrying rock samples on the return journey. Scott had bad weather but he was also arrogantly unprepared. One Brit said, the British Empire doesn't learn from savages, it teaches them. Well, so much for Scott.
News Flash: 10-feet = 1 story tall, so 60-feet = 6 stories tall. The only way a 60-foot height would equate to 4-stories would be if each floor was 15-feet apart, which is not standard building code unless you live in a mansion. Edit: 7:44 to 8:01 you mentioned Ambient Air Temperature of 41 °F (5 °C) to 27 °F (-3 °C) and Ambient Water Temperature of 43 °F (6 °C) to 30ºF (4ºC), when the true numbers are: Ambient Air Temperature of 41 °F (5 °C) to 27 °F (-2.78 °C) and Ambient Water Temperature is: 43 °F (6.11 °C) to 30 °F (-1.11 °C).
Also, I think you meant that Pacific Cyclones enter the passage from West to East. Westerly means "coming from the West", Easterly means "coming from the East"
I sailed through the Drake Passage on a large ship. I loved it, but I don't get seasick and I would surely never want to be in a small ship or boat like Shackleton. The wind was crazy cold and blew so hard I had to hold a knit cap to my head to keep it from flying off. Still, I'd do it again if I get the chance.
Let’s say the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans don’t get along. I experienced it. I went to Antarctica with the Uruguayan Navy. We spent up to a week in Ushuaia waiting for our meteorologist to say it was ok to cross the Drake Passage. It still sucked.
Just a slight correction: The Kingdom of Britain began in 1707. At the time of Elizabeth, Scotland was a separate kingdom. So, Drake sailed for England.
True , but after Elizabeth I death in 1603 the English throne was taken by the king of Scotland. He technically ruled both the throne of England & Scotland separately. But it was his line that carried on ruling after his death.
@@jonathankerr4859 Yes, James did not unite the two nations even though he ruled both simueltaneously. There was no union of the nations as well as adding in Wales creating the Kingdom of Great Britain until the early 18th Century.
This video is riddled with errors, for example: The Spaniards in South America did not in fact meet the Mayans or Aztecs Cortez fought the Aztecs, but Pizarro was the Conquistador of South America and he subjugated the Inca.
I am in complete awe of the quality and the breadth and depth of information of this video which educates and informs its viewers in history, geography, and science. I salut you who took the effort and time to both entertain and educate us. Instant subscription!
I'm fairly sure the real reason ships don't pass under South America is because digging a tunnel underneath an entire continent large enough to fit modern ships would be cost prohibitive.
16:52 Shackleton and Crew did not "Row the Boat," they "Sailed the Boat." 17:12 The Voyage to South Georgia Island did not last 1 month. It lasted 15 days.
Ferdinand de Magallanes did it before Drake. And that place is called strait of Magellan. He was the first explorer to circumnavigate the planet. Drake came way after him.
Magellan was killed by a ruler of a small island in what is now Philippines, the first person to circumnavigate the globe was his servant, born in Moluca islands, then famous as the source of black pepper, when Magellan ships reached those island under changed commander. With additional misadventures, only one ship returned to Spain, and that crew led by captain El Cano were the first people who circumnavigated the globe on a single trip. I guess that Magellan set unbeatable record of leading through totally unknown waters, Patagonian coast, "his" strait" and the entire width of the Pacific. Alas, he was killed very soon after he reached the eastern side of the largest ocean.
Very well put over to the public sir, Not being educated in the USA after the age of 11/12 and being educated in the UK we studied more than British history. This area of seas was terrifying to sailors of, well mainly Europeans. The calm period could last for weeks where there's zero wind and the seas are like a dead calm lake, so ships would be awaiting the terrors of wind and rough seas to restart.
The part about the ice fish is fascinating. I wonder how far such adaptations can be pushed. For example, could life adapt to survive in the seas of Europa (the moon)
Man I am so glad, that this video popped in my feed. Great work! Very pleasant time watching it - and everything was spot on - music, knowledge, way of presenting information. Thanks for your work and all the best.
I guess you aren't reading comments about inaccurate facts, additional details missed... and wtf does the race to the South Pole have ANYTHING to do with the Drake Passage?? Not the best video.
Could TH-cam NOT break a word in half, to insert a 5 minute commercial for McDonalds happy meal? Seriously. You punish me for having an add blocker. And then punish me with unskippable commercial for GARBAGE I DONT WANT.
The incorrect "which flows west" at 10:44 is pretty weird because the pictorial clearly shows the current flowing east, which is its actual flow (it's a clockwise flow, the powerful wind is clockwise, Coriolis Effect).
I'm gonna assume the script writing, the voice over and the video editing was done by separate people. Which makes it a lot harder to notice mistakes that will seem obvious if youre engaged in the content.
there's no way this was written or even read by an actual person, imo. the weird repetitions, the robotic deliveries, the bizarre points of emphasis.... it seems entirely synthetic@@Frostbytedigital
@easilystartled2203 also early on in the video the narrating voice pronounces winds similarly as wine (wine-ds), very weird and likely a result of a typo
Damn.. I've always been pretty good with geography and I've always had a specific interest in Southern South America, Patagonia, Chile/Argentina and Antarctica - and I'm always learning stuff - but for whatever reason, I had never heard of the Strait of Magellan - not that I can remember anyway - and maybe I just thought it somewhere else... I mean, I guess, had I put some focus on it, I would have noticed that a passage existed, I just never had - I thought South America was basically connected/contiguous all the way down. Something is just strange about it to me though lol.. I thought I knew _everything_ lol... I am going to research that now though. But the specific information on the currents and everything is also cool. I knew it was the warm and cold water meeting that caused it to be rough but I didn't know the specific names of the mechanisms and currents and the details of how it all worked. Super gnarly. Something else I've always kind of wondered about - and maybe it's partially answered here with the Antarctic Convergence Zone and the water temperatures - and I know with extreme northern and southern latitudes, it's something about the angle of the sun's traversal and the angle that sunlight hits the atmosphere that blocks a lot of the heat - but even given all of that, I still find it fascinating and wonder why the difference of environment from southern South America to Antarctica is so extreme. The south of South America seems fairly temperate for the most part. Maybe the aforementioned phenomena completely explain it, but it just seems like there's more to it. Like I'm sure southern Chile/Argentina/Patagonia sometimes have cold/extreme weather, but it seems to be almost nothing in comparison to the Drake Passage and Antarctica just a couple/few hundred miles to their south. And maybe there's even a geometric explanation with spheres and the difference a few degrees of latitude can make around the poles or something... But this is a quality video. You've got a new subscriber.
Cellphone = location activated (Google Maps, etc.) = Google also owns YT. And maybe you also looked up something about the Drake Passage, or referring vaguely to the drake passage, just not too long ago (your Google search history). It is NOT a coincidence, it is indeed a consistency.
Excellent Video! I was stationed on an Ice Breaker (USCGC Polar Sea) while serving my 4 years in the Coast Guard. I spent 3 months in the Arctic, which was amazing, but I had to choose between going to school and going on a 6-month Antarctic deployment. I chose school. Sometimes, I regret missing the opportunity to visit Antarctica.
All the "nitpickers" are pointing out the inaccuracies of the video. Which makes it a poor video. Get the facts straight if you want to be educational!
Need some correction to this video. The Empire conquered and colonized by Spanish was the Inca Empire and not only the Mexican and Maya kingdoms. The Pass was discovered by the Spanish in 1526 by Francisco de Hoces.
I from Ireland and I don't have any sea legs. I once went in a "catamaran" type vessel from Sicily to Malta and the waves where very steep, like I could see all the way down the wave to the trough. I was puking my guts out the whole way. I have great admiration for sailors and wish I could stick out the rough seas.
One thing that's always perplexed me. Magellan got from the Atlantic to the Pacific by sailing through the strait subsequently named in after him. Thus avoiding a treacherous Cape Horn rounding altogether. Maybe in the early days of global European seafaring Spain my have stopped other nationalities from using the Strait of Magellan, but at least nowadays, why don't ships use that? It seems safer and easier. Unless it's really shallow or something.
1:36 - Only took a bit over a minute and a half to get in the obligatory "explorer bash". Just think, if it hadn't been for those terrible people, most of us would be living in a stone and thatch hut in the old country eating cold turnips.
British Empire, lol, this made me laugh, as there was no country of Britain then, just an island called Great Britain as Scotland was an independent nation. It was England, and The English overseas possessions, also known as the English colonial empire.
![STORM FORCE @ CAPE HORN [Ep. 108]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PTuSJpQ2Ie8/mqdefault.jpg)
My dad, born 1896 in Denmark, sailed many years..He spent many years on the ship "The Star of Alaska", Now named "The Balcutha" and located in San Francisco..He rounded South America (The Horn) several times..He retired from sailing and became a Longshoreman in San Francisco and retired in 1960..He moved to a small town in Northern California (Middletown) until his death in 1974 at the age of 78..I am the last of his eleven children at 82 years old..
Wow. I hope you have made sure his experiences are recorded for your future generations.
I wish you long life, sir! 🤗
Wow
Cool, tell us more about his stories please
Cool, I hope you share his stories and yours with your children
Wow
My dad was a navy radar tech on a frigate in the Vietnam war era. He's talked about scary situations being under-escorted by destroyers and having to enter unfriendly ports, but he said through it all, the most frightening experience was rounding south america through that passage. He said those waves make warships feel like volleyballs.
Dand....
Sorry, I meant dang
can you give me his number? i want to ask him something.
@@cattnippyou think he’s gonna give his dads number to a random guy on YT
Lol😂 @@shoface1798
In the 1840s-50s, my Great-great-great-great grandfather was a sea captain from Portland, Maine who spent his brief career bringing cargo from the East Coast to the West Coast, and back, going by Cape Horn. It was always a harrowing journey, according to his journals. On his fourth trip, he made it around The Horn, but shipwrecked on the southern coast of the Oregon Territory. There was no loss of life, but a complete loss of cargo. He ended up settling in what is now Coos Bay, and the rock in the bay that he hit bears his name: Rackleff Rock. After the incident, he stayed in Oregon running a ferry across the Umpqua River, and starting my family's history in the West.
_WOW!_
Incredible origin story.
Interesting
My grandfather's brother, (uncle Ray) lived in Coos Bay my entire life. I only got out there a few times, but I fell in love with that place. I look forward to going back with my family now. As a land locked kid from North Dakota to a seasoned Army traveler, Coos Bay is thought of as one of my most beautiful places I have stayed.
@@jamiegapp3298 Coos Bay, and Coos County in general, is beautiful, but very depressed. Almost all of my family have left the area for other towns and cities in the Northwest. Timber used to be the number one industry, now it is tourism. So, yes, please come visit for a relaxing time at the coast!
I've crossed both the Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan. The former one on a trip to Antarctica in a 3,175 Tonnes (293 ft Length) expedition vessel (fairly small for these waters). The forward passage was Lake Drake, the return passage a lot rougher. Fortunately I have never been affected by motion sickness. Crossing the Strait of Magellan was, however, one of my most treasured experiences. In a relatively small timber hulled vessel sailing under a mix of sail power and diesel power we crossed by night from Punta Arenas to the tiny port of Porvenir. The sea was calm, the breeze was light, the temperature freezing and a full moon was shining. The stars were also brightly visible despite the moonlight. Dolphins were our companions most of the way, swimming just ahead of the bow of the vessel, allowing its bow wave to provide them with free propulsion. Despite the intense cold and a warm pot belly stove keeping the cabin warm inside, I chose to stay on deck most of the night. Truly, a Night to Remember!
Nice description.
Wow you're so blessed to have experienced that wondrous event, you can truly look back on your life and be proud, always remember that, don't ever forget, peace.
Lucky man. I have had a very few night passages under sail. It IS magical.
Man that sounds pretty gnarly. I've always wanted to spend some time in this general vicinity - like southern South America/Patagonia to Antarctica. The descriptions, images, stories, etc. of this entire region just seem profound and mystical or something - like it's almost a different place and time and world down there. I've otherwise got a pretty strong constitution, but motion sickness is a reality for me - like so much so, that when I hear people talking about the pretty strong motion sickness they get in this area from the rough seas, I literally start to feel slightly nauseous myself lol. But also, I haven't really spent any time at sea whatsoever either - other than ferries and small boat rides not getting out of sight of land - I'm landlocked here in Arkansas so it's bit of a distance to the ocean. But if I had the time, money and opportunity, I would still like to experience this entire, broader region.
Please post pictures it sounds like one of those experiences when you marvel at the creation!
It's the weather. I have passed once on February 2003 from Maceo, Brazil bound to San Vicente, Argentina. I was an officer in bulk carrier and it was an experience I will never forget.
The wind was extra ordinary strong and the waves were high.
I thought we're not going to make it from Atlantic side to Pacific side because the wind gust was too strong that the ship was almost stationary. The waves was also very rough. Not all seafarers got that experience. And it's scary, but still proud to say that I'm one of those few who make it.
THANK YOU.
Wow, I wish you'd have filmed that experience.
Thank you, actually your comment was far more interesting and to the point than the video.
Salute 🙏 🫡
You went from Brazil to Argentina. How did you end up in the Pacific? Why would you even be anywhere near the Drake Passage?
That trip from Elephant Island to South Georgia in that little boat (James Caird) with Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, John Vincent, Timothy is in my opinion THE GREATEST feat of seamanship and navigations skills ever
Not just the sea-voyage, using their backs as a bulwark, in the Great Southern Sea AKA "icy-deathwaters". When they got there, with next to no climbing equipment, and little food, and only water they defrosted by MELTING SHOW INSIDE THEIR COATS WITH THEIR BODY HEAT . . . they climbed an UNKNOWN 4,400 foot mountain and glacier, without any idea of if it COULD be climbed, or once climbed, descended on the other side.
When they finally got to the top, they couldn't find a way down one part, the night was coming on, they suspected a storm was coming, and without other recourse, they coiled up their rope to make a sled, climbed on, and sledded down what may have been a slope that led to a cliff edge.
There have been supermen, they were never Americans in Spandex, or people from our present, soft-cock days.
An Unsung Hero is better. It's about Tom Crean who was with both Scott and Shackleton. @@lougottlieb156
But the target was Chile, I guess, because Georgia Island is more far away.
@@SilentHillFetishist that would put you fighting the currents more though?
@@SilentHillFetishistnavigating through those waters was most likely damn near impossible
On a trip to Antarctica, we went through the Drake. Every barf bag was used up in a few hours and that was after the Captain hid out the ship in calmer waters during the worst of the bad weather. Day two was not too bad but if you have the slightest problem with sea sickness, you better load up on every pill or trick they sell to avoid turning green.
My mother added to her bucket list, stepping foot on every continent. Being raised with a maritime family, we have stories about just how treacherous going through either straight could be. She knew what she was going to face, that woman, and you, are exceptionally brave.
I was brought on boats. So I was only mildly seasick the first couple days going to sea on a Coast Guard ship. After that, I was never sea sick again. Now our 180 ft bouy tender rolled her guts out all day every day 45 degrees both ways given the slighest excuse. Winter North Atlantic was especially delightful.
I believe you are mistaken they said Antarctic not arctic.
:)> The point is the weather and waves of the winter North Atlantic are as bad as the Drake straight@@davehilty4800
How is everyone able to go to Antarctica? You have to be an experienced scientist with published papers and be super knowledgeable and intelligent. Then I see some random YTber who’s an EMT going to Antarctica.
Just out of curiosity, how did you go? Oh, btw, do they need security? I can do security. 😂😂😂
Most of you probably don't know who Walter Cronkite was. He was a renowned journalist who wound up at CBS as a reporter and was the host of CBS Nightly News for 30 years until he retired in 1981. He was referred to as "the most trusted man in America." After he retired, he would still produce occasional "specials" for CBS. Why am I posting this here? Well, I'll tell you!
Cronkite just loved sailing. I mean, he LOVED it. One of his life-long desires was to sail around Cape Horn. Well, he did just that and presented it in one of his specials for CBS. I remember they had the camera set up on the yacht, pointing at him holding his microphone talking into the lens. Since both he and the camera were on the same platform (the yacht,) you would see him lean back and forth. The horizon behind him was another matter! It was swinging wildly clockwise and counterclockwise, reflecting the strong winds buffeting the yacht. If I were to find myself in a similar circumstance, I would be horrified. But "the most trusted man in America" was just loving it!
"Uncle Walter" died in 2009 at the age of 92.
Great info. Did see him but not that sailing doc... thanks
Most of us don't know who Walter Cronkite is? Where do you come up with this? That's like saying "Most of you don't know who Donald Trump is."
@@csn6234the world have 8 billion people, not everyone lived in the US to know who he is.
❤
The internet is there for you @@csn6234
Kendrick could pass it
I saw this comment first and was like ....🤔hmmm..38 secs in 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Corny lame
bahahahahaa
And so could Drake. It's over 18 years old.
@@TheSpiritombsableye🔥😮🔥
At 8:01: Either the water temperature is 4°C (40°F) or 30°F (-1°C). 30°F does not equal 4°C.
I was looking for this comment hahahahah
Experienced captain here…. The Drake Lake and Shake is what happens at most ocean inlets, twice a day at the end of an outgoing tide. The NUMBER ONE REASON or huge waves in what is essentially an inlet is tides. Tidal flow is not discussed in this video.
Excellent point Cap!🫡⚓️
I'm a little amazed that no mention was made of McMurdo Station which is a permanent research center near a monument to Robert Falcon Scott where he'd built a hut. The base was built by US Navy Seabees and Seabees are still stationed there maintaining the site. Access is closed off during the wintering over period of about 7 months. A few years ago a researcher grew gravely ill and a special mission went in during that period and brought her out. One of the Seabees I worked with was an Equipment Operator whose job was to keep clearing snow from the site. Engines are not turned as the oil would freeze. It is a voluntary duty and those who go through the winter receive a commendation and a medal for their achievement.
mcmurdo station isn't even close to the drake passage, why would he mention it?
Amundsen should be remembered not Scott.
@@marcime174 Do you seriously lack the brain capacity to remember more than a single person?
@@HungryLoki Apparently, I've already forgotten you 🤭
Scott of the Antartic's son was Peter Scott. One of his letters gave his wish that the boy (Peter) have an interest in nature. Peter Scott went on to be a leading naturalist who opened multiple nature reseves here in the UK and made some important contributions towards conservation of multiple species of bird such as the Hawaiian and Barnacle Geese.
Must be nice to have these old-money gigs.
I gotta say, the craziest bit in this whole video for me is the fact that someone was crazy enough to swim through that passage 🥶
they didn't they swam one mile, presumably from chile coast southwards a half mile and then back. it is not humanly possible to swim the entire straight. when it takes 6 paddlers 10 to cross what do you think she would have eaten or where would she sleep, during the months long swim?
it clearly stated 15 minutes for one mile in cold waters. note: cold waters is still above freezing due to the warm oceans. otherwise she would be walking on ice for 15 minutes.
She did it there due to the fast current pushing her. For the sake of the record time.
I was a weather observer on the USS Kitty Hawk CVA63. I was on the O10 level (The highest deck on the largest ship in the world in Oct. 1962) I believe the flight deck was 90' above the waterline. Spray was washing across the flight deck.
That must have been one wild scene
I was an avionics tech with an S-3 squadron (VS24) assigned to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the mid-to-late '80's. I went around "The Horn" in May/June 1987, when she transferred from East Coast to West Coast. Shortly after leaving Rio, we had approx 30 ft swells for 10-14 days. We even experienced cavitation of the upper props. Good times.
@@joerichardson4325 which type of cavitation? Hub vortex or tip vortex? Or midchord bubble cavitation? And could you physically feel the effect of this with everything else that was going on on a 90,000 ton vessel?
@@Ken_oh545 Sorry, I'm not educated in the different types of cavitation. All I can say is each time the nose went down, the aft came up enough to expose a portion of the top 2 props to air. It sounded like an off-road motorcycle was traveling the length of the ship (couldn't really distinguish if it was from forward to aft or vice versa) for a couple of secs every few moments depending on the frequency of the swells. My shop was slightly forward of midship on port side, and berthing was somewhat aft just below the arresting cables.
Concerning "everything else going on", I can't speak for the entire ship, but for most of the air wing, we had a 10-14 day break in flight ops. All the birds where chained down to the max, all covers were installed, and absolutely no one was allowed on the flight deck except for a 2 man team of watches that were tethered together, from deck ops dept. We could do some troubleshooting/repairs only in hangar bay if it involved being inside a bird running systems checks, no climbing up on outside for corrosion control type work...that all came after. Hope this explains the type of cavitation we experienced! Oh! And I read Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October during this 2 week break. One of the subs experienced some type of cavitation in that story as well. Take care.
Un ú@@cmorgan4515
A shout out to the most badass expedition undertaken by my fellow Belgian, Adrian de gerlache, who spent the antarctic winter (on purpose, on his ship the Belgica) in 1898 in the what's now called the gerlache strait, south of the drake passage. It was also the first real scientific expedition. The islands Anvers and Brabant are named after Belgian places.
Just a minor historical note I wanted to point out.
Thanks very much, I will read about him.
It was the first recognized scientific expedition to Antarctica. James Cook conducted expeditions in the Pacific in 1769
Anvers is the French name for Antwerp.
OMG, those rude French people, going around the world and just changing the name of places because they were too rude to learn the proper name !.
Glad us British Heroes never ever did that sort of thing !.@@bobbyheffley4955
It was very good arse
This video contains significant errors, as stated by several in the comments below. The most obvious is in the title of the video. Commercial shipping was common "around the Horn", such as for example those traveling from the east coast of the USA to the west, before transcontinental trains were established.
The title says ships _don't_ pass under South America. As in, they don't do so presently. It doesn't say they _never_ did.
@@SynchroScore they will be returning as panama canal is drastically short of water and restricting passages to a small number per day. i have 5 containers on a ship awaiting to transit at the panama canal as i write this. they have been waiting a week.
@@ronblack7870 Yes, I've seen reports about that, the canal not having enough water for the largest ships. But containers can also go by train. There is a railway across Panama, and several other routes across North America.
I think you've been quite kind with your comment. I tried hard to find a little bit of the title's info among the brutal amount of ecopropaganda. I would actually say that there was just too little video contained in this rather large error.
@@ronblack7870 no, now mexico has an interoceanic train from the Golf to the other side Oaxaca i think, that will save a lot of time..
0:37 oh so thats why they dont cross it
i laughed a little too loud to this
LOL
😅😅😅😅😅 yooo comment deserves more likes
6:20 *
@@diogenesstudent5585 Did I stutter?
So Drake never got to the passage...
I think I need a patch of the moon named after me...
Good call!😂
"The Drake passage is retty much the only way to reach Antarctica by boat".
And yet ships frequently transit to Antarctica from Australia (Tasmania). I can guarantee you those ships don't use the Drake passage.
The video title and thumbnail and TOPIC is about from South America though. If you’re traveling from the Americas you aren’t going through Australia…
And from Christchurch, New Zealand. It would be an awful long way round to first go through the Drake Passage.
@@uncletiggermclaren7592
I point you to @laureng8401's reply.
Don't worry they merged wales and england together and called it england.. this channel is 💩
Most of the ships were from England and Spain. It would take longer to first go to Australia. And, they would have to go through the southern tip of Africa, which is equally as dangerous.
The Shackleton story is even more amazing than how it's told here. I highly recommend reading "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" for the full story.
I first heard about Shackleton's legendary "Endurance" expedition through a back issue Nat Geo Magazine I bought in a second-hand bookshop... 😊
Before the panama canal ships DID pass between South America & Antarctica (not under - there is no tunnel😅.
One of the main selling points of the panam canal WAS both distance and time saved. Economic reasons both...
They’re referring to a map. The southern tip of South America is at the bottom, so on paper you are going under South America.
Economics was ONE reason, but not the only. Many ships were sunk trying to pass through the Drake passage. It was an extremely dangerous area.
@@davidf.8345 - I think the op was trying to make a funny.
Kendrick Lamar crossed the Drakes Passage just to say he dominated it
30 deg. Fahrenheit = 4 deg. Celsius?!? Wtf?!?
Close enough LOL
S/B -1 deg C
me too........I'm getting counseling
He left Francis Drake stranded at New Albion, but forgot to mention that he then crossed the Pacific and circumnavigated the globe. The first English sailor to do that, and the third expedition to complete the journey.
His voyage was difficult, but far from catastrophic (as the narrator voice leads us to believe) because he returned to England, and was knighted aboard his flagship, 'The Golden Hind', in 1581. He received this honour both because of his circumnavigation and because of the immense amount of treasure which he had collected from raiding enemy Spanish ships (which were also often privateers and pirates) en route.
Drake certainly didn't transit the Drake Passage, but he correctly recorded its existence, and then opted to go through the Straits of Magellan; a much safer route.
It's also worth mentioning that although Drake lost both ships and men, that was quite normal on long sea voyages. For instance, Magellan died of scurvy on his expedition, despite their cargo being spices. Ironically, eating some of those precious spices would have kept him alive. Even some 200 years later, Captain James Cook set sail and was the first European to set foot on the East coast of what became Australia in 1770. His famous barque, the 'Endeavour', was 60 feet / 20 metres long, and they set off with a crew of about 180 men. Only about 60 completed the voyage.
You say Magellan died of WHAT?!?!? Er... fact check please.
Drake was a legend
SIR Francis Drake. Why y'all trying to cheat the man out of his knighthood?
@@crisostomoibarra2244Agreed. Magellan def didn't die of scurvy.
Pirate Drake who loved to navigate plundering all over the world,Spaniard Expedition leader Magellan was the first to discover and passed through,Portugal & Spain were navigators,discoverers etc the rest showed later mostly to plundering
A seadog is simply an experienced sailor NOT a pirate sanctioned by the King(Queen) that person/entity is known as a privateer. Google the definitions if you doubt me.
"A privateer was a pirate with papers. As the name suggests, privateers were private individuals commissioned by governments to carry out quasi-military activities. They would sail in privately owned armed ships, robbing merchant vessels and pillaging settlements belonging to a rival country."
Hubby and sailed through the Drake Passage on an expedition cruise ship to Antarctica. . We experienced up to 25 ft waves. It took us 3 days to get through it. What a lifetime experience. Coming back wasn’t that bad. I loved it.
Thanks for the clarification I always thought it was the threat of being raided and hijacked by Penguin pirates from the frozen continent who patrol these waters
Thanks for the informative presentation on the daunting conditions in those waters. Those who brave even the safer Strait of Magellan - let alone the far more terrible Drake Passage/Mar de Hoces - deserve our profound respect and admiration. I'll never willingly go anywhere near there myself.
The fact they did it in wooden sail ships is even more impressive to me. Ships back then were smaller than modern ships. The ocean waves would have been much daunting in a smaller ship that creaks and flexes over every wave.
I wouldn't want to try it now, let alone back then!
@RepentandbelieveinJesusChrist. Save it for the mosque or whatever you call your temple thing. You zionists leave no soul unturned do you??
@@madMARTYNmarsh1981 "Scott" doomed himself from the start through sheer arrogance. Amundsen on the other hand had an awesome expedition vessel in the shape of Fram.
Brave souls!
21:45 LOL she really did it because the current is fast there and makes her swim times shorter for the "fastest ocean mile"
True enough. I've done a drift dive at 4mph, and that is moving very quickly, in water.
Makes sense 😁
I served a winter and Spring on the CGC Evergreen,180ft oceanographic/ bouy tender. Then QM/Signalman school in Newport, followed by 2 1/2 years on the second CGC Escanaba ... I understand the 3rd Escanaba is on duty today! ... the 1st Escanaba was lost on convoy duty in Ww2. Named after Escanaba Michigan.
What about New London. Named for.....London.😂
Francis Drake was an actual colonizer 😮 thats crazy 💀
Kendrick is a genius
Fascinating video. 👍Maps don't do justice to how treacherous and deadly this part of our planet is.
And on a related note, just imagine how utterly impossible the Northwest Passage must have been for _this_ to be the better option.
Northwest Passage is fine, but was navigated later. And for different reasons(destinations). Anyway, exploration is an amazing subject.
Clipper Ships of the 1800's and early 1900's traversed Drakes passage & the Magellan Straights regularly/. South Street Seaport, NYC has log records of these ships. The Wavertree, now in South Street Seaport, NYC regularly traversed the straights in both directions. In one log record, the captain told that they were caught in a storm and he needed a cat-o-nine tails and a pistol to "encourage the crew aloft."
@@michaelmurdock4607sodomy
Has that ship been there a long time? I went to the Seaport and toured a ship back in school.
I had a captain like that in the 2nd of the 16th ranger battalion in Vietnam
I recall The Peking did that voyage. She was at South Street Seaport 30 years ago. She transported bird droppings to the European chemical industry.. Risk your life for bird droppings
@@FetherkoI mean, the ultimate product of those bird droppings were fertilizer, gunpowder and explosives... Pretty important stuff during the Peking's service life.
WOW, I’m 56 years old and I remember studying all of this in school. But I learned more from your video than from any other video I’ve watched. Thanks.
It's amazing that Scott saw the Norwegian flag and all that wilderness
My great-great-grandfather sailed through the Drake passage and he would always hear echoing sounds coming from nowhere and they were always in the key of A-minor.
Sometimes you gotta pop up and row in it....certified passage I'll be the first to go right through in it.......
I experienced 60 to 80 foot sets of rogue waves Winter North Atlantic during my Coast Guard service in the late"60s
Same, but 2002-2005 aboard CGC Tahoma
Semper Paratus, shipmate.
Right on. Made the passage aboard USCG Cutter Glacier WAGB 4. Awesome sea days.
Ocean Station Bravo was such wonderful place especially in February 1972. Semper Paratus.
@@gwizz911 right on! With the shape of the icebreakers hull, I remember her rolling and pitching, when leaving a port, even in calm seas. Transiting the Horn we took a roll where everyman collectively held their breath as she rolled so far to port that we thought there was no coming back from. Amazingly, the old girl finally rolled back and we could breath again. Did you ever engage in keel jumping on her fantail deck? That was a favorite pass time in pitching seas. We could jump from main deck fantail and grab the underside piping and structures of the flight deck. Amazing to experience perceived weightlessness! Clear skies and following seas to you my fellow seafarer.
@@gwizz911I was aboard Glacier for two trips 85 & 86! Semper Paratus ❤
At 9:45 the temperatures are a bit mixed up. 30F to 43F is -1C to 6C not 4C to 6C. I'm guessing it should read 40F to 43F. Not a big problem: we get the idea that it's pretty cold !
Thank you for saying this already. I was gonna say something when 30F (4C) popped up on screen 😂
@@usedbeer @oldcynic6964 heh i was just getting ready to type something up as well
This is why we should all adopt a single system and Americans should forget fahrenheit and just switch to the metric system also
@@patrickwilliamson29 ha no, i'll take the whole metric system but Celsius isn't allowed over
Just a sloppy video overall
England did not have any colonies (apart from Ireland) in the 16th century and Britain did not exist as a country until 1707.
In the early 1600s the Kingdom of England had Ireland. North America, West Indies among a few, then there was trading posts too
And England does not include Wales
@@cabba4585 - What does any of that have to do with the op's statement about the 16th Century?
My 1960s history book said that traveling around the southern tip of South America was dangerous. The ocean had dangerous waves, and many ships were sunk.
Capt. Scott did not see the difference between ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and acidic foods. Due to then recent science reports. So they died of scurvy sickness and starvation at the same time! And one man was very large and an alcoholic, but he got the same ration of food. What a mess. They hid the scurvy diagnosis for many decades as it was the sign of a bad captain.
Scott felt that survey was due to a lack of moral fiber. So he died
Its a bad sign when toungue and skin turn black. People were told not to report this.
sorry, but the relationship between scurvey and nutrition was found by Capt James COOK. And he ensured his men got a feed of fruit and vegetables everytime he landed somewhere. This was in the late 1700's. The result was that he had few if any scurvey problems. The word went out amongst the international merchant navies and within a short period of time everyone connected to the shipping business knew to eat fresh veges, fruit esp. citrus where possible. But then the lower level sailors would get into the grog, smoke, get involved with contagious people and spread it around, get drowned or die in skirmishes all over the place. Sealing and whaling was especially dangerous....
Scott was a product of British Imperialism. They refused to adopt Inuit practices learned by the Norwegians. Scott took ponies to pull the sledges because he thought dog sleds were inferior, distrusted skis and thought the pole should be approached by men pulling heavy sledges carrying rock samples on the return journey. Scott had bad weather but he was also arrogantly unprepared. One Brit said, the British Empire doesn't learn from savages, it teaches them. Well, so much for Scott.
News Flash: 10-feet = 1 story tall, so 60-feet = 6 stories tall. The only way a 60-foot height would equate to 4-stories would be if each floor was 15-feet apart, which is not standard building code unless you live in a mansion.
Edit: 7:44 to 8:01 you mentioned Ambient Air Temperature of 41 °F (5 °C) to 27 °F (-3 °C) and Ambient Water Temperature of 43 °F (6 °C) to 30ºF (4ºC), when the true numbers are: Ambient Air Temperature of 41 °F (5 °C) to 27 °F (-2.78 °C) and Ambient Water Temperature is: 43 °F (6.11 °C) to 30 °F (-1.11 °C).
Also, 30 degrees f is -1.11 degrees c😊 not 4
@@jeffvandervort7132 I had actually missed that, I will need to review the video to grab that time stamp.
Edit: it was 7:44 to 8:01
Who has a house with 6 floors? Commercial buildings are 15 feet per floor
@@danc2014 Residential Buildings are 10-feet per floor, and most commercial buildings are still 10-feet per floor too.
Also, I think you meant that Pacific Cyclones enter the passage from West to East. Westerly means "coming from the West", Easterly means "coming from the East"
In Chile we have a zone down there whose name translates to english as "The Gulf of Sorrows."
I have been through the Drake Passage and it was the roughest transition I ever experienced. No fun at all!
All Scripture is inspired of God+ and beneficial for teaching,+ for reproving, for setting things straight,+ for disciplining in righteousness,
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂@@VestalNumbre
@@VestalNumbre
I sailed through the Drake Passage on a large ship. I loved it, but I don't get seasick and I would surely never want to be in a small ship or boat like Shackleton. The wind was crazy cold and blew so hard I had to hold a knit cap to my head to keep it from flying off. Still, I'd do it again if I get the chance.
You highlighted England and wales under the english flag, leave us out like you did Scotland!
🏴👍🏻
Let’s say the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans don’t get along. I experienced it.
I went to Antarctica with the Uruguayan Navy. We spent up to a week in Ushuaia waiting for our meteorologist to say it was ok to cross the Drake Passage. It still sucked.
What a wonderful documentary! Very enjoyable to watch...
Just a slight correction: The Kingdom of Britain began in 1707. At the time of Elizabeth, Scotland was a separate kingdom. So, Drake sailed for England.
True , but after Elizabeth I death in 1603 the English throne was taken by the king of Scotland. He technically ruled both the throne of England & Scotland separately. But it was his line that carried on ruling after his death.
@@jonathankerr4859 Yes, James did not unite the two nations even though he ruled both simueltaneously. There was no union of the nations as well as adding in Wales creating the Kingdom of Great Britain until the early 18th Century.
This video is riddled with errors, for example:
The Spaniards in South America did not in fact meet the Mayans or Aztecs Cortez fought the Aztecs, but Pizarro was the Conquistador of South America and he subjugated the Inca.
@@skrattzerat5831 - I know, that got under my craw. I'm so tired of the amount of historical ignorance that prevails today.
I am in complete awe of the quality and the breadth and depth of information of this video which educates and informs its viewers in history, geography, and science. I salut you who took the effort and time to both entertain and educate us. Instant subscription!
"30 F, 4 C" Huh?!?!?!
I'm fairly sure the real reason ships don't pass under South America is because digging a tunnel underneath an entire continent large enough to fit modern ships would be cost prohibitive.
Well done Sir. Hahah
The Andes Mountain region of western South America that Drake raided was the homeland of the Inca civilization, not the Aztecs or Maya.
Yes. Huge differences. Actually being taught History doesn't happen for kids these days.
16:52 Shackleton and Crew did not "Row the Boat," they "Sailed the Boat."
17:12 The Voyage to South Georgia Island did not last 1 month. It lasted 15 days.
A fun video that hopefully inspired people to read up on things like the pronunciation of Elizabethan and the definition of "sea dog".
Eh, this video is scattered and unfocused.
Right, I lost track of what was the video about…cheesss.
The stories shared in the comments section are perhaps better than the video…
Unfocused? Put it on 1080p HAR HAR
Agreed
@@cheznathewarrior3759 evidently the writer did too! 😂😂
Ferdinand de Magallanes did it before Drake. And that place is called strait of Magellan. He was the first explorer to circumnavigate the planet. Drake came way after him.
The Drake passage is well south of the Magellan straits. This is mentioned in the video.
Magellan was killed by a ruler of a small island in what is now Philippines, the first person to circumnavigate the globe was his servant, born in Moluca islands, then famous as the source of black pepper, when Magellan ships reached those island under changed commander. With additional misadventures, only one ship returned to Spain, and that crew led by captain El Cano were the first people who circumnavigated the globe on a single trip. I guess that Magellan set unbeatable record of leading through totally unknown waters, Patagonian coast, "his" strait" and the entire width of the Pacific. Alas, he was killed very soon after he reached the eastern side of the largest ocean.
Ferdinand megallen died in the philipines, so he never did circumvent the world, but 1 of his ships made it
This is incorrect. Magellan did not make it back. The entire expedition was called by his name as an honorific only, as he had taken the commision.
@@samuelluria4744it’s correct and the expedition is called el cano-magallanes because of it
I've always loved maps and charts, even before I joined the U.S. Navy.
They did even have maps and charts until after I got out...😉
Very well put over to the public sir, Not being educated in the USA after the age of 11/12 and being educated in the UK we studied more than British history. This area of seas was terrifying to sailors of, well mainly Europeans. The calm period could last for weeks where there's zero wind and the seas are like a dead calm lake, so ships would be awaiting the terrors of wind and rough seas to restart.
Even on the map, the Drake Passage looks like a burst dam - 400 miles wide!
The part about the ice fish is fascinating. I wonder how far such adaptations can be pushed. For example, could life adapt to survive in the seas of Europa (the moon)
is that another name for patagonia sea bass?
Finally TH-cam recommends me a channel that has quality and informative content.
Excellent presentation of this historic place and the men who faced or attempted to face it. Thanks!
This is the perfect setting for a DuckTales episode.
Man I am so glad, that this video popped in my feed. Great work! Very pleasant time watching it - and everything was spot on - music, knowledge, way of presenting information. Thanks for your work and all the best.
I guess you aren't reading comments about inaccurate facts, additional details missed... and wtf does the race to the South Pole have ANYTHING to do with the Drake Passage??
Not the best video.
Could TH-cam NOT break a word in half, to insert a 5 minute commercial for McDonalds happy meal?
Seriously. You punish me for having an add blocker. And then punish me with unskippable commercial for GARBAGE I DONT WANT.
If you're going to attempt to make an educational video, leave your opinions out of it.
This was interesting but I was hoping for more video of the heavy seas etc..... thank you
Great video 🙌
Ancient Africans knew about the tuburlent seas and knew how to get to the Americas.
Even before there was EBT?
@@stevecooper6473 - WAKANDA FOH-WEVVUH!!!
I went thru Drake's Passage on the USS Pennsylvania(Gold)!!! Crazy experience!!!! Submariner for life!
For those not interested in any information outside the clickbait title, 7:30 is where the narrator finally reveals the answer.
It's so weird to know how close to Antarctica Chile is
So is Argentina!
The incorrect "which flows west" at 10:44 is pretty weird because the pictorial clearly shows the current flowing east, which is its actual flow (it's a clockwise flow, the powerful wind is clockwise, Coriolis Effect).
I'm gonna assume the script writing, the voice over and the video editing was done by separate people. Which makes it a lot harder to notice mistakes that will seem obvious if youre engaged in the content.
An overall editor would do that job . . . @@Frostbytedigital
there's no way this was written or even read by an actual person, imo. the weird repetitions, the robotic deliveries, the bizarre points of emphasis.... it seems entirely synthetic@@Frostbytedigital
@easilystartled2203 also early on in the video the narrating voice pronounces winds similarly as wine (wine-ds), very weird and likely a result of a typo
30 degrees Fahrenheit is not 4 degrees Celsius. It's not good to trust youtube sources, so it really sucks when there are inaccuracies
I think I'll just hang out in Chile and wait for you guys to get back.
Damn.. I've always been pretty good with geography and I've always had a specific interest in Southern South America, Patagonia, Chile/Argentina and Antarctica - and I'm always learning stuff - but for whatever reason, I had never heard of the Strait of Magellan - not that I can remember anyway - and maybe I just thought it somewhere else... I mean, I guess, had I put some focus on it, I would have noticed that a passage existed, I just never had - I thought South America was basically connected/contiguous all the way down. Something is just strange about it to me though lol.. I thought I knew _everything_ lol... I am going to research that now though. But the specific information on the currents and everything is also cool. I knew it was the warm and cold water meeting that caused it to be rough but I didn't know the specific names of the mechanisms and currents and the details of how it all worked. Super gnarly.
Something else I've always kind of wondered about - and maybe it's partially answered here with the Antarctic Convergence Zone and the water temperatures - and I know with extreme northern and southern latitudes, it's something about the angle of the sun's traversal and the angle that sunlight hits the atmosphere that blocks a lot of the heat - but even given all of that, I still find it fascinating and wonder why the difference of environment from southern South America to Antarctica is so extreme. The south of South America seems fairly temperate for the most part.
Maybe the aforementioned phenomena completely explain it, but it just seems like there's more to it. Like I'm sure southern Chile/Argentina/Patagonia sometimes have cold/extreme weather, but it seems to be almost nothing in comparison to the Drake Passage and Antarctica just a couple/few hundred miles to their south. And maybe there's even a geometric explanation with spheres and the difference a few degrees of latitude can make around the poles or something... But this is a quality video. You've got a new subscriber.
You might be interested in a film that came out just a few weeks ago, "The Colons"', about the Chilean colonization in Tierra del Fuego.
essa região é extremamente estratégica para o Brasil
How does TH-cam know that I’m in the Drake Passage right now watching this video?
Cellphone = location activated (Google Maps, etc.) = Google also owns YT. And maybe you also looked up something about the Drake Passage, or referring vaguely to the drake passage, just not too long ago (your Google search history). It is NOT a coincidence, it is indeed a consistency.
Excellent Video! I was stationed on an Ice Breaker (USCGC Polar Sea) while serving my 4 years in the Coast Guard. I spent 3 months in the Arctic, which was amazing, but I had to choose between going to school and going on a 6-month Antarctic deployment. I chose school. Sometimes, I regret missing the opportunity to visit Antarctica.
A well done show sir. Forget about the nitpickers.
Yip!! Just focus on picking the bottom holes. 💩💩👍👍💯
All the "nitpickers" are pointing out the inaccuracies of the video. Which makes it a poor video. Get the facts straight if you want to be educational!
Yes ma'am
Need some correction to this video. The Empire conquered and colonized by Spanish was the Inca Empire and not only the Mexican and Maya kingdoms. The Pass was discovered by the Spanish in 1526 by Francisco de Hoces.
A fun channel showing obscure information about not so obscure events. Definitely Worth a Watch!!
I from Ireland and I don't have any sea legs. I once went in a "catamaran" type vessel from Sicily to Malta and the waves where very steep, like I could see all the way down the wave to the trough. I was puking my guts out the whole way. I have great admiration for sailors and wish I could stick out the rough seas.
I went through there on an aircraft carrier about 20 years ago. I haven't learned what seasickness was until then.
I've never been there and don't care to go I'm in SE Asia 🌏 Vietnamese as I comment 🎉🎉😂👌💯😉
Years ago my aunt and uncle were on a cruise down there when another cruise ship sank. Their ship went to rescue the people.
Wow, incredibly informative video, thank you!
Have you done one of these about Bass Strait and/or the seas around the bottom of Tasmania and New Zealand's South Island?
If the ocean of the north is called the Arctic Ocean then the southern ocean should be called the Antarctic Ocean.
Life can be SO damned UNFAIR!!!
Drake passage>Drake rapper
Excellent presentation of the history and importance of this critically important body of water! Thank You!
One thing that's always perplexed me. Magellan got from the Atlantic to the Pacific by sailing through the strait subsequently named in after him. Thus avoiding a treacherous Cape Horn rounding altogether. Maybe in the early days of global European seafaring Spain my have stopped other nationalities from using the Strait of Magellan, but at least nowadays, why don't ships use that? It seems safer and easier. Unless it's really shallow or something.
very interessting DOCUMENTARY, thanks realy
Drake like. Imma go south america in a new yatch, imma call it the titanic
DJ Khaled: ANOTHER ONE?
Umm, so much of the video content is unrelated to the title. Don't really need to know about Drake himself.
I liked that part
Lol when you first said Captain Cook i imagined a chef wearing a cape
I enjoyed this video and thought it was very informative. Ignore the critics.
1:36 - Only took a bit over a minute and a half to get in the obligatory "explorer bash". Just think, if it hadn't been for those terrible people, most of us would be living in a stone and thatch hut in the old country eating cold turnips.
Thank you! A man after my own heart! So sick of the ignorance.
British Empire, lol, this made me laugh, as there was no country of Britain then, just an island called Great Britain as Scotland was an independent nation. It was England, and The English overseas possessions, also known as the English colonial empire.
at the time of Drake, Scotland was independent.... a little later it became part of the empire