Port Lockroy blog 1: The Drake Passage, then and now

14/11/2024

In our first Port Lockroy dispatch of the season, museum manager Aoife McKenna contrasts her crossing of the infamous Drake Passage with those who went before her.

For anyone embarking on a trip by sea to the Antarctic Peninsula, the words “Drake Passage” summon an ominous air of nervous anticipation. Stretching from Cape Horn to the South Shetland Islands, this stretch of water is considered to be the most treacherous in the world. 

It is estimated to have caused around 800 shipwrecks and claimed over 20,000 lives. As a historian and museum curator, I wanted to delve into the history of sailing on the Passage – and as someone who suffers from terrible seasickness, I wanted to know what I was getting into! 

So, what has drawn so many people to sail on the Drake Passage throughout history – and how does it feel to sail on it today? 

The Drake Passage: a brief history

The Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces was the first to record the existence of the passage in 1525, sailing southwards from the Strait of Magellan. For this reason, the Passage is sometimes referred to as ‘Mar de Hoces’ on Spanish maps. The English name ‘Drake Passage’ came from the English privateer and explorer Sir Francis Drake.

The Drake Passage lies between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Drake encountered the passage during his circumnavigation (essentially an ambitious covert raiding voyage) in 1578, when he became the first Englishman to travel through the Strait of Magellan. Strong winds destroyed one of his ships with all hands – the Marigold – and forced another, the Elizabeth, to abandon the fleet. 

Drake’s flagship Golden Hind survived but had less than 85 men remaining – less than half the crew it had set off from England with. It is disputed whether Drake actually reached the passage that now bears his name. It would not be until 1616 that anyone would successfully sail around Cape Horn and through the Drake Passage – a feat achieved by a Dutchman, Willem Schouten.

After Schouten’s publication of his successful voyage in 1618, news spread across Europe that there was an open passage of water south of South America. This was extremely significant, as previous points of access to the Pacific Ocean – the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel – were narrow in places and hard to manoeuvre through. Increased attempts to round Cape Horn, however, often ended in disaster.

Francis Drake never sailed the Drake (Public Domain)

In 1741, the British ship HMS Wager became separated from its Naval squadron when rounding the Horn in terrible weather. The ship wrecked on rocks off the coast of Chile, and subsequent in-fighting between the crew led to a mutiny between the survivors. One hundred and twenty men had been aboard the Wager when it had left England – just 10 men survived and returned to England to tell the tale. 

In 1819, the Spanish ship the San Telmo attempted to sail to Peru in an effort to crush the anti-colonial independence movement there. The ship was last seen in the Drake Passage and was thought to have hit severe weather and sunk with its entire crew of 644 men aboard. Some signs of the ship’s wreckage were later found in the South Shetland Islands – if any of the crew had made it to land alive, they would have been the first humans to reach any part of Antarctica. 

The Drake is known for its rough seas (LouieLea/Shutterstock)

As the notoriety of the Drake Passage grew, legends began to spring up around it. One such unproven story was of an English schooner, the Jenny. In 1841, the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung published a story positing that the Jenny had left the Isle of Wight in 1822, and a year later had become trapped in an ice-barrier in the Drake Passage. 

The schooner was supposedly not discovered until the whaling ship Hope came across it in 1840 – with the men aboard dead but perfectly preserved by the icy cold of Antarctica. This ghoulish story is unsubstantiated and likely a myth, but makes an excellent spooky tale! The Jenny Buttress on King George Island was named after this story. 

The Drake today

If you are planning on sailing on the Drake Passage anytime soon, all of this may be making you quite nervous! A tour of gift shops in Ushuaia will indeed reveal plenty of “I survived the Drake Passage” merchandise, but sailing on the Passage today is the safest it has ever been. Gone are the days of rickety sailboats, poor navigation and unknown waters. Instead, state-of-the-art expedition vessels cross the Passage in just two days to reach the Antarctic peninsula. 

While safety is at the heart of any expedition making the trip, this doesn’t mean the journey will feel easy! As I was about to discover, the notorious ‘Drake Shake’ can claim the stomachs of even the most seasoned seafarer… 

We boarded the state-of-the-art MS Roald Amundsen on the 7 November from Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city. Though I had been thrilled to explore this beautiful part of Argentina and its stunning landscapes, the spectre of sailing on the Drake loomed large for me. The mood among the six of us was brimming with excitement to get to Antarctica – but thankfully, I wasn’t the only one feeling nervous as we boarded! 

The team looks for wildlife during their crossing (UKAHT/Dale Ellis)

The Hurtigruten ship is a world away from the dismal experience a sailor would have had on the Wager or San Telmo. Sleek and modern, the ship boasts elegant lounges, floor-to-ceiling windows, restaurants, and pool and hot tub access. Dining options presented top-of-the-line food and drink, and the cabins were stylish and comfortable with amazing views. Thankfully, the crew were more than prepared for whatever the weather might throw at us while we sailed for Antarctica! 

Amazingly, the infamous ‘Drake Shake’ was in fact… a Drake Lake for us! Despite stocking up on copious amounts of seasickness medication, the sea was flat and calm as we sailed down to the Antarctic peninsula. Guests and crew alike were amazed by the stillness of the water, and we all felt exceedingly lucky to escape what is usually a very rocky crossing. We were able to spend lots of time together as a team on board, making the most of the on-deck jacuzzi and sauna while we still had access to running water!

Dale, Maggie and Aoife at Petermann Island en route to Port lockroy (UKAHT/Dale Ellis)

Staring out onto the eerily calm sea, I was just thankful to be making the trip in a vessel so comfortable and safe. A long line of seafarers have, historically, not been so fortunate, but their journeys paved the way for safer travel through this stretch of water today. I’m proud to say that the 2024/25 Port Lockroy team has survived the Drake Passage – just don’t mention to us that we have to do it all over again on the way back home!

– Aoife McKenna, Museum Manager, Port Lockroy