From Publishers Weekly
Even landlubbers may recognize Cape Horn as the Americas' southernmost tip. Between this crag of rock and Antarctica lies the Drake Passage, whose waters are the planet's most consistently violent. Of a trip through these latitudes, sailors warned, "Below 40 South there is no law, below 50 South there is no God." Murphy, a mystery writer and nautical journalist, sailed there from Ushuaia, Argentina, in a 53-foot sloop and carefully points out that he only visited the island rather than sailing around it. He revels in the tales of those who made the entire trip, however, and spends much time vividly recounting their adventures, found in old books with thrilling titles like The World Encompassed and A Two Years' Cruise off Tierra Del Fuego. Nautical buffs will find some of these yarns familiar: Darwin's South American voyages aboard HMS Beagle were the subject of last fall's Evolution's Captain, by Peter Nichols, and Murphy's version adds little to the story beyond subtle interpretive differences. Another chapter touches upon the U.S. Navy's South Seas Exploring Expedition, chronicled at length by Nathaniel Philbrick in Sea of Glory (also published last fall). Yet such narrative retreads are offset by the details of Murphy's own voyage (his desire to explore almost set off an international incident with the Chilean government). As exciting as Murphy's historical yarns are, it's always a treat to return to him and his crew as they brave the elements at the end of the earth. Maps. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Cape Horn is the southernmost point of South America, in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Murphy, a novelist and journalist, sailed to Cape Horn in 2000. He chronicles the history of the cape and describes in detail the many ships that have made the voyage, battered by the unique weather with its treacherous winds. Francis Drake and Robert FitzRoy are two of the many explorers whose voyages Murphy recounts here. (FitzRoy was the captain of the Beagle and Charles Darwin was its most famous passenger.) Much of the book deals with Murphy's own trip to Cape Horn. In vivid prose, he describes the ship and observes and wonders about birds and other animals; he makes readers experience the island wilderness as if firsthand, and feel for themselves the driving rain and wind that he encountered. The book will interest those looking for an adventure but too frightened to actually make the trip. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
With the heart of a novelist and the salty blood of a sailor, Dallas Murphy gives a rousing account of one of the most treacherous and storied spots on earth. For as far back as he can remember, Dallas Murphy has been sea-struck. Since he began to read, "besotted by salt-water dreams and nautical language," he studied the lore surrounding a place of mythic proportions: the ever-alluring Cape Horn. And after years of dreaming--and sailing--he finally made his voyage there. In this lively, thrilling blend of history, geography, and modern-day adventure, Murphy shows how the myth crossed wakes with his reality. Cape Horn is a buttressed pyramid of crumbly rock situated at the very bottom of South America--55 degrees 59 minutes South by 67 degrees 16 minutes West. It's a place of forlorn and foreboding beauty, one that has captured the dark imaginations of explorers and writers from Francis Drake to Joseph Conrad. For centuries, the small stretch of water between Cape Horn and the Antarctic peninsula was the only gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and it's a place where the storms are bigger, the winds stronger, the seas rougher than anywhere else on earth. Rounding the Horn is the ultimate maritime rite of passage, and in Murphy's hands, it becomes a thrilling, exuberant tour. Weaving together stories of his own nautical adventures with long-lost tales of those who braved the Cape before him--from Spanish missionaries to Captain Cook--and interspersed with breathtaking descriptions of the surrounding wilderness, the result is a beautifully crafted, immensely enjoyable read.


About the Author
Dallas Murphy is a novelist, essayist, and journalist. Four of his books featuring the hard-boiled sleuth Artie Deamer were recently optioned by Columbia Tristar Television. He has written about sailing for Offshore Magazine, Sail, Sailing, Cruising World, Yachting World, and Outside. He lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Literally, Cape Horn is a buttressed pyramid of crumbly rock, standing 425 meters above the sea at the very bottom of South America -- 55 degrees 59 minutes south by 67 degrees 16 minutes west. Metaphorically, however, Cape Horn stands for the ultimate in ocean violence. There is no other land to the east, none to the west -- all the way around the world. To the south, there is only Antarctica. The water in between rises up in chaos when Force 10 storms roll in from the west. For centuries, to round the Horn stood as the supreme test of sailors and ships. It still does. While treacherous conditions were enough to secure its place in legend, a geographical accident secured its place in history. From the Arctic Circle to the sub-Antarctic, there is no natural break in the continental coastlines through which big ships could sail, except at Cape Horn. Western explorers and merchants, daredevils and missionaries, long sought to master the Cape, their will for profit and dominance wreaking havoc on those already there -- an indigenous (and unclothed) population of marine nomads called the Yahgan, one of the simplest cultures ever to live on earth. In the austral autumn of 2000, aboard a 53-foot steel sloop called Pelagic, Dallas Murphy sailed down by the Horn. He weaves stories of his own nautical adventures together with tales of those who braved Cape Horn before him, from Francis Drake to Charles Darwin, and breathtaking descriptions of the surrounding wilderness. The result is a beautifully crafted, immensely enjoyable expedition.

FROM THE CRITICS

Mark Lewis - The Washington Post

Rounding the Horn is in part the story of Murphy's trip, but it's also a hugely entertaining history of this beautifully desolate region, from the days of Magellan to the windjammer era, which petered out after the Panama Canal opened in 1914. Murphy's breezily written digressions encompass such staples of Cape Horn lore as the New England whalers, the naval explorers, the China clippers and the local Yahgan natives in their bark canoes.

Publishers Weekly