Sailing a copper barque around Cape Horn
Even today, sailors consider Cape Horn the Everest of sailing. “The ocean is always trying to kill you” is the famous quote from Maiden skipper Tracey Edwards. How much more intimidating was it back in the 19th century with a square rigger, limited provisions and nobody to rescue you?
Yet hundreds of sailors set out from Swansea in copper barques, laden with coal, heading for Chile and the copper mines to bring back ore for smelting in Swansea. Including my great-great grandfather, John Clement. Here’s what was involved in that eight-month round trip, and all the hazards to negotiate.
The copper barque
Built in Swansea, Glasgow or Newfoundland, the sailing ships intended for the copper route were usually barques, with three masts, square rigged with a selection of foresails to help them sail into the wind. Wooden hulls were sheathed in copper to discourage barnacles in tropical seas. Many, like Kildonan, a 177-foot, 650-tonne barque skippered by my ancestor, were built with iron hulls for strength. And fitted with so called “Swansea trunking” to keep the dense cargo of copper ore centred in the hold.
The role of a Master
The Master was hired by the shipowner, and from 1850 required a certificate that they had passed an examination in navigation and safety, as well as having at least five years sailing experience. The Master took full responsibility for the sail plan, navigation and maintenance of the ship while at sea, as well as hiring and provisioning the crew, and negotiating return cargoes in foreign ports. A typical fee was £15-20 per month, but Masters could also do some trading on their own account. A Master had to be a seasoned sailor, strong leader and something of an entrepreneur.
The crew
A copper barque would be crewed by fifteen to twenty men, with a First Mate, Second mate, Bosun, Carpenter and Cook, plus able seamen, ordinary seamen and a couple of teenage apprentices. Swansea crews were a mix of nationalities, with many signing up for back to back voyages, unwilling to spend too much time on land. At sea, there was a watch system, with different watches working or resting on a four-hour cycle.
Provisions
The Master was responsible for provisions on the journey, which would include salt pork and fish, dried peas, rice, potatoes, tea, coffee, sugar, butter and the dreaded ship’s biscuits. Plus lime juice to prevent scurvy. Many ships carried livestock, such as goats or chickens, to consume on the voyage. The Master would also have a small medical kit, key elements including chloroform and laudanum.
Route to Chile
Ships crossed Biscay, then headed south, with a possible stop in Cape Verde for provisions. Progress could be slow in the calm of the Doldrums, then the trade winds would take them down the coast of Brazil and Argentina. Leaving the Falkland Islands to port, they would rig their heavy Cape Horn sails and enter the Southern Ocean, also known as the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties.
Cape Horn hazards
Storms rage around the Southern Ocean, with no major land masses to interrupt them. A ship sailing east to west must beat against the wind. Even a modern ocean racer finds this challenging, but a square rigger cannot sail as tight on the wind so is forced into a lengthy zig-zag to cover the 1500 miles from safe water in the Atlantic to safe water in the Pacific. This could take four to six weeks, often longer. Straying too far south increased the risk of encountering icebergs, while hugging the rocky coast risked holing the hull. Extreme cold iced the rigging and sailors had to be lashed to the ship in case of waves washing over the deck.
Shipowners and sailors alike minimised the risks of the passage, but one ship in twenty did not make it home. And many individual crew were lost, swept overboard. Dense fog was another hazard, and during a storm, waves could combine to form a “greybeard” or mega-wave, that could rise as high as the mast and scupper a ship. The outward cargo of coal was not only heavy but ran the risk of spontaneously combusting while on the passage, fatal on a wooden ship.
Arrival in Chile
Once past Drake’s Passage and into the Pacific, the weather calmed and it was a simple run up to Valparaiso, or the nearby copper mines of Coquimbo. The bays were crammed with ships, but the towns were basic, just trading posts, with multiple bars and brothels for the sailors. The mines lay inland, where local miners excavated the ore by candlelight, carrying baskets up ladders and loading them onto mules to carry to the port. The return journey, heavily laden with dense copper ore, was equally fraught with danger, as the following waves could swamp a ship from the stern.
Cape Horners
Back in Swansea, those old salts who had survived the copper run to Chile were venerated as Cape Horners, holding forth in public houses spinning tales of danger.
Further reading/viewing
The Swansea Copper barques and Cape Horners by Joanna Greenlaw
The Cape Horners Club by Adrian Flanagan.