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ROBERTO BENAVENTE MERCADO The arrival in Valparaiso on February 8th 2006 of the world’s greatest transatlantic was a memorable occasion as, not only was this the first call here of this colossus of the seas, 345 meters long and displacing 151,400 tons, but also around 2,000 passengers were disembarking and a similar number were embarking en route to ports in the North of South America and the United States of America.
One of the passengers was my friend François VECCIONACCE, an old French Cap-Hornier, whose Brotherhood is now in recession, accompanied by Doctor Alec Honey, unknown to me, who had contacted me by E-mail from Europe over a month beforehand informing me of the voyage of the two of them from Rio de Janeiro to Valparaiso following the Cape Horn route, expressing also his desire that we should meet during his brief stay in Valparaiso. In the meantime, several messages were exchanged, and it did not escape my attention that the sender – Alec Honey – wrote perfect English, not very customary among Frenchmen, who are generally reticent to use the language of Shakespeare. Moreover, I remembered that my friend VECCIONACCE spoke no English or Spanish whatsoever, only French. The arrival of the “QUEEN MARY 2” at daybreak on the anticipated day, meant that a number of interested people rose early to see the arrival of the majestic transatlantic from the hills of Valparaiso, and I also had to be up at dawn to meet my friends at the South Pacific Passenger Terminal in the early hours, as – according to what I had previously been told – they would be travelling immediately to Santiago to take the AIR FRANCE flight that night to Paris. We met around 09:00 hours, reaffirming with a warm embrace my friendship with François, who introduced me to his travelling companion, Doctor Alec Honey. There I met with my first surprise, when I found that Dr. Honey was not a physician as I thought, but a Doctor in the Arts and Literature, which gave me the impression that he was doubtless a cultured Frenchman with a command of the English language, who from that moment became interpreter for our conversations.
After locating an appropriate hotel for We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the stupendous art gallery of the Naval Club in Valparaiso and had a cup of tea there also, where Alec repeatedly asked me about the new Statutes of the Chilean Brotherhood – which now allow foreigners to join – its objectives and the requirements to become Active members of same – to have crossed the meridian of Cape Horn COMMANDING a vessel – or Collaborating Members, if they are specially interested in the objectives of the Corporation. Once back at the hotel I thought it would be a good idea to invite them to visit the Naval Country Club and taste the traditional Chilean Pisco Sour before we parted, as their trip to Santiago was programmed for the morning of the following day.
Dr. Honey transmitted my explanations to François in French, faithfully and fully interpreting whatever I explained into English. The third surprise came on finishing our second Pisco Sour. Alec stood up and said to me very seriously:
It was then when the picture became clear to me. This is why this man I thought was a Frenchman, spoke such good English… Before we said goodbye - and when the QUEEN MARY 2 was sailing from Valparaíso towards a new destination – Alec removed his blue tie with miniature albatrosses and sailing ships – emblem of the British Association – and gave it to me as a souvenir of his visit to Chile. The new Cap-Horniers paid their incorporation subscriptions, and I - who had maybe foreseen that something like this could occur - placed on their lapels the insignias of the Chilean Brotherhood: the albatross symbol under the constellation of the Southern Cross. Valparaiso, March 2006. |
My second surprise was when Dr. Honey informed me that both visitors had changed their air tickets to the following day as – after rounding Cape Horn – they had decided they could not leave Valparaiso without first visiting the Cap-Horniers Room at the Naval and Maritime Museum which, according to them, enjoys ample international prestige because of the historic testimonies exhibited there of all the countries which at one time belonged to the Amicale Internationale des Capitaines au Long Cours Cap-Horniers. Moreover, a painting is on view there showing a brigantine sailing with fair winds; a painting donated by Veccionacce when he attended the World Congress of Cap-Horniers held in Valparaiso in 1995; a donation he made to the Museum in memory of his only son, who died tragically in an automobile accident in
France.
There we again took up our conversation on the requirements to join the Chilean Brotherhood, making it clear to them that the most important requirement was to cultivate the Spirit of Cape Horn: Love of the sea and of the tradition of navigating under sail, comradeship, solidarity and loyalty, plus the commitment to emphasize, wherever they may be, that Cape Horn and all the insular territory south of the Beagle Channel belong to Chile.