Rough seas

"Some waves are just too big for a small ship, even with the most experienced sailors. " Yachtsman at Cape Horn

Since people first took to the open seas, they have risked disaster from high waves and winds, fog, hidden rocks and reefs, and other ships. One of the most treacherous journeys is that around Cape Horn. This most southern point of South America juts out into Drake Passage - a narrow sea connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Fierce storms are common and the sea is always cold. The Dutch sailor, Willem Cornelis Schouten, was the first to sail around the Cape in 1616. In the great days of sailing, this journey was an all-important link between the Pacific and the Atlantic, and hundreds of ships were wrecked attempting it. Today, the lighthouse at Cape Horn marks a largely uninhabited area, and plays a crucial role.

One of the first lighthouses was built in 280 BC at Alexandria in Egypt, to guide sailors journeying across the Mediterranean Sea. Lighthouses have been used ever since to guide ships in storms and to help the crew avoid hidden rocks. Sometimes people called wreckers used to light beacons on cliff tops. Thinking that they were lighthouses, sailors would take the wrong course and crash against the rocks, leaving the cargo to be looted by the wreckers. Today's lighthouses are equipped with foghorns and radio beacons to help ships navigate safely in all weathers.

Tropical storms

"The people of Acapulco were not used to getting hurricanes and didn't know what to expect." Red Cross Official, 1997

A severe tropical storm - called a hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon, depending on where it occurs - is a roaring vortex of wind which moves across the sea at speeds of up to 360 km/h (220 mph). The winds are so strong that anything in their path risks being destroyed.

In October 1997, Hurricane Pauline hit the holiday resort of Acapulco, Mexico - a town unused to hurricanes, in some areas, 50 cm (20 in) of rain fell in less than 24 hours, causing massive flooding and mudslides. More than 400 people were killed. Relief workers struggled to reach the mountainous and remote areas which had felt force of the hurricane. Food, temporary housing and even 20,000 comfort kits (including toothpaste and brushes) were rushed in, and the clean-up operation was immense. For weeks, people wore paper face masks to protect against clouds of brown dust caused by the dried mud scraped up among the debris.

Tsunamis

"The wave, like an enormous hand crumpling a long sheet of paper, crushed the houses one by one." Eye-witness, tsunami in Chile, 1960

In 1960, an earthquake in Chile started a tsunami that swept across the Pacific to Japan. Huge waves washed over many coastal towns, destroying 50,000 houses and killing hundreds of people.

Tsunamis are huge waves up to 30 m (100 ft) tall which are set off by underwater volcanoes or earthquakes. Scientists use earthquake-monitoring devices called seismographs to predict when a tsunami will hit a particular coast.

The waves can travel at 800 km (480 miles) per hour and are devastating when they reach shallow water. They crash onto the land, washing people, animals, homes and cars away - no sea wall is high enough to stop them. The power of tsunamis is so great that, in 1692, one that hit Port Royal in Jamaica threw ships onto the tops of buildings. It is said to have moved mountains and created huge splits in the earth which swallowed people whole.

>>>next