Which is the best route – Magellan, Beagle, or Drake – to round S America?
The short answer is that Beagle is both the most attractive and easiest/safest. It has two towns with safe harbors (Puerto Williams & Ushuaia), dozens of safe anchorages, and very pretty mountains and glaciers. The Magellan is the big ship channel, but it is not so attractive for sail boats. It is more of a wind funnel than the Beagle, with strong westerly winds much of the time. It also has stronger currents and nastier waves. And the one town (Punta Arenas) does not have a really safe place for a sailboat – the anchorage is very exposed and the piers are ugly with a lot of trawler traffic. The Magellan could make sense if you are going west to east and only want to get through as fast as possible without stopping or seeing anything. The Drake is offshore with strong winds and big waves. It’s the option for the round the world racers and record breakers and folks going to Antarctica, but not for cruisers looking for the safest and most attractive route.
