As we beat toward the tip of South America, the sun-doused warm days turned unmistakably colder. Every morning travelers looked bulkier with added layers of attire. Shearling fleece tosses supplanted the striped ocean side towels gracing the parlor seats on outside Deck 11.

We sipped Bailey’s Irish Crème-laced café lattes while snuggled up in the blankets and used binoculars to look up for albatrosses. Henry Worsley, on day 66 of his singular battle against the mainland’s frozen surface and desolate sharpness, knew none of these joys and we remained unaware of his excursion.

We had to cross Drake’s Passage, also known as “The Waterway That Makes You Wish You Were,” in order to reach the Land That Wants You Dead.

The roughest seas and stormiest weather on the planet can be found along a 500-mile stretch of ocean from Cape Horn to the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where the Atlantic and Pacific meet.

More than 20,000 mariners have lost their lives attempting to outsmart these tricky waters. In any case, it’s the best way to arrive.