Ice strains, cracks and sometimes breaks, under the burden, slips and slides, does not stay in place, does not stay still.Glaciers, like poems, appear solid, inevitable, perfect at their heart, but are not. Impermanent ice weathers like epigraphs in the graveyard, words written on the changing world. Rivers flow, scouring … Continue reading
Antarctica has no borders. It is a shared space, a place of peace and science. Those institutions which impose borders shelved them in 1957, and the first three articles of the Antarctic Treaty commit all signatories to peace, science and collaboration. It was fitting therefore that the artists Lucy and … Continue reading
Europa slipped her lines just as it got dark in Punta Arenas. We manoeuvred out past HMS Protector who had tied up behind us. We were to see her again before too long.The chartlet below is not necessarily our actual course through the maze of islands at the southern fringe … Continue reading
I’ve commented before that so many human-made places in the far South are ugly buildings sitting in magnificent landscapes. We called at Esperanza station in Hope Bay, on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula: it’s a busy research base and a stamp of Argentina’s territorial claims, a scatter of red corrugated … Continue reading
Europa entered the islands of South Georgia on Monday after an astonishing run from Elephant Island. We sailed all of it in a kind, steady 25-35 knots westerly to northwesterly, sometimes with a steep swell, averaging over 170 nautical miles every 24 hours. Most often, ships head for the north/east … Continue reading
Europa is sashaying her way northeast, almost flat now as the sea has calmed after 48 hours of steep heel. The sun is shining and glasshouse dolphins have come to check us out. All is peaceful, and many people are painting eggs for tomorrow. From Sweden to Greece, it seems, … Continue reading
Yesterday, Tuesday, we visited Penguin Island – the one just south of King George Island back in the South Shetlands. There are several others, dating from the times when penguins were a handy food source for sailors, marked as a place to refill your hold with salted meat. This one … Continue reading
The northern part of the Weddell Sea is called the Erebus and Terror Gulf. Over a decade before Shackleton came here in Endurance, it earned the second part of its name. Otto Nordenskjold was a Swede (and Finnish too). Inspired by the discoveries of the south he put together a … Continue reading
It is 0620 here. We put our clocks forward an hour last night so, while we are anchored just meters off the Antarctic Peninsula at 56 degrees 52″ west, we are now on South Georgia time. The sun is rising over the hills to our east (which I think are … Continue reading
It turned out that waiting at Deception Island was a good move. At 0400 Europa weighed anchor and we left to cross the Bransfield Strait. The crew had told us it could be rough, even calling it a mini-Drake, so everyone was a little bit apprehensive. Instead Antarctica rewarded us … Continue reading
