Making between seven and eleven knots over the ground, Europa is charging up the Scotia Sea, that bit of water ringed by the Cape, the Falklands, South Georgia and the archipelagos of the Peninsula and South Shetlands. We have covered some 200 miles, almost all under sail, in the 26 … Continue reading
The plash and splash and roar of the water is everywhere: from whispers to chitchat to full rage, the surf breaking on the hull and across the waves. No rhythm, a broken step, swell after swell of broken, humpbacked walls of water. From the bows, a little distance, but on … Continue reading
Europa is named after a young princess for whom Zeus, as was his habit, felt an overwhelming desire. He turned himself into a white bull and behaved so sweetly she climbed on his back. He plunged into the ocean and carried her across the sea to Crete. One of the … Continue reading
We have arrived at South Georgia after a very fast passage conducted entirely under sail. The first land was sighted at 0740 and we are now close to the island. Shortly we will anchor at Elsehul, and after lunch plan to go ashore. 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
Degrees: on Sunday we reached our furthest south. My screenshot chart records us at 64 degrees, 12.518 minutes. Beyond us ice stretches for thousands of kilometres, to 90 south and as far again beyond. Degrees of longitude and latitude locate us with precision, pin us to the planet. Long before … Continue reading
We are slowly heading south through the Weddell Sea towards Snow Hill Island. The sun is shining and the sea is coagulating into pack ice around us. Icebergs glitter from here to the horizon and the volcanic cone of Cockburn Island is about a mile away to port. The engine … 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
