Our aim for 20 March was to see if we could get as far south as Snow Hill Island where Nordenskjold had spent two winters with the 1903-4 Swedish scientific exploration. Even Jordi was hopeful: he has spent seven years trying and failing to get there and maybe the lack … Continue reading
We had a quiet night at Brown Bluff before heaving anchor at 0600 to head south into the Weddell Sea, where Shackleton became caught in the ice over winter. Europa passed through the narrow Fridtjof Sound: it is not always passable for ice but that morning the bergs were far … Continue reading
The geology of the Antarctic Peninsula continued to fascinate as we arrived at Brown Bluff. The bluff in question is a line of pancake rocks towering over a huge glacier to the east and a narrow rocky beach. It sits at the entrance to the Weddell Sea on the edge … Continue reading
The flooded caldera of Deception Island is known as Port Lockroy, and just inside is the wide, black arc of Whalers’ Bay. Going ashore in 35 knot wind, buffeted by hail and grit was both challenging and satisfying. I wrote then about the sensory overload: the crunch of gritty snow, … Continue reading
Half Moon Island is a caldera in the strait between Greenwich Island and Livingstone to the south. When I went on anchor watch at 0600 the ship was shrouded in mist, icebergs just visible drifting past the bay. Snow was falling, bringing that characteristic hush. We made an early start, ashore … Continue reading
After Yankee Harbour we travelled the six miles to Fort Point on the south easterly side of Greenwich Island. It’s obviously named after its rocks, and it wouldn’t be out of place guarding a strategic river crossing in the Seven Kingdoms. The rocks are piled up in basalt slabs from … Continue reading
I finally recovered from seasickness enough to stand my watch our very last night in the Drake. It was bitterly cold and pitch dark at at 1900 when I went on deck. A big swell was still running, so Europa was pitching and bouncing around. It is hard to take … Continue reading
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
The stretch of water between Cape Horn and the reaching finger of the Antarctic Peninsula is Drake’s Passage, or ‘the Drake’ in onboard shorthand. It has a fierce, scary reputation, as Chichester’s words explain. The passage is named after Sir Francis Drake. He tried to sail East to West round … Continue reading
It’s about 90 nautical miles from Puerto Williams to Cape Horn; my little chartlet is not necessarily our exact route but gives you a good idea. We left in a glorious sunset across the Strait, with Laurits, one of the crew, replacing the baggy winkles on the mizzen boom topping … Continue reading
