Antarctic Brag

No story of touring Antarctica would be complete without the bragging rights associated.

  1. I slept on the ice. Bruce and 44 other silly souls did too:
  2. I landed on the real Antarctica, along with all the passengers:
  3. We travelled 1695 Nautical Miles, crossing the Drake Passage and cruising the Gerlache Strait.
  4. Our log book tells the story We did the Drake:
     Date Site Position Weather Activity Details & Comments
    01/31/18 Ushuaia 54° 48’ 57 S
    68° 18’ 04 W    		 Wind: S 2; Sea: Rippled. Vis Good; Overcast
    Temperature: 12° C    		 B Captain’s welcome cocktail, safety drills, hotel and staff briefings, started sailing.
    02/01/18 At Sea 57° 36’ 36 S
    62° 39’ 81 W    		 Wind: W 6; Sea: Moderate; Vis Good; Over-cast
    Temperature: 10°C    		 S Great bird watching out on deck, moderate seas, lectures.
    02/02/18 Aitcho Islands 62° 24’ 81 S
    59° 44’ 62 W    		 Wind: W 5-6; Sea: Smooth; Reduce visibility due to fog;
    Temperature: 6°C    		 L Visit to Barrientos and Cecilia Islands. Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins, Southern Elephant Seals, Giant Petrels nesting.
    02/03/18 Danco Island, Errera Channel 64.43.80S
    62.36.50W    		 Wind: Var 1; Sea: Calm; Vis Good; Overcast
    Temperature: 2°C    		 L ZC SK Gentoo Penguin Colony and hike to the top of the island. Beautiful landscape and icescape of the Errera Channel surrounded the island.
      George’s Point 64° 39’ 42 S
    62° 38’ 71 W    		 Wind: NNE 4; Sea: Smooth; Vis Good; Over-cast
    Temperature: 8°C    		 L ZC SK Gentoo Penguin colony on Ronge Island overlooking the Gerlache Strait. Slippery but good hike to an overlook and great Zodiac cruising around the land-ing site
    02/04/18 Lemaire Channel, Furthest South 65° 05’ 48 S
    63° 59’ 69 W    		 Wind: WSW 1; Sea: Smooth: Vis Good: Sunny
    Temperature: 18°C    		 SC Gorgeous Day! Beautifully calm waters and sunny skies. Unable to enter Pleneau Bay because of thick ice conditions.
      Port Charcot, Booth Island 65° 03’ 52 S
    64° 00’ 96 W    		 Wind: E 1: Sea: Calm: Vis Good: Sunny
    Temperature: 3°C    		 L ZC SK Zodiac Cruise and Kayak in the iceberg garden, hike to Charcot’s overwintering site on Booth Island. Min-ke Whale and Leopard Seal sightings were the icing on the cake.
    02/05/18 Base Brown,
    Paradise Harbor    		 64° 53’ 50 S
    62° 51’ 80 W    		 Wind: 0; Sea: Calm; Vis Good; Sunny
    Temperature: 2°C    		 L ZC SK Visit to Brown Base, hike to a nice overlook and bum slide. Gentoo Penguin Colony. Zodiac cruise and kayak into Skontorp Glacier.
      Goudier Island, Port Lockroy
    Jougla Point Wiencke Island    		 64° 50’ 00 S
    63° 29’ 90 W    		 Wind: E 4; Sea: Rippled; Vis Good; Overcast
    Temperature: 2°C    		 L SK Visit to the British Antarctic Survey’s Historic Base A. Opportunity to tour the small museum, post a card, and buy gifts. Visit to Jougla point to see a Blue-Eyed Shag colony, whale bones.
    02/06/18 Telefon Bay, Port Foster,
    Deception Island    		 62° 59’ 60 S
    60° 34’ 00 W    		 Wind: N 5; Sea: Smooth; Moderate Vis: Over-cast
    Temperature: 4°C    		 L ZC Sail into and landing on the shores of a collapsed caldera of an active volcano. Atmospheric landing and a hike up to volcanic crater. Polar Plunge!!
    02/07/18 At Sea 60° 00’ 68 S
    64° 08’ 55 W    		 Wind: NNW 8; Sea: Very Rough; Partly Cloudy
    Temperature: 7°C    		 S Very rough seas all day. Great lectures about Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton. A lecture on polar living and a lecture on women in Antarctica.
    02/08/18 At Sea 00° 00’ 00 S
    00° 00’ 00 W    		 Wind: NW 7-8; Sea: Very Rough; Vis Good
    Temperature: 7°C    		 S Rough seas, Beaufort scale 9 overnight. Lectures and acoustic set by Blaise during a transit around Cape Horn and into the calmer water of the Beagle Channel
      Ushuaia 54° 48’ 57 S
    68° 18’ 04 W    		 Wind: WSW 5; Sea: Moderate; Vis Good
    Temperature: 8°C    		 B Enjoying the scenery and smells of vegetation in the Beagle Channel. Blaise sends us off with one final night of music in the PBB.
    02/09/18 Ushuaia 54° 48’ 57 S
    68° 18’ 04 W    		 Wind: W4; Sea: Choppy; Vis Good; Mostly Sunny
    Temperature: 13°C    		 B Disembarkation, Farewell and Safe Travels