 |
Antarctica - Breaking The Last Frontier
|
| Posted by Jerome Konen on 05/03/05 |
  |
 |
| Sailing back to Ushuaia |
 |
| Photo by Jerome Konen |
| Leaving the Antarctic Peninsula. |
|
|
|
|
05 March 2005 - We left Melchior Islands the 2nd of March at about 5:00pm. Once we have been outside the sheltered islands, the rough wind dictated the rules. A breaching Humpback Whale in the veil of the evening sunlight was the closing act of an unforgetable voyage to a pristine world.
An hour later, the brutal wind conditions made us clear, once more, why this continent has been stayed undiscovered for so long.
The following days we all spent mostly in a horizontal position, lying in our beds and hoping it couldn't be worse. One horrible night followed the other. I haven't been really seasick until now, but slowly I feel the difference coming up. So, never say never.
In the morning of the 5th March, the wind becomes even stronger but SW, more favorable to the course of the Kotick, accelerating the boat to 9-10kt. And when you distinguish the Cap Horn from the distance, you know this torture will have an end the next day.
Now we start to realize how remote this last and most beautiful continent is located, a place so different to anything else on this planet - Antarctica. Making this place on earth so difficult to access, having all this
strain and tough work to get there keeps this last, most beautiful and pristine part of the world be spared of further exploitation. At least for a while.
Let's keep Antarctica, the white continent, our last place for real adventure.
|
|
| Last day before leaving Antarctica (02/03/05) |
 01 March 2005 - The last stop at Melchior Islands was one of these rainy days again, remembering the arrival conditions at the same place. I still can't believe Antarctica is considered as the driest ... |
| Heading back for Melchior Islands (01/03/05) |
 28 February 2005 - Shortly after leaving the unhabitated station Almirante Brown in the morning, we had a look at the nearby Chilean station González Videla, deserted as well by humans but populated entirely by ... |
| Close to Paradise (28/02/05) |
 27 February 2005 - In the morning we left Pléneau Island. Right after the bay, the Kotick had to find his way through the ice covered sea, populated sporadically by Crabeater Seals. They have been ... |
| Foggy day (27/02/05) |
 26 February 2005 - Days like today are rather uncommon in Antarctica. The dramatic landscape disappears under a dense veil of fog, hiding the mountains and the ice covered horizon.
This was the last day here ... |
| Creative underwater footage (26/02/05) |
 25 February 2005 - Today we tried to do some underwater footage of Gentoo Penguins returning from feeding. The hungry chicks waiting at the shore or higher in the hills for their parents coming back ...  |
| Antarctic Landscapes (25/02/05) |
 24 February 2005 - Unfortunately days like today were exceptional during this expedition - the more we appreciate every sunshine and good weather conditions.
Expecially here in Antarctica the weather is everything but stable, winds can ... |
| Leopard Seal attacks (24/02/05) |
 23 February 2005 - 4:00pm, a Leopard Seal appears on the water surface around the boat. This one seams to show some interest in our presence. Quickly we slip into our drysuits and we get ... |
| Arriving at Pléneau Island (23/02/05) |
 22 February 2005 - The strong morning wind forced us to leave Port Charcot. For the first time we saw a countless number of icebergs floating in the sea, shining in different shades of blue. ... |
| Frustrating winds (22/02/05) |
 21 February 2005 - A bit frustrated I'm sitting here in my bed writing these words. Antarctic winds have again smashed an evening, this time on the 'Tara'.
The evening has started quite promising with a ... |
| Arriving in Port Charcot (21/02/05) |
 20 February 2005 - Port Charcot is named after the french explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot who did two explorations in Antarctica, the first voyage with the ship 'Le Français' (1903-1905) and the second voyage with the ... |
| Stuck at Port Lockroy (20/02/05) |
 19 February 2005 - The weather this morning didn't allowed us to leave - too much wind and snow again. So the days can be long, very long even in Antarctica and this not necessarily ... |
| Penguin Land (19/02/05) |
 18 February 2005 - The usual weather in the morning today, snow falling and bitterly cold. Well, I know, we are in Antarctica and the winter is right close here now.
The Gentoo Penguins colonies here ... |
| From Hell to Heaven (18/02/05) |
 17 February 2005 - At 1:30am a violent storm in Port Lockroy came up and kicked us out of the bed immediately. The iceberg we were anchoring close, was hitting the Kotick at the stern, ... |
| Leaving for Port Lockroy (17/02/05) |
 16 February 2005 - Definitely the luck is not with us regarding the weather, still rainy and windy conditions. Nevertheless we decide to leave Melchior Islands for Port Lockroy about 40nm away, South of Anvers ... |
| Catched by Leopard Seals (16/02/05) |
 15 February 2005 - We are still caught in a bay at Melchior Islands. No way to go further, too much wind, rain and snow in the surrounding channels. Despite the fact of bad weather ... |
| First day in Antarctica (15/02/05) |
 14 February 2005 - Snow has fallen on the Kotick during the night. Antarctic fur seals swimming close to the boat anchored in a nice bay at Melchior Island in between ice covered small Islands. ... |
| Arriving in Antarctica (14/02/05) |
 13 February 2005 - Around 5:00am, the next storm hit the Kotick and I was being rudely awakened. The sound of the wind was horrific with wind speeds up to 55kt.
At 8:30, suddenly a loud ... |
| The Storm (13/02/05) |
 12 February 2005 - The last night was by far the worst time I've ever spent on a boat! Already unbearable weather conditions yesterday evening, the wind started to blow even stronger at 2:00am reaching ... |
| The revenge of Drake (part 2) (12/02/05) |
 11 February 2005 - At 6:00pm this evening, the wind raised considerably to 30-35kt and increasing. 3-4m waves swapping over the deck of the Kotick that is in a varying 0-45° tilt position, making it ... |
| The revenge of Drake (11/02/05) |
 10 February 2005 - Sail was set during the night to a fresh breeze. I couldn't really sleep the whole night, too much worrying noises coming from the deck and outside of the boat.
The mood ... |
| Bye bye Ushuaia (10/02/05) |
 09 February 2005 - It's 2:30pm, we leave the harbour of Ushuaia. The Kotick is heading for Isla Nueva, marking the end of the Beagle Channel while passing along Puerto Williams. Sunshine, flat sea and ... |
| Preparing to leave Ushuaia (09/02/05) |
 08 February 2005 - Excess baggage means getting into a sweat while loading the boat. Bag after bag handling and once everything is on deck, it simply starts over again. Where shall we put all ... |
| Enjoying the end of the world (08/02/05) |
 07 February 2005 - Arriving in Ushuaia the 7 February after a 30 hours trip from the moment we left the Hotel in Paris. The weather couldn't be better here at this place, so no ... |
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook