Camping on the Antarctic Continent

Friday, January 22, 2016 - Travel Day 14, Expedition Day 6, Damoy Point in Darien Bay

Today if the weather clears, we will be camping tonight.  This morning however is not looking promising.  Our land exploration has been canceled because of the snow and wind.  Instead we are Zondiac cruising Damoy Point in Darien Bay where we have been enjoying beautiful icebergs, splitting, calving, and cracking.

With the mountain in front of us and large glacier shelf in front of that, we skirted across the flank gazing up at a wall of glacier ice 100 meters high creeping toward the sea.  Once again we enjoyed seeing crabeater seals, large icebergs, and Gentoo pengins, along with an abandonded  airfield high on a ridge (which we really couldn's see) and Argentine buildings and radar station.

This afternoon we are off to Port Lockroy, a rocky island adjacent to the continent. This is generally the last stop north of the circle for most cruise boats. The Port is the headquarters for the United Kingdom's Antarctic Trust.  Because of the number of guests that come through here, there is quite a well equipped gift shop, and a post office from which to mail Antarctic cards.  They also have a courtesy passport stamp to document your stop.  We sent some post cards off, but don't expect to receive them right away...they'll go via England.  Could be up to 8 months!

 As the boat left Port Lockroy, the clouds were closing in behind us to the south, but the vistas in front us were opening up with glimpses of  blue sky and sun light.  We traveled through an area called Neumayer Pass where glacers touch down on the sea, and soaring snow covered mountains reach up through the clouds.  We enjoyed the breath taking views as we headed to an area called Paradise Bay.  If the conditions are conducive, campers will disembark for a night on the ice.

As it turned out, the conditions were conducive, and we gathered up our bivy sack bedrolls.  It's windy so we are dressed for wet weather as we board the Zodiac, after dinner around 9:30 pm.  It is still light, and will remain dusky before the sun rises after midnight.  When we arrive on Paradise, we scamper up a slope with a a gentle knoll that slopes leeward.  The snow from the last snow fall (today), is about 1-2 feet thick.  It's light, dry, and easily packs down with some stomping.

Russ and I stomp down 6+ foot rectangles, build up some side/headwall wind barriers with packed snow, lay out our sleeping gear, make a pit stop in our Antarctic privy (bucket, behind a snow wall, not as cold as I thought and with a fabulous glacial view), hike back to our sleeping area, take some photos, and tug off our boots and outer wear, stow gear under or in the sleep sack with us.  By this time, it is almost 11:00 pm and it is still light.  We stand on top of our bivy bags in our socks, step into our fleece liner, jumping up and down and pulling it high over our heads, and then sitting down and worming our way into the narrow opening of our bivy sacks, pulling the sack over our heads, and and yes falling to sleep..

I had lots of layers on and also brought additional layers that were in a dry bag. Since this was a soft bag, it worked great as an additional pillow.  I also had with me my fleecy, blowup airline neck pillow, that I blew up part way.  Between these two cushy bundles,, I was able to get into some relatively comfortable positions, and slept until 4:30 when other campers started socializing.  Then I dozed for a another hour before mustering the courage to get out of the warmth of my sleeping bag and  repeat the process of worming out of the sack and putting on the outer gear in the reverse order in which I took them off.

We packed up our gear, boarded the Zodiacs, and were back aboard the Diamond by 6:30 am, just in time for a hot shower, change of clothes, and a cup of coffee before breakfast.

All is Well with the Worrall CAMP R's in Antarctica.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via Satellite Phone using RedPort Email

Getting Ready To Camp with the Penguins

Thursday, January 21, 2016 - Travel Day 13, Expedition Day 5
Yalour Island 

This morning it is cold and snowing.  The visibility is quite poor, yet beautiful and the way one would expect Antarctica to be.

On the other hand it is also frustrating, as we can not see the soaring mountain cliffs rising above us in this fjord passage between Yalour Island and the continent.

Trying to gear ourselves up so that we stay warm and dry, composing and snapping photos in polar ice/snow, and wind while also protecting the camera, keeping it warm and dry in a moving zodiac is challenging.  Add in other people in yellow parkas all positioning themselves to take photos often in your sight line is an exercise in extreme frustration.

Gloves on, glove off, lens cap on , lens cap off, steamed up glasses.  Look left, look right, the head turns the parka hood doesn't so one must rotate the entire body in the Zodiac.  Up on the seat, down on the knees, wipe the snow out of the lens.  It certainly gives one deep respect for professional National Geographic photographers who wait months and years with patience and through inclement conditions to take a shot.

While we explored this morning, we saw more Crabeater Seals and a few more Adelie Penguins.  This afternoon we will be moving into Gentoo Penguin rookeries on Petermann Island.

Petermann Island - PM Excursion was quite interesting.  We had an opportunity to disembark from the Zodiacs and get up close and personal with the Gentoo Penguins.  When nesting in the spring, the first flock of Penguins to arrive climb to the highest prominence of rocks where the sun has melted the seasonal snow and make this their nursery.  Late arriving penguins lay their eggs and foster their chicks at the lower elevations.  They are closer to the water.

The penguins in the higher areas have quite a hike up the hill and then look like they are having great fun sledding down to the water, taking turns with their mate in keeping the chicks warm and fed.  Snowy slopes are covered with penguin highways.

The mortality rate for chicks is about 40-50%.  If they are born too late in the season, they may not develop their warm, water proof feathers before winter sets in and their parents leave them.  Some of the feeding chicks are very small and the likelihood of their ultimate survival is slim.

While we were out an about, we saw a cruising sailboat gliding through the snow and mist.

It is so nice to be down here in a warm ship where we can leave dodging icebergs, anchoring, anchor watch, ship's maintenance to the crew.  The downside, is moving on whether you want to or not.

When we returned to the Diamond, the campers (that's us) were issued our camping equipment.  Tomorrow if the weather is fair it will be our first opportunity to camp on the continent.  Our gear consisted of a water proof bivy sleep sack or swag, a foam sleeping mat that goes inside, along with a down s leeping bag and fleece liner....no tents.  We will be sleeping on the ice like the seals.  Can't say this sounds comfortable, but it's a once in a lifetime experience, so we are going for it.

We will leave after dinner aboard the boat, spend the night ashore, and return the following morning before breakfast.  No food, fires, cooking or  remnants of humans are left on the continent.  If one must relieve himself, there is a bucket that is brought back on board.  I think I will stop drinking liquids after lunch.  Dropping your drawers in Antarctic weather outside sounds a bit chilling.

We have been told, that we will only camp if the weather is fair tomorrow.  When we pulled anchor and headed out of LaMere Pass, some of the expedition team heard and saw a minke whale blow (we didn't) and saw some leopard seals on an ice float (we did).  Usually, the scenery here is magnificent, today we can hardly see 50 feet in front of us as the snow and wind blows about.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Antarctica

________________________________________________________________
Sent via Satellite Phone using RedPort Email

Crossing and Below the Antarctic Circle

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - Travel Day 12, Expedition Day 4

A pervasive dark gray cloud  that shrouded the sun created a stunning contrast with white and blue green icebergs in the morning light.  The wind was nearly non-existent as we boarded our Zodiacs for the AM expedition.  Today we set foot on land in Antarctica below the polar circle.

The plan this morning is to cruise through the ice fields and visit the now closed British Base 12 station on Detaille Island in the Lallemand Fjord, Loubet Coast, 66 52 S, 66 48 W in Crystal Sound that was closed in 1959 and has remained completely intact as if the men had just left.

 It is a historical sight and a part of the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust.  It is an authentic step back in time and presentment of the harsh and dreary conditions of living in Antarctica.  We took the coordinates and plan to register a world cache (virtual) here.  It will probably be the most remote and infrequently found cache in the world.  

Before we got to the base station we saw some more Adelie penguin colonies, one with some chicks, numerous cormarands, and impressively large icebergs, polar sculptures in a frozen wonderland.  The penguins are incredibly funny and fun loving creatures, hopping from rock to rock, sliding down the slopes like slippery, plump pillows, and porpoising through the water.

When we landed at the station, we had to scramble up some rocky outcroppings to the snow field.  After crossing Drake's Passage and cruising in dinghies for two days, it took a few minutes to regain our land legs.  We brought our own walking sticks, but the expedition team had a stack of them.  We were happy to have them as we trudged up the ice field to the station and further up to the top of the hill for some exceptiona l views of the fjord where the sun was not visible, but the golden light shone through the thinner clouds and illuminated some of the glacial fields.

When we returned to the Ocean Diamond, we watched the second half of Endurance, the story of Shackleton and his crew.  This is an amazing story, but even more so watching it here after visiting the base station and experiencing just a fraction of a the chill in a summer climate.

After lunch our second excursion was in the same fjord.  We were told from the onset that it would be highly improbable to see any Emperor Penguins.  This is generally not a local that they are found, but surprise!

The expedition team was jubilant because for many of them this was their first time seeing the Emperors with the rest of us. In total we saw 4 Emperor penguins that stand about a meter and half high and are three times the size of the little Adelies.  The big boys were molting and have perfected the art of standing completely still.

I got a pretty funny picture of one of the penguins bending his neck backward, his head disappearing behind his back.  From my camera perspective, he looks headless.  We laughed aloud when we saw it!

Hey!  Has anyone seen an extra head?

 We also had the opportunity to see an adolescent elephant seal,

 and of course a lot more weather sculpted icebergs.  By the time we returned from our PM excursion the wind had picked up and we were happy to board the ship.  Once the Zodiacs were hoisted on deck and everyone was accounted for, the Diamond made her way out to sea.  The captain had hoped to take the inner passage, but the wind was coming from the continent, and it was milder outside the passage and the lee side of Adelaide Island.  Even at that, the wind was blowing 45 knots on our starboard side and we were listing 10-15 degrees to port.

Russ and I went up to the bridge and were glad we were not in charge of navigating in these conditions.  The snow was falling, the wind was blowing, the the crew was dodging icebergs, 2 degrees port, 5 degrees starboard, 1 degree port......at about 12 knots per hour.  We could hear the hull hitting some of the small bergs and crunching along the side.  Yep time to go to bed and pull the covers over our heads.  By tomorrow morning we will be above the Antarctic Circle.

All is Well With The Worrall Travel R's in Antarctica

________________________________________________________________
Sent via Satellite Phone using RedPort Email