Antarctica Sailing Expedition

Jan 31st 2009 Saturday

2009-01-31T14:04:00.001-08:00

Saturday 31st 2009 Port Williams Internet Cafe

(The World's Southernmost Yacht Club: The Micalvi (Port Williams) – 54*56'11 S – 67*37'00 W)

Sitting in Port Williams tied next to Pelagic Australis right next to "Club Naval de Yates Micalvi"going through the events of past month – yesterday and more. Micalvi is probably one of the best anchorages in Tierra del Fuego and the Club Micalvi is a small global village (bar) where crews from many boats around the world mingle and drink traditional Pisco Sours or other drinks. There have been many famous sailors in this small bar located on the sunken ship in the forward superstructure and the bridge of the boat. The walls are decorated by flags, burgess, photos and objects left by visiting yachts in helping with tradition of the Cafe Sport in Horta (Fayal Island – the Azores) – cited from Patagonia & Tierra Del Fuego by Giorgio Ardrizzi and Mariolina Roleo – fantastic book full of history and local knowledge of Tierra Del Fuego. I am off to town, to wonder, to take some pictures go for a walk for a bit before we'll have a BBQ in the Micalvi around 8 – 9 pm. I have a flight on the 2nd from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires and then catching a flight from BA to Auckland at about 2am on Wednesday morning. I am looking forward spending the February and its nice sunny days in New Zealand.

Day before we left we had a little party on Podorange (French boat) at the Vernadsky Station. Great fun – great people and we played guitar, dance and sang until about 7am when we went downstairs for breakfast. Got back to our boat about 7.30 in the morning. It has been long time since I stayed up all night partying like its 1999. As Podorange was leaving - one of their lines (rope) got tangled up in their propeller and they were being pushed down the shallow channel fast. Bryce the skipper had someone jump into their zodiac and run a line over to our cleat. Then we pushed the boat with our zodiacs and they were using winches to get themselves out of trouble. They quickly run another line to shore and eventually tied next to us again. Bryce had to get into drysuit and dive to cut the rope off the propeller in these freezing waters. The good news was that he was able to free the propeller however soon after he surfaced all have realized that he cut his hands while doing so. The water was so cold that he did not really feel anything until he got back up. Andrea and another lady from Podorange were able to take care of that and he will be good as new. Well – in few days nevertheless.

We took off couple of hours after that – and headed to Drake Passage to sail to Ushuaia. And by was that fun. Well – for most of us as Andrea did not feel that hot after couple of days sailing into the wind. Pretty uneventful sailing really – 3hr on 3hr sleep and then yesterday (Friday the 30th 2009) all hell just broke loose – or at least could have.

60+ knots? - what does it feel like in 60 foot Spirit of Sydney? Well it depends who you ask and where you are the boat. As we were heading up through Drake channel we had steadily increasing winds averaging on about 25 - 30 knots for last 36 hours. Right on the nose or coming from ahead of us. We were heading up on the port tack doing 3on 3off shifts as the wind and the strength of the squalls were steadily increasing. I went to bed (have not had a proper sleep in 24hr or so - as I have been thrown around in my bunk for 90% of the time) about 4hr from Cape Horn as the wind was steady at 37 - 40 knots at about 35 degree angle ahead of us. Although not sleeping I was lying in my bunk resting - understanding that we are about to enter shallows of Cape Horn within couple of hours. This is where the depth of the water will be 80 - 100 meters instead of 2000 - 3000 meters. This causes swells to be legendary at around Cape Horn (it is not unusual to see 9 - 10 meters swells around here). When all of the stuff from Phill's upper bunk on the port side of the boat came flying and landing right on my head (lower starboard bunk) I was not interested in resting any more. From the noise from above my bunk couple of hours later, I understood without the need to check that the winds are still increasing, together with the size of the swells. I went to ask if I could help but Darrel, Ian and Cath were in control of the situation fighting 60+ knots of winds and boat being bounced around like a toy. I must say that I was impressed the way it handled these winds. Never for a second I felt nervous in any way since the boat has been design to self right and come back even if we would be knocked down. It does not mean it is not dangerous s anything could break at the wrong time with the rouge swell abeam. Cath came down and we sat the nav-station pondering our best course while boys upstairs were yelling the war cries and having bit of fun getting all wet. Then I went out to check the Horn at its best for myself. Its hard to put into words what is going on when the weather is acting in this way. Its probably the best write just a little and have your imagination do the rest. At this time we have lost our wind instruments, and were not able to see what the wind was. It is 100 times better to be outside of the boat than inside while at any time - but when winds and ocean is rough there is no comparison. The whole ordeal lasted for few hours until we were able to hide in lee of (...) an island and were able to get out from the worst. Everyone one was too tired and we still had to get back to head up to Port Williams. At last the decision was made to spend a night anchoring behind an island. This was awesome as Cath prepared roasted leg of lamb with roasted potatoes and garlic. Last thing that failed us was the autopilot and since the winds have already calmed down I stayed on the helm guiding the boat to its anchorage behind the island for next few hours (20 nautical miles or so away). We all cleaned up the boat and dried our stuff as some of it got wet after the small leaks. After a great dinner and couple bottles of wine, something past midnight, I went to my bunk and slept like a baby first time in few days.

What an adventure this was. I will upload the pictures and videos when I come home and will add some commentary to pictures. Back to work and back to reality on the 9th of February – should be fully transitioned to the DBA position at work.

Sunday 25th 2009

2009-01-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

(Argentine Island (Ukraine Base - 65*14.93'S – 64*15.17'W)
Still here – quiet day, waiting for the right window to leave – probably
tomorrow. Once under way – I will not be able to write since will be
doing 3hr shifts and mostly sail or sleep. Will post when back in
Ushuaia unless we are not leaving today. I think – we should travel 5 or
so days.

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Saturday 24th 2009

2009-01-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

Saturday 24th 2009
(Argentine Island - Ukrainian Base - 65*14.93'S – 64*15.17'W)
I left yesterday's post by mentioning that we are off to Academic
Vernadsky Base after dinner. We took all the soda's and wines and
stickers and everything else we had for Ukrainians, jumped into the
zodiac and went to base where we met with couple of other yachties
(mostly French as there are 3 French sailboats down here now) and got
little tour of the base. All of the Ukrainians are fairly young the
commander is in his early 30 and all seems as people with a lots of
character and knowledge of their science field. They are famous in
Antarctica (besides other things) for being able to make great vodka.
And boy, have they delivered. Really nice tasting with no bad after
taste. Phil must have had about 15 shots and everyone else was not far
behind. Only Cath and I held back as we realized that an "able" zodiac
driver will be needed. The party went to at least 1am – lots of singing
French, Ukrainian and English songs with couple of guitars and ample of
vodka. I have noticed a little flag in their bar "Slovenska Akademia
Vied" – which is Slovak Institute of Science. I'll have to find out
when were they here and what were they doing here. Ukrainians are also
holders of the Antarctic world championship cup in football. So we
challenged them and set the game for 2pm next day. Then we shuffled our
people back to boat – Phil was already chatting up with some French
bird (girl) and trust me, he really was not using his "British
Gentleman's" way to do so at this point of the evening. We woke up late
10ish – 11ish as everyone was recovering from previous nigh, had bacon
and eggs for branch and started to prepare for our football game. The
game started about 3pm after were fashionably late and we established
the rules and the trophy (bottle of now highly sought after item of
Exclusive Vernadsky Vodka made of 1000 year old glacier water or snow).
6 on 6 and 2x10 minutes. I ended up being a goalie as I could not even
imagine running in the knee deep slushy but firm enough snow for more
than 2 minutes. The pictures were taken and the whistle was blown. Boy –
what a first half that was. I made several saves that kept us in the
game as it was 0:0 at the end of the first half. We swapped 4 people as
our team was rapidly loosing energy two minutes into the game.
Fortunately French came to the rescue and that evened out the game. Be
it as it may – this historical day will forever be written on the trophy
plate at the Ukraine Base as Phil was able to score a goal couple of
minutes before the final whistle. International team that consisted of 3
yachts beat the Antarctic Football Champions on their home turf. More
pictures were taken and the prize was given. We celebrated by sharing
our vodka with our new Ukrainian friends. After the game and tea with
went to take a look at the original British house that has been
untouched for years – and it was wonderful to see it as if it was still
fully functional base from 1970ies. We spent an hour or so and then went
for a walk on the hill behind the house. The weather has not been too
kind to us these last two days so the visibility was marginal – even
thought – it was still an amazing view, all the little islands and all
the little bays around. Hope the weather will clear tomorrow so I can
paddle around a little.

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Friday 23rd 2009

2009-01-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

(Moved from Hovgaard Island 65*06.50'S – 64*05.05'W to Argentine
Island-Ukraine Base - 65*14.93'S – 64*15.17'W)
Nice and easy morning, everyone slept really well and we woke up to
beautiful sunny day. Ian, Andrea, Phil and Cath went out for a kayak
paddle – Todd and I went out on zodiac. Darrel stayed on the boat to
move diesel from spare tanks to boats tanks and also to figure out our
problem with autopilot, and wind meter in the cockpit. I dropped Todd
off as he wanted to head out for a walk. I went out to iceberg
graveyard to find and take some pictures of an icebergs. I found a
perfect iceberg. I called it Martin Berg as no one will ever have a
chance to dispute it. I am sure I am not the first who saw it (they
were couple of yachts around – far away though) but I think I am first
who spent about couple of hours staring at it and admiring the
perfection of this antarctic glass monster. I am not going to even
bother to describe as no words in my vocabulary could describe the
perfection of this magnitude. I have taken probably 150 pictures +,
different angles, different exposure, different f-stop, different ISO
trying to capture this sad, lonely monster dying - crying deep blue
river of ice, flowing from deep within. Todd came back on VHF and asked
me if I could pick him up. He also told me no rush is needed as he still
wants to get couple of pictures of seals. "No worries Todd, I am proud
of you and will ask Cath to give you an extra cookie for dinner."- I
came back on VHF. Todd came back telling me that he loves me too and if
he did not already have a father he would want me as one. "No worries,
Todd"- I wanted to come back - "I have traveled a bit when I was back in
US – anything is possible – who knows." but I did not go there as I
don't know what relationship does Todd have with his mom and I did not
want to step over the line. When we got back in the boat we pulled the
lines and headed off to Vernadsky Base – that is occupied and managed by
Ukrainians – a bit of interesting history is that they bought it from
British who would have to spent millions on decommissioning the base for
a mere 1 British Pound. Today the Ukrainians have their studies and
research right here. What a deal!!! Cath and Darrel really like them as
they have always been great while they were down here. We got some stuff
for them from the Palmer base (stickers, soda's, some chocolates and
other goodies) as well as some stuff from us – some bottles of wine,
orange juice etc. There are 3 yachts in here that we were tided to back
up in Ushuaia. We are all heading over to the Vernadsky Base at bout 9pm
to have a little party up in their original British pub there. It will
be nice to see some other people for a change. Not that I am complaining
– just saying it should be a lot of fun – swap stories, drinking
Ukrainian vodka, and have some fun. We are cooking dinner (BBQ garlic
lamb and oven roasted potatoes – with chocolate fingers desert -Cath's
play on Tirammisu with some chocolate, rum and coffee – poor, poor us –
I know) and are hanging around the boat as it has been snowing last
couple of hours and the weather is colder than we spoiled people have
had in last few days.

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Thursday 22nd 2009

2009-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Thursday 22nd 2009
(Skontorp Cove in Paradise Harbor 64*54.20'S – 62*51.94'W to Hovgaard
Island 65*06.50'S – 64*05.05'W)
Best date to date. Hands down. Why - ? Well I love sun, wind, ocean,
sail, icebergs and mountains. I probably already said that I had an
amazing day in my other posts but nothing comes even close. First thing
in the morning 6a.m. Peter and Warwick got picked up by the boat they
are heading back with. I have to hope that they are having at least half
of a good time as we do. So we take off around 9a.m. Just about half a
mile behind Podorange (sailboat registered in england but owned by
French) and had 20 knots of wind behind us the whole time going down. We
had a little race with Podorange and I had an hour or two of hours on
the helm and was smiling the whole time. The sun, wind and water – with
a backdrop of amazing mountains raising straight up – vertically from
ocean. That and slalom between the icebergs. You dodging the icebergs
and watching your wind because at anytime you can jibe...and then you
are racing. Some of us really got into it – trimming the sails and
talking the tactics. As much excitement as those little rum races in
Auckland. Then we pulled the sails down together with Podorange and
followed them across the Lemaire Channel down to Hovgaard Island. Wow –
what an experience. You are slowly motoring through the channel full of
brash ice and iceberg forming nearly impenetrable walls of ice. I will
be correcting the sizes but I reckon the channel is not more than 300
meters wide and surrounded by mountains 3000 ft + . What a surreal place
this is. Then we barged in together with Podorange and had a beer with
them. We were encircled by what someone described as the iceberg
cemetery, where all the icebergs go to sleep. No wind – so we put down 3
kayaks and Todd, Phil and I went out for couple of hours of paddling.
The Spirit of Sydney headed off to find an anchorage on the other side
of the island. There are millions of sounds in the jungles but there
also are millions of sounds in Antarctica. Ocean swells, waves breaking
on the rocks on the beach, penguins jumping out of water barely a meter
away from the kayak, a bird flying around scouting these strange
creatures in the water. Or then there is a water dripping as it melts
off of an icebergs, the glass mountains of a forgotten world. In a
distance there is loud noise – just as a piece of iceberg falls off into
ocean or that rare noise that whale makes when breathing, when surfacing
after being submerged 2000 ft deep. Add sun that is so hot and burning
despite freezing water around, sun that shines right through the iceberg
changing the colors, making the ice so blue, so amazing and on occasion
translucent. Tonight is the first night that we had to tie the boat to 4
rocks as we are in such a shallow water bed. I am of to digest my day as
it has been one of those rare ones. It's a pity Claire is not down here
with me to share this wonderful experience.

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Wednesday 21st 2009

2009-01-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 21st 2009
(Port Lockroy - Skontorp Cove in Paradise Harbor 64*54.20'S –
62*51.94'W)
Left Port Lockroy at about 9am after successfully rescuing the radio that
was left at the hut. After breakfast we headed down Peltier Channel
(64*51,75'S – 63*30.40W) next to Thunder glacier, rounded the cape
Errera and slipped between Truant Island and Bob Island over across the
Gerlache Straight east to Bruce Island and Ferguson channel. It was one
of the cold crisp days down here and we saw couple of humpbacks whale
and several leopard seals sunning on the icebergs. Andrea and Ian got
into kayaks and paddled from the entrance of the Ferguson channel to
Paradise harbor (Skontorp Cove) and they got couple of amazing up close
encounters with the whales while paddling the kayaks. We dropped the
zodie and went over to Conesa point beach. We were walking around number
of leapard seals just lazying around barely paying any attention to us.
There was one little penguin sharing a floating iceberg with its arched
enemy (not human) the leopard seal. It is amazing to see them in such a
harmony. Just beautiful. Warwick and Peter are leaving us tomorrow – as
they will be getting on the Academic Sergey Vavilov ship to return to
Ushuaia about a week before us. Peter had one more check to do and that
was jumping into the water from iceberg. Warwick has jumped in in a
submersion suit that apparently was not working that great and then
Peter went in only with his swimsuit and gloves. Cath is preparing the
good bye dinner and one of the cruise-ships Minerva??? down here dropped
off a couple of cases of Heineken on our boat. Its good to have a real
bear for a chance. Thank you for that. I am going to be signing off now
as the BBQ and party are slowly heating up here.

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Tuesday 20th 2009

2009-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

(Palmer Base – back to Port Lockroy)
Woke up around 8 am to get ready to visit the Palmer Base at 10am. We
headed over and got the tour of the base. Then we got couple of
souvenirs and had a lunch at the base. Be it as it might – it was really
exciting as today was the inauguration of Barack Obama. We have realized
how starved we are to find out anything that is happening in the world.
I had no idea what is happening in Palestine or anywhere else as a
matter of fact. It was great to catch up with civilization and Todd and
I asked if we could watch the inauguration of Obama with the rest of the
staff at Palmer base. It was really nice to have chance to see this
hopefully big moment in the history. Obama's speech was great and it
often reminded me why I like the states. Majority of scientists down
here at the base seemed happy that Bush is out. We also wanted to
replenish our hard liqueur since Warwick is drinking it all up. Not sure
what happened to him since he got on boat but there were some radical
changes with that man. First he believes there should be a law against
eating vegetables – and yet we were able to sneak occasional carrot or
onion into his meal. He started to cook some meals with Cath and really
enjoys cleaning the dishes. He still does not want to give up his
lollies, chocolate, and tang but sine his wife and him are about to
have new baby boy he promised and is trying to eat veggies everyday. We
are currently heading back to Port Lockroy to see if we can recover one
of Darrel's lost radios. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack
but I guess Ausies never give up. About an hour ago we were able to turn
engines off and we are sailing. YEAH. At least that is a bit of fun.
Half an hour ago we saw couple of humpback whales but they only wanted
to play for 10 -15 minutes and they dived and swam away. We are off
sailing and are having another sunny, beautiful day. Oh and just a
reminder...to track the boat go to www.spiritofsydney.net and on the
right bottom should be a button that says "track spirit" - that should
have updated info with the boat's position.
Oh and just a note for Jessie? - Warwick's wife. I was only kidding
about him drinking, eating veggies and/or cooking. We also know you are
having baby girl not boy (just thought it would be funny to tease you a
little since we all sympathize with you as he has mentioned that you
read the blog.) He has no clue I am writing this as he is lying in the
bed catching up with his sleep – we all had to be up by 9am.

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Monday 19th 2009

2009-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Monday 19th 2009
(Palmer Base – .... )
So our night at the hut in Dorian bay just across from the Port Lockroy
started with a little drama. Phil and Todd headed out to reach the peak
of Jabet peak (540 meters straight up from the ocean) and Phil actually
made it at least half way through. Todd was little behind and Phil ended
up pulling Todd's jacket in the sled behind him. Then he decided to
slide and got about half way down when he stopped to adjust something.
He got off the sled and whoa.....sled is off with Todd's jacket,
speeding down across crevasses, slowing and speeding down again. Todd
watched in disbelieve as his jacket with his wallet and money headed
down the cliff. This is happening just as we arrived with the guitar and
Todd call Darell and Cath if they can check in the ocean under the
cliff. Well, Todd got lucky and they were able to retrieve everything
from the water. What makes this even funnier is that Todd is quite
particulate about his things. "Oh no please don't touch my apple
computer, it is the best in the world". Oh no please don't touch my
canon camera...it is awesome and I am so afraid something will happen to
it. So as this was going on and the sled is speeding down – Todd is just
standing there for about five minutes in disbelieve and shock. Phil is
not sure what to do – he is thinking "oh shit" he is going to kill me.
Anyways – the hut was too cool. It felt as if we were sleeping in
museum. Reading guest book dating all the way up to 1980ies. What is
really cool is that no one is allowed to sleep there unless they are on
small yacht. People from bigger ships can come and take a look but they
have to leave. Everything in the hut was old, pictures from 1970 of
people sleeping there, old cups, old provisions of food. No electricity,
just daylight and wooden hut. Really cool. We got picked up in the
morning and headed over to Palmer station. When we got here it was
Andrea's and mine cooking duty so since she did all the work last time
I ended up cooking Goulash for everyone. Andrea made an apple pie.
Couple of people went out for kayak paddle and we went out to explore
the island with elephant seals. They are so big and beautiful – and
smelly too. It would be really cool to send a picture but Warwick and I
figured out that to send a 3.5Mb picture it would cost $1.800 USD using
these rates. That is just too ridiculous. Will have to wait till I get
back to upload some pictures and hopefully some of the video. Tomorrow
we were invited to tour the Palmer base and to have a lunch with the
staff at the base.

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Sunday 18th-January 2009

2009-01-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday 18th-January 2009
(Port Lockroy – 64*49'S, 63*29W )
As much planning as we did to get out and go camping – we ended up
staying on the boat last night. We were all sitting around table after
having fun all day and chatted, while Cath and Warwick made dinner (lets
just say Warwick started with a brownies that ended up more of a brownie
volcano and charcoal BBQ sausages). After being out all day the food was
great and we were drinking vine and having fun. Because the wind was
picking up-Darrel decided to bring the boat from Dorian Bay where we
were anchored for a day, back to Port Lockroy as it was much safer to
anchor there than in Dorian Bay. After dinner we continued to have a
great evening, when we noticed through the windows that Phil took a
zodiac and was paddling towards Europa (ship) soooo quietly and with the
guilty look on his face. So we yelled at him (that he got caught) and he
started the zodiac engine and went off to Europa (to get their women- I
presume) but after what seemed like half an hour or so (its about
11:30pm at this point – bear in mind that sun does not come down and
there is plenty of daylight) he came back alone – no fun on Europa –
everyone is already sleeping or staying in their cabins.

Our crew were slowly falling asleep too – so Cath, Phillip, Warwick and I
have decided that this is a perfect opportunity to "scientifically"
study the 24hr day-light and its effect on non-indigenous people. During
our study we have discovered that people will drink 5-6 beers, whiskey,
some rum and coke, Tequila shots and Kahlua with milk drinkies. People
will listen to music of Phil's ex-girlfriend over and over and engage
in the deep conversations about solving the world migration
(immigration) crisis and other most important political and economical
(at this point more like comical than economical) problems. Four above
mentioned subjects will engage in singing, playing guitar contemplating
an exchange of Europa flag from top of the mast of their ship for a
Slovakian hockey jersey. This act of random thievery would "of-course"
be done with all the safety in mind. Fortunately – as the time went by
our subjects decided that it would not improve international
relationship between Spirit of Sydney and Europa and the plan was
eventually voted down and vote sealed by shot of tequila. Our subjects
were also aware that it was already 3-am and that people that were not
participating in the "24hr daylight study" might not be as excited about
this study as the four of us. This was confirmed by Todd who when in
process of going to head (ships term for bathroom) said:"Well – the good
thing is that you are having fun". Our subjects while continuing to get
louder (unintentionally of course-) further discussed what actions are
to be taken in order to smooth feelings of others in the morning. Four
of us discussed that we should try being really nice to everyone but
this was voted down by another beer run – listed reason: being nice to
everyone might prove to be too difficult for us. Instead we decided to
be really nice to only on person. (Peters name was mentioned). This was
to be much easier for all. The studied group has also feared that early
menace Darrel and his need to wake everyone up in mere couple/three
hours. Once again the group has proven - it is the rare antarctic 24hr
light and not the amount of alcohol that matters. Cath came out with
brilliant idea of changing all of the clocks on ship and Darrel watch by
moving the big hand of the clock back 2 hours. This – in theory – would
buy four above mentioned subjects more time to recover from the 24hr
day-light study. We have concluded our study around 2am "clock" time
(4am real time) and went into our bunks to think about what actually
went on during this study.
We woke up early in the morning (around 10 am) and no one was really mad
at us – so all is good. Now Todd, Phil, Andrea and Ian are out for a
hike while the rest of us are weathering the bad weather and wind. It is
about 3pm now and we are all but Peter (sick), Darrel, Cath and Andrea
planning to do our sleepover at huts later this evening. It is pretty
cold out there and snow is falling down.. I am sure another study is to
be conducted tonight. I – once again - am proud to be part of this
"scientific" shore gathering that will help us better understand the
behavior of homo-sapience that are taken out of their natural
environment.

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Saturday 17th-January 2009

2009-01-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

(Cuverville Island ....Port Lockroy ....)
Saturday 17th-January 2009
Woke up around 9am by the bells of Darrel who sometimes can not sleep and
likes to wake up all of us lazy buggers so that we can get out and enjoy
the day out. I made a porridge for everyone and slowly – got ready for
our next adventure. We were lucky to get another beautiful day full of
sun and fun. We were waiting for the Port Lockroy to come back to us
with an invitation to come back and visit the museum and the gift shop.
Four of us got into kayaks and paddled around the penguin rookeries,
around Europa (Ship) and then we heard our official invite over the
radios. We went inside and I was able to get my first stamp in the
passport from Antarctica. I was also able to send all the postcards (4-6
weeks delivery). Later in the afternoon we went over to Dorian??? bay
just behind the port Lockroy and met up with 3 other yachts. French
Savage – another ausie one. We got our bob sleds out and challenged
other boats to world championship in antarctic bob sledding. Another
couple – three hours of pure fun and laughs. After than I sat with
Andrea and Ian for an hour or so sat and watched the penguins. It is so
amazing, so peaceful and calm watching the little buggers walk around,
feed the babies, fix up their nests or just let them walk up to you
confused about who you are. Too cute. Tonight after dinner we are off to
land to spend a night in the old Argentinian base – today an emergency
hut. Not sure how cold it will get but we are to take plenty of liqueur
with us.

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Thursday - Friday 15th/16th -January 2009

2009-01-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

(Enterprise Island 64*33.47'S – 61*55.89'W to Cuverville Island ....)
Thursday 15th-January 2009
A Polish boat tied up to us just as we were waking up in the morning. We
got up and untied and headed up to Cuverville Island. Day started nice
and we thought we are going to have a nice day. I was excited to get
into drysuit and set up my kayak. Unfortunately – just when I sat in the
kayak the wind picked up to up to 20 knots, my rudder was unavailable as
my pedals were not set up properly and just as I have pushed off the
boat I realized I can not get good grip inside of my kayak because the
foot pedals are digging into my shins. So as I am getting blown away as
I am trying to keep my balance in meter swells and what is worse and
kind of embarrassing is that I slowly sliding into the kayak. Oh no - so
funny. So as I am doing these rookie maneuvers Peter, one of the
Canadians (and experienced kayaker)
catches up with me and he is just trying to help me out, and give me
pointers. Every now and then swell comes over and he
goes..."ohhhhhhhh-good recovery Martin". I am saying – its ok Peter no
worries, relax and enjoy the ride. So after half hour of sit up and push
up kayaking I asked Darrel to come and pick me up with the zodiac. I
climbed into zodie looking like wounded seal. Oh, well – there is always
tomorrow. I went in and warmed up a little. We anchored at the
Cuverville Island – coming in a bay full of floating icebergs, piled on
each other. An hour or so later Peter, Ian and Andrea caught up with us
– coming back from their kayak trip. Later we watched French sailboat
come into the bay right through the shallow side of the bay. Darrel
called them up on radio to warn them – just as "thum" - dull sound of
keel hitting the rock. No apparent damage done but these guys
essentially just reversed and anchored few meters further despite
Cath's warnings. Their response was "Thank you for your warnings – we
will stay right here – we are French". We look at each other and just
laughed. I had no anchor watch that night so I went to bed to get some
sleep hoping to scare of the sore throat.

(Cuverville Island ....Port Lockoroy ....)
Friday 16th-January 2009
I woke up feeling not that great today and did not go out paddling with
the morning group. As Darrel, Cath, and Phil went out on kayaks I with
help of others, pulled out the chain and moved the boat to our meeting
point some couple of miles up the channel to pick up the kayakers. Then
we headed through the Errera channel, through Gerlache Straight into
Neumayer channel to Port Lockoroy. The day was absolutely amazing, I
think the weather was the best to date. Nice, sunny and the spectacular
landscape all around for at least 5 hours. We sailed past Francaise
(9258 feet – tallest at the peninsula) into the most amazing little bay
where Port Lockoroy is located. Port Lockoroy is British historic site
located in breathtaking area surrounded by icebergs, mountains, penguin
rookeries and sea full of ice that is breaking, falling into the ocean
piece by piece – as time takes its toll on the glaciers. Phil put on the
dry suit and went for a swim – while I followed in zodiac with my
camcorder. He swam to another French sailboat anchored in the area and
asked if he could borrow a cup of sugar. They did not really get the
joke and asked him few times if he wanted sugar or sugar with hot water
etc. Kind of funny. I am looking forward tomorrow as we are to be
staying here and enjoying the whole day of fun activities weather
permitting.

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First Couple of Days 05-01-2009 Ushuaia - Cape Horn

2009-01-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Jonathan the tech support email the root password for the little asus
computer that needed some fixing done and I was able to fix the little
guy and get the file that I wrote at the beginning of the trip. I am
posting it as I just got it. These are the first few days that started
back in Ushuaia.

Jan 5th 2009 - morning
Still on the dock in Ushuaia. Couple of days in the town and few more
days in Argentina. It is past midnight and I have few minutes to reflect
on my time spent down here. Argentina is a beautiful country with few
contrasts to it. It is hard for anyone not speaking Spanish to get
through the day. Cab drivers, people in restaurants will try to take
advantage of you and charge you 2 or 3 times more than advertised price.
This has became really old really fast as I was paying more than I would
pay for similar service in New Zealand or other place. Leaving Argentina
with little bitter taste in my mouth. Lots of people who have been here
several times have mentioned that this has become a serious problem this
year. Today US dollar is about 3.5 Argentinian Pesos. Who knows what it
will be tomorrow.
Tonight everyone is on the boat. Everyone is excited and ready for the
trip. We are expecting to head out tomorrow early morning. About half
the people on the boat have only limited sailing experience. The
crossing should only take few days and tomorrow night we are expecting
to be at the anchor close to cape horn. If all is as expected we should
undertake the crossing few days later. I will update with the website
that will provide our approximate geographical position.

Jan 5th 2009 - 18:25
position:
54'56.093"S
67'37.120 W
Wind Max 22 knots
Min 03 knots
Temp. 12'C

Took off from Ushuaia at about 12.30pm after being called into office of
Argentina's naval office to clear our leaving permit. The day was great
for people who have not done much sailing in the past to either learn
about the ropes or to learn about the sailing all tighter. Everyone is
excited to see what is ahead of us.
Argentina has been through few rough economical years when many of the
the middle class and poor people saw their savings disappear after
corrupted government caused collapse of the Argentinian pesos in 2001.
Many of the Argentinian people have had loans out guaranteed against
stable US $ rather than Argentinian $ and after the peso collapse -
literally from day to day their loans became 3 times higher than they
used to be few days again. Everyone was aware that the pesos is going to
collapse and government ordered no withdrawal policy from the banks. No
one was able to take their money out because the government was not able
to cover the currency. I had some time to read since we were motoring 25
nautical miles (Patagonia and Terra Del Fuego by Mariolina Rolfo &
Giorgio Ardrizzi). Interesting book about everything down here. History,
flora, fauna, politics of Argentina and Chille.
It has been about 1.5 hr since we have arrived here - and now we are wait
ting for a Chilean official who should come aboard to clear the boat for
Chilean waters. You are required to respond on the radio at any time
while inside of Chilean waters. This is not required in Argentina.
Hopefully we will be cleared and then we are hoping to sail over night
to Herschel island and if the weather permits anchor and walk up to the
famous light house. After that the plan is to sail to the west side of
the antarctic peninsula. We are sitting around the dining table and
talking about Sir Herbert Wilkens - an Australian Explorer and
Adventurer. From what Darrel talked mentioned it sounds a little bit as
the story of Forest Gump. The light stays on until about 22:30 here. The
weather is not the best - hardly any wind, light drizzle. Can't wait to
get out and do some sailing already.

Tuesday 06.01.2009 17:24
position:
56*13.791'S
66*56.137' W
Wind Max 35 knots
Min 25 knots
Water Temp - 8*C
Course: 160*

Great day so far. Going through the channel from Ushuaia, through
Chile's Port Williams with no wind, nice day sunny, dolphins playing
around the bow. They always stop messing around as soon as I got my
camcorder out. So wrong - how could they. I must have a dolphin curse
put against me or something. The ocean is calm and water is about 10
'C. This was only great for one thing and one thing only...we had a
chance to visit Cape Horn. How cool is that? There is a monument to all
that have reach this magnificent place. It is only accessible to few
people since only people on sail boats and private boats have permission
to anchor and to come on the shore. The cruise liners and cruise ships
must stay 12 miles away. Another factor is weather. 50 - 60 knots of
wind are common in these waters and visibility or possibility to anchor
rapidly deteriorates in these conditions. So now I have a passport stamp
from Cape Horn in Chille. There is a monument here for all those who
have tried and failed to round the horn. The poem is written by Sara
Vial and it goes something like this:

I am the albatross that waits for you
at the end of the world.
I am the forgotten soul of the dead sailors lost rounding the Horn
from all the seas in the world.
But they did not die in the wild seas.
Today they fly on my wings towards eternity
in the high cry of the Antarctic winds.

What a Brilliant day - truly one of those to remember. We were told not
to walk on the grass of cape Horn for there might be an occasional
unexploded mine. OK - then so we kept only to the wooden walkway. Spent
about an hour on the island and then started to head down south. This
time the wind is perfect as it can be. Northerly wind at about 25 -30
knots. Course 160' one reef in the mainsail and full Genoa sail up
front. This is awesome. Few people who have not sail before are doing
great. Little sick but mostly enjoying the experience at the moment. It
will be interesting to see what happens when the night comes down.
Just remembered. Yesterday when we were in Port Williams and getting our
entry and exit visas sorted there were 4 officials of Chilean army,
immigration, agriculture and ??? asking us questions and etc. We were
filling the paperwork and these four people were very official. Then one
of them noticed a picture of Darrel with Steve Irving. They took their
film crew down to Antarctica few years back. Steve spent 7 days on the
boat and they all have become good friends. When one of the Chilean
military person noticed he got so excited. "You know Steve?" - he
asked Darrel all excited, - yes I do - we had them on board for a while.
"You know Mindy?" another question out even before Darrel was able to
finish. Yes I know Mindy too - Darrel said. "Ohh - that is great, that
is great"b "is she coming here?" - official asked with big, big
smile. Darrel said that their producer has contacted them and they might
be doing something for them next year. "oh you must bring her here" -
he said smiling. and from then on all the paperwork was sorted and no
problema. Very funny.

Friday 09.01.2009 15:24
position:
62*56.475'S
61*23.972'W
Wind Max 25 knots
Min 8 knots
Water Temp : 2*C
Air Temp :5*C
Course: 106
Speed over ground: 7.4 kn

Over 3 days of really uneventfully sailing. Lots of it sailing with an
engine on. There were only few good hours of sailing - all together
something more than 24hr of pure sailing in 3 days. Really not much is
happening. Crossings can be dull and this is one of them. Few people who
were throwing up at the beginning have settled into shifts and are doing
great. The shifts are 3hr every six hours. Nice and easy. 3 hr on and 6
hours off. plenty of sleeping time or what ever else one might want to
do while sailing. I have been trying to read a book by Dallas Murphy -
Rounding the Horn. Its a nice book talking about the Horn from many
different perspectives. We are about 22 nautical miles from deception
island (small u shaped island north east of antarctic peninsula). I just
took a shower and am looking forward first night at the anchor. Good
dinner and wine - next day hopefully getting out and enjoying the
island. So far I have seen a whale, penguins, albatrosses, and fur seal.
We are on the constant lookout for icebergs but so far we have not seen
any.

There are nine people on the board. Cath and Darrel - an Australian
couple who own the boat. They have been tighter for about 10 years now.
Cath has been sailing all her life spending as much as 4 years on the
trip with her ex husband and kids. Darrel has been more of a mountaineer
adventurer. They met at the wedding (Cath's sister and Darrel's
friend) in Yosemite National Park where Darrel spent some time doing
search and rescue. Then there is Ian and Andrea a Canadian couple in
their fifties that spent last 3 years living in Rio Grandee, Chille.
Very nice and friendly people. Ian has finished his work in Rio Grandee
and they are both ready to do some traveling before going back home to
B.C. in Canada. Then there are Peter and Warwick. Couple of friends from
Toronto in their mid 30. Peter is getting away from work and Warwick is
getting his last travel done before his wife gives birth (about 2
months) back home. From what he says he always had a Little travel bug.
He walked from Canada to Mexico and loves hiking and getting out. Then
there is Phi ll - a Brit who just sailed in from Cape Code in South
Africa to Ushuaia after spending 5 weeks on the sea. Phi ll is a physio
therapist and somehow managed to dance in the strip club in Ushuaia (day
before we left) around the pole. Oh well - nobody else was dancing...
Todd just turned 30 few weeks back and he drove down here from Alaska in
his old beat up truck. Has been on the road for quite a while and has
visited many of the south American countries before he ended up in
Ushuaia where he signed up for the trip.
All right then - couple more hours before putting an anchor down at the
Deception Island and more exciting stuff tomorrow. (hopefully)

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Wednesday 14th-January 2009

2009-01-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

(Enterprise Island 64*33.47'S – 61*55.89'W)

Whoa what a day. Got up around 9ish since the day started little sad and
rainy – slow and cold. The sky was gray and it felt as it was saying –
not today buddy. Cath made pancakes to cheers us up and I went out in
zodiac to drop of couple of our hard cores for their mountain walk/sled
riding. Then I went to pick them up couple of hours later after hanging
out on a boat. When I got back we had lunch – it was about 1 pm by
then. An hour or so later when just as we were finishing up someone
knocked on the boat. Well – thats weird (someone joked that we should
have a door bell on the ship) – and it was Rod Ledingham (friend of Cath
and Darrel) one of the National Geographic ship ' Endeavour'
expedition leader with one of their nice zodiacs. "Hello" So we all
chatted a bit and then he invited us to visit the Endeavour So we all
packed up and jump on the zodiac and headed over to Endeavour. We had a
chance to meet captain, crew and got tour of the ship and had a lovely
chat on the bridge of this great ship. An hour or so later we headed
back to our yacht when we noticed an iceberg that was same size as our
boat. This iceberg has vegged between the land and the wrack of the ship
we are tied to. The wind was pushing the iceberg towards our boat and
at this point it was about 10 meters away. Darrel and Todd tried to tie
a rope around the iceberg and tow it away from the ship with the little
dinghy of ours. Not that he was not making progress but if there was one
it was very slow. Couple of zodiac from the Endeavour with nice 60HP
engines on the back came to rescue and helped us push the iceberg away.
Just around the same time the wind turned around and started to blow
from shore out to sea. Drama was over and took our little baby zodiac
with 15HP engine to shore to walk up the hill and to start the world
famous world championship in Antarctic bob-sledding. So much fun – it
felt as being back in my childhood bob-sledding on the hill not far from
our house. Weather has improved dramatically and sun and blue sky came
out. An amazing view with the snow/ice covered peaks and icebergs
floating in the sea. 20 minutes walk up – 40 second bob-sled run. The
championship went well – even little lonely penguin came to take a look
at the crazy people here on Enterprise island. Ian and Andrea went
further up the hill for a nice walk. They ended up building a snowman
that might just be there for a year or two. After couple of hours we
went back to boat and couple of us went out on our zodiac for a little
cruise around the icebergs. This was the most amazing hour – so far. Not
often you think of something and set your expectations - and then the
reality is just so much better, so much more colorful, the details that
one can not even imagine. Sound of breaking ice falling into the water,
tiny mist around the base of the most beautiful blue color right at the
base of the iceberg. The sun is shinning through the tinner parts – the
arches and nature's majestic architectural designs – only to be seen
once and never again as the ice will break or water will wash away the
iceberg. Now sitting back – trying to remember all of these amazing
moments I am writing in hope that these memories will stay with me for
very long time.

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Tuesday 13th-January 2009

2009-01-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

(Enterprise Island 64*33.47'S – 61*55.89'W)

Left (Cape Murray – 64*21'08 S – 61*33'99 W) around 10ish today and
headed west to Graham Passage. It is hard to describe how beautiful the
icebergs and the landscape full of glaciers are. While heading over to
the passage we have spotted Europa ship (classing square rig tall ship)
on the horizon heading to Graham Passage. One could believe that we have
sailed into different century. All of us have taken few pictures and
video of this magnificent spectacle. We have caught up with Europa in
the passage and while overtaking them Phil (the British lad) have
stripped into his leopard undies and gave them something to remember
while running around and frantically screaming something about us taking
over their women and then doing the Tarzan yell. Few hours later we
found our shelter at one of the bays on Enterprise Island. Here we tied
up to a wreck of Guvernoren (I) ex.-Thoger that in 1913 was considered
by Norwegians the epitome of technical sophistication. One of the
whaling ships that delivered oil and guano from about 544 whales in one
season (1913/1914). The following season she returned to same area, and
just when she was demonstrating her technical prowess, went up in flames
on January 27th 1915 at the current location of today's bay
(Guvernorhava) – cited from the book Whaling in the Falkland islands
dependencies by Ian B. Hart. Now we are tied next to what is left of
this ship. Rusted metal falling apart here in Antarctica.

It has started to rain a little and I am thinking about taking off some
pictures and video from my camera and camcorder and backing it up onto
my external HD. I would love to have my laptop here so I can play around
with my pictures. (is that bad?) I think it is the rain that makes me
want to rest a little today.

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Monday 12th-January 2009

2009-01-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

(Cape Murray – 64*21'08 S – 61*33'99 W)

Left Deception Island 62*58.29 S – 60*38.10 W at about 5 am today and
slowly at about 4.6kt speed motored the whole day to Cape Murray. It was
fairly uneventful day until about 5pm when we started to see floating
icebergs, snow covered peaks of Trinity Island as we have entered the
Gerlache straight. Just as soon we entered the straight we have started
to spot humpback whales. In about 10 hours we must have seen 15 -20 of
them – some of them alone and some of them in groups. Some from far away
and some from as close as 15 meters. Beautiful mammals, amazing – so big
and graceful. I have been able to get some of them on camera – even
though these encounters lasted usually less then few minutes. The only
thing around us are white covered snow peaks and water. We are starting
out anchor watches tonight. This is to make sure that the anchor stays
put and that if any small pieces of ice get to close to boat we are able
to push them away with boat hook. (stick with a hook at the end), After
we landed Phil and I took a zodiac out and went out around the floating
icebergs and I got refresher course in dingy maneuvering. We had a
demonstration in fighting the iceberg since one big as 25 feet was
heading straight at the boat. The danger is that the iceberg will push
on the anchor chain and release the grip. There is a chance that the
boat would drift onto the rocks. Once again the party is on and we are
drinking (a little) and I am going to be more social now.

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Sunday 11 January-2009 (Pendulum Cove - Whalers Bay @ Deception Island)

2009-01-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

Pendulum Cove (62*56'S-60*36'W)
Woke up at about 8:30 am to Cath making pancakes for breakfast. Had a
nice hot tea to offset the cold morning and sat around until everyone
slowly woke up. Then we got the boat ready and headed off to Pendulum
Cove. Big tall-ship Europa has pulled in and several people were already
enjoying the thermal hot-cold ocean water. The beach is hot on several
places and it was too much fun to strip down to our undies and head into
the water. Wow nice and warm until about .5 meters but then freezing
cold swells coming over. Few of us found nice place and laid down
enjoying the splash. We stayed for while got out of the water in the
freezing cold (about 4*C), dried off and went back to the boat. We
warmed up with hot coco and Baileys, Had something to eat and headed off
to Whalers Bay.

Whalers Bay (62*59'S-60*34'W)
Little chatter went on between ships Pmultanovskiy and Spirit of Sydney
as they have been coming down to Whalers Bay and the owner of the ship
is friend of Cath and Darrel - Andrew (who founded Peregrine
Adventures). Couple of guys set up the zodiac and went onto shore.
Zodiac broke down – the engine would not start and Darrel asked for a
wrench over the radio. Cath came out with great idea of tying waterproof
pelican case to a buoy and since the wind was blowing towards shore the
buoy slowly drifted onto the shore. While Darrel worked on the engine –
rest of us got picked up by a zodiac from the Pmultanovskiy ship. We
spent couple – 3 hr exploring the bay and the ruins of old Whalers base.
This base was destroyed by volcano eruption (sometimes in 70ies?)
Anyways another great day out and about just shooting the film and
stretching the legs. We are off to sail tomorrow early morning to a
mainland Antarctica.

Everyone is doing great. Just finished good dinner and the guitar is
rocking right now. Time to go and have some fun.

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Saturday 10-January-2009 (Deception island)

2009-01-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

We stayed up last night bit late having a great dinner and too much vine
celebrating our crossing of Drake Passage. Today we woke up around 9am
had breakfast and got the boat ready to move into Fumaron bay where
Spanish and Argentinians established their bases here on the Deception
island. We dropped the little Zodiac (rubber boat with small engine)
into the water and headed over to the land. We have landed closer to
Argentinian base as the Spanish researchers have been known to be quite
cold to outsiders, believing only they should be allowed in Antarctica
and only for scientific purposes. Couple of Argentinian scientist came
out and talked to us for awhile about what and where we should or should
not go. There are some unique plants on this island (actually it is an
active volcano) that are not anywhere else in the world. We said our
thank you and off we were walking into the steep hill towards Punta de
la Descubierta. About 45 min climbing the hill we came to a ridge from
where few colonies of penguins to view. Several tens of thousands of
Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica). This is the second most
abundand Antartic/subantarctic penguins. We were lucky to walk amongst
them in their breeding grounds and were able to see about two weeks old
chicks with their penguin parents. They were really cute but boy the
whole colony is really stinky. I have some video and pictures and will
upload them when I come back to New Zealand. Then after about couple of
hours we headed back to the boat and stopped by at the Argentinians base
where we men couple of really nice man who gave us some food and drinks
and also some of the traditional Argentinian drink of Yerba Mate. We
were sitting around and talking for a while and then we went back to
boat. We moved the boat to safer anchorage at Pengulum Cove (62*56'S –
60*34'W). It is about 8 pm now and couple of people went out for a
walk. I have decided to stay in to update the blog. We are going to have
a dinner and then talk about what we do tomorrow. As it looks right now
we might spent another day here due to weather. Then we should head
further back south – day or two worth of sailing.

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Telephone Bay at Deception Island

2009-01-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

The First Entry - friday 9 of January

I have compiled the 3 pages to date but it is stuck in computer that has
crashed. We have been able to land on Cape Horn and sailed across the
Drake Passage - slower but more comfortable than expected though . Still
hoping to recover the pages - however to make a quick note here - I have
decided to let you all know that we are anchoring at the Deception
island all safe and warm. The water is 4 degrees because we are
anchoring in the middle of the active volcano. I will try to post more
often since we are at the antarctic peninsula and will be doing day
sailing trips and shore hikes.

Tomorrow we are going to be exploring the shores of this volcanic island.
Deception Island - is located north west of antarctic peninsula. Little U
shaped island.

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Spirit of Sydney

2009-01-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

just a quick update on way to monitor the boat position. leaving tomorrow 5.05.2009

here...

First 24hr in Buenos Aires

2009-01-01T15:47:00.001-08:00

I am writing this shortly after spending first 24hr is Argentina´s own Buenos Aires. It is a great experience so far. The city is very vibrant and full of excitement. The flight was interesting as we were 2hr late to take off but no one has really mentioned anything as to why that was. I ask the flight attendant if I can borrow the pen to fill out immigration papers on the flight but he said ¨No senor¨ I can not borrow you my pen – you must ask another passenger. I think that’s pretty funny. Maybe I look too suspicious to be trusted with a pen. Anyways – we got here ok. I totally forgot what Argentina is really famous for but when I saw the flag at the airport the first thing that came to mind was Diego Maradona. There are so many things that hit me while driving through the city. People live in high rise buildings that looks very run down but what was interesting to me – the number of people hanging out on their balconies. Also there are many dogs in the streets that does not appear to have an owner but they always seem to be going somewhere as if they new exactly what is going on. Another thing I noticed is the sheer number of cell towers around the city. There is no effort to conceal them – they tall, loud red and white, and sometimes right on the top of peoples homes. After I took shower I ventured out to the city as it was the new year’s eve and headed where I was told to be (by the doorman at the hotel). I was also hungry but all of the restaurants in the part of the city I am were book. I ended up in TGI Fridays (huge obnoxious restaurant chain in usa) believe it or not. I did not like to go there when I was back in USA so I think this was their revenge on me. I felt as if I have walked into the movie Office. On top of that no one spoke English so I thought I am going to be alone the whole evening until there was another guy (American) who sat next to me few minutes later. I just enjoyed him struggling to communicate and started a conversation. Oh and right before that when I thought I will be by myself the whole new year eve – I ordered double whisky with my non existent Spanish (thinking I will not have to embarrass myself for a while this way) and the girl at the bar brought me about 12 ounce glass full of whisky. I kept staring at her thinking she is joking. She was not. So there is your lesson. Do not order double drinks in Argentina. My new friend and I ended up having a time of the life. Lots of fun and wonderful new years filled with locals dancing the night away. We were actually right under the fireworks – which was great but I think we were little too close as I ended up with ashes in my eyes. Oh well – I guess that is part of the fun. The American guy has been here for a week with his friend who left that day and so he showed me around the town a little (The famous Evita Balcony and other cultural sights) and then we headed (this is about 2am) to another part of the town where they had small local clubs. I got back to hotel about five am and since it was around 7pm in Auckland I ended up talking to Claire for a bit. Don’t forget that on top of that I am getting through some major jet lag. Today I did not get out of hotel until 5pm and walked for hours through the centre of the town. I end up eating at some restaurant major piece of steak that was delicious. Now I am sitting at the internet café – close to my hotel catching up with my emails before I head down to Ushuaia tomorrow. I think this place is great fun from what I can gather in few hours and people are usually staying up very late. Some of the restaurants do not open until 8pm and it is not unusual for people to have dinner at midnight.

I am getting excited about the next few days and can’t wait to be on the boat. Not sure when I will be able to update again.

31st December 2008

2008-12-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

Last day of the year. I am taking off in few minutes heading to
airport. This entry is just a last test of being able to post the
entries on the blog simply by using an email.
I know I should have an access to a satellite phone - but I am not
sure if I will be able to actually surf the net. I highly doubt it
though. Next post will be from Argentina.

The 28th of December 2008

2008-12-29T19:14:00.001-08:00

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything. Lots happened
and life is good. One of the most exciting things was the Coastal
Classic 2008. One of the biggest races down here in New Zealand.
About 229 boats have signed up. About 200 have shown up on the start
line but only about 83 finished. One of the toughest races in years.
Wind on the nose and it took us 29.5hr (about 19 last year if I
remember correctly) battling the gusts of up to 40 knots. Out of 8
only 3 of us did not get sick. Lots of disorientation and pushing
further. It came down to about 8 minutes between us and the Pacific
Sundance (the boat in our class that beat us on the line). 8 minutes.
After all the handicap etc. We came 3rd. Since then I have been busy
with getting ready for my trip to Antarctica. I have decided that it
is worth spending some money on living the dream. It has been a while
since I have been truly happy and excited about something. I am
excited about this. The last two months have been just great -
preparing for the expedition and being with my new friend Claire. I
am getting ready to write daily while being gone and this is where I
will be posting. I have a HD camcorder and Digital Camera to take as
much in as possible. I will be taking off in Ushuaia (Argentina) on
60 foot sail boat (Spirit of Sidney) sailing to Antarctic Peninsula.
All together I am expecting about a month of fun sailing. Wildlife
watching and hiking up the Antarctic Hills. I am hoping to visit some
bases but most of all I am hoping to live few exciting days sailing
the southern ocean - Cape Horn - where it is not uncommon to see 8 -
9 meter swells. The pinacle of blue water - open ocean sailing. Only
3 sleeps to go.