Month: March 2013

Tonight (Tuesday 26th February) the sea was probably the roughest it has been at any time since we left Ushuaia. But even as the Fram pitched and rolled frighteningly, the Fearless Four remained undaunted and headed out on deck to do a bit of star gazing for tonight was also probably the clearest night sky of the voyage to date.

We managed to pick out the Southern Cross without too much difficulty but we were also delighted to clearly see Orion, one of the few constellations visible simultaneously in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

However, it quickly dawned that the constellation was inverted, in effect upsidedown, to the way in which we are used to seeing it. Betlegeuse, above the belt of Orion in the Northern hemisphere, was below the belt and vice-versa with Riegel.

It was an awesome and humbling reminder of just how far away from home we are.

(Tuesdsay 26th February – about 6pm ships time – 9pm GMT)

Just as two of the Fearless Four sat down in the ship’s lounge to enjoy a well earned (well, we though it well earned) gin and tonic, the Captain applied the brakes and the Fram came to a shuddering halt. Whales had been spotted off the starboard bow in large numbers and the Captain had given permission for the ship to be manoeuvered into position to allow all on board enjoy the spactacle of what seemed like dozens of Humpbacks feeding on the giant shoals of krill, a small prawn-like fish that swim on the water’s surface.

For fully 30 minutes, we watched as these massive animals ducked and dived and rose majestically from the water before falling back with their giant tails in the air. At times they seemed to roll over before skimming the surface with their cavernous mouths agape, scooping up tons of krill with every mouthful. The show hadn’t concluded when the ship unfortunately had to continue on it’s way. But for many, this had been a real highlight of the voyage.

Location: In the Gerlache Straits, off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula at about 64′ 50” South

Tuesday 26th February: Sunrise 5:57    Sunset 20:59

Left anchor at 7am  approx. Spent last night off Port Lockroy as some passengers spent the night camped out on the snow.  14 people are given the opportunity to do this at a substantial additional cost. Dining out on it might soften the financial blow.

Dense fog surrounds us as we make way at 14.2 knots heading 186º towards Petermann Island, our landing destination today. It is snowing and winds are light. The highlight today is as much the journey as the destination. If conditions permit we will travel through the LeMaire Channel. It is just 1.6km wide bounded on the north by Booth Island and the mainland to the south. It has been named ‘kodak crack’ by expedition staff as it is one of the most photographed locations reached by tourists. Steep cliffs and glaciers on Booth, snow covered peaks on the mainland , (Scott and Shackelton have peaks named after them here) and an amazing array of icebergs combine to create a photographers dream. An option to travel by rib is available getting closer to the icy cliffs.It is not unusual for this channel to be blocked by icebergs. This ship has been unable to pass through on at least two occasions this year. The tenders could often make their way through but for safety reasons this is not permitted unless the ship can accompany, again a clear reminder of the potential for serious danger if the weather closes in.

We cruise through the channel southbound; some cycled through on bikes in the 7th deck gym which affords great views without the need to layer up to go outside!  However, the trip through the channel in the ribs was cancelled due to the weather.

9.15am – The weather clears enough to allow landings on Petermann to see more penguins (yep some of our group are whinging about having to go out to see more penguins!) This is the furthest south we will go so another trip here to cross 66º33′, the Antarctic circle will have to be planned.1.30pm leave Petermann along the LeMaire channel heading 11º which is in the wrong direction as far as this writer is concerned. Forgive the pun but we have seen only the tip of the iceberg, however it has been stunningly beautiful and surpassed expectations. 

The LeMaire channel looks foreboding; low grey cloud surrounds us, icebergs on all sides, snow falls steadily. Time to relax and read a book for the afternoon. The outdoor hot tub looks an inviting location, no-one around. An hour is spent there reading and falling snow provides a most original way to cool down…. It should always be like this. 

A planned quick shower before dinner is interrupted by an announcement from the bridge that  humpback whales have been spotted feeding close to us. We can allow some time to linger and watch this spectacle. Two separate groups are observed. They showed us the bubble net feeding technique that involves working as a group and circling shoals of small fish or krill to create a dense mass and push it towards the surface and then lunge open mouthed through the mass. After about 30 mins we have to leave them.

The afternoon is spent in lectures and a briefing for tomorrow’s landing at Hope Harbour and Esperanza base. 

From Tuesday 26th February. Time to offer an opinion on our home for this 19 day voyage. The Fram is one of the bigger boats that visit these waters. Constructed in 2007 and operated by Norwegian company Hurtigruten, it is a sturdy vessel designed specifically for traveling to polar regions. On this trip it is carrying about 220 passengers and does so in comfort although to come to that conclusion only 4 days into 19 at sea might be a wee bit premature. Still, there is no sense of crowding and there is plenty of space in the public areas.

The standard cabins are probably best described as ”bijou” and space is at a bit of a premium. The bathroom is small but all the essential bits and pieces are there and the room is thankfully cleaned each day. There are two beds one of which is folded into a couch during the day. There is adaquate storage space with two small wardrobes and some small shelf areas. There is a also a small desk but I can’t see it much of the time as it is strewn with all manner of stuff. I wouldn’t consider it an ideal working environment. There is a fridge (not stocked in our case) and a safe. There is also a TV but up to now that is not a facility we have made use of other than for keeping in touch with information on what is going on on board, the ship’s position and so on. There is no doubt that if sharing, it would be important to get on with your cabin mate!

Incidentally, the ship is not full and cabin upgrades to a suite were on offer when we embarked – but at the price of a small family car.

The public areas, the restaurant, bar and observation lounge are all excellent for relaxing. All meals are included but drinks are extra and not all that cheap, which might explain why the bar is empty a lot of the time. Even water is charged for although most passengers seem to be opting for the cold refreshing tap water. There is a bit of a hard sell obvious which suggests the staff are working on a commission basis. Lunch is generally a buffet and dinner an alternating buffet and waiter service. There is free coffee and snacks throughout the day. The food so far has been excellent.

The outside decks space is perfect for viewing the scenery and, despite the cold, is a pleasant enough place to sit for a while when the sun shines. All landings are well organised and despite restrictions that allow only 100 people ashore at one time, no one misses out.

The Polar Cirkel boats used for landings are very easy to get in and out of (no steep or perilous steps to navigate) and are very comfortable on the short journeys across open water required to get to shore. More detail on this will be provided elsewhere in the blog. As followers of this blog will be aware, internet access is provided via a satellite link (about EURO 28 for six hours) but service is slow and sometimes non-existent. That’s a bit worrying as there is a sign in reception which clearly states that important ship’s functions rely on web acess to operate effectively.

As I said, we are only four days in so final judgement is pending!

Some new photos on Gallery page. Slow but at least it’s happening. Let’s hope it lasts.

Monday 25th. Having left Neko Harbour, we headed due west to Wienke Island and the small base at Port Lockroy (64′ 49” S; 60′ 30” W) Weather remained positively balmy. It’s probably colder in Dublin. A former British research base Port Lockroy is now a museum and post office operated by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. We all participated in the mad rush to buy stamps and send off our postcards from the most southerly post office in the world. One of the Fearless Four had planned this particularly well (read the guide book, you see) by bringing Christmas card labels so no labourious writing of addresses was involved. Now which one of the four was that, do you think? Anyway, the labels were appropriate as we were told the mail was so slow that we might be best putting a Christmas greeting on the cards. In February!

It was also amusing to watch the ”Guests” (as we are now called) from the Fram
hoovering up the souveniers at the small shop on the base. Back on the ship we all looked aghast at our purchases and wondered what exactly we had got for our money. Tea towels for presents all round it seems!

The base is manned by three girls and a man who have spent four months maintaing the buildings with very spartan facilities. They leave for home next week as winter is coming. Applications are open for the posts for next year. A chance to get away from it all, perhaps..

Apologies to all our followers for the delay in uploading posts to the Blog and also photos to the gallery. Internet coverage has been non-existant for the past few days and only this evening (Thursday 28th) became available again in fits and starts. The problems are blamed by the crew on poor satellite coverage and “other technical issues”. We have manged to get a few posts up but even that has been a tedious business with the connection dropping out every couple of minutes. We have also had to use one of the ship’s computers instead of our own tablets on which all the outstanding blogs have been written. The ones we have put up tonight have had to be retyped in order to copy them over. There are also a lot of photos resized for the web and ready to go but the connection simply isn’t strong enough to handle them at the moment. We are promised that things will improve when we reach South Georgia. That will be in about 24 hours time. We are currently making about 14 knots and I am guessing about 400 miles from Grytviken on South Georgia.

We passed close to Elephant Island this morning and could view it about 10 miles distant in the mist. We must have seen it much as Shackleton and his men would have seen it from their open boat more than 100 years ago. To them it was a blessed refuge; to us it was a poignant reminder of the courage, bravery and immense strength of that epic band of explorers. It is nonetheless humbling to be travelling now in those same waters that Shackleton navigated in the James Caird. As the Fram tosses on a lively sea in pitch darkness, it is a reminder of what a truly heroic feat of navigation that was.

So stay in touch, loyal readers, and we will bring the Blog up to date as soon as possible with details of our exploits over the past few days – and indeed in the days to come.

By the time we came to leave Neko Harbour on the Antarctic mainland (13.30 ship’s time; 16.30 GMT) on Monday afternoon (25 February), the cloud cover had all but disappeared and the Fram was gliding effortlessly through a glass-like sea under deep blue skies. We were surrounded by extraordinary vistas on all sides and any frustrations felt by the Fearless Four were down to simply being able to look only in one direction at a time. It is scarily and indescribably beautiful.

Elsewhere on this Blog, there is a quote from one of the early explorers of the Heroic Age in which he suggested that he would like to somehow take what he was seeing away with him. I now understand what he meant although such a thing could never be possible. Even the wonders of modern photography cannot do this place justice. My preference would be to gather all the people that I would like to share this with in one place and somehow transport them magically to this wonderous land. If there is a place more beautiful than this on the planet, I have not yet been there. My worry is that I risk spending the rest of my life looking for it. It really does take your breath away.

I had no idea that there were so many shades of blue ranging in the spectrum from the deep azure of the sky to the bright turquoise of the icebergs just beneath the surface. In every direction there are snow covered peaks and snow fissured valleys, some of which look ready to avalanche at any time. The surface of the sea is littlered with large icebergs and and smaller ice-floes and the loud cracking and crunching sounds as the Fram barges through them is a little unnerving at times. Meanwhile, the biting cold would scour the enamel from your teeth.

It hurts my head trying to think of the words need to describe this place. And then I realise that everything I have ever read, and probably everything that has ever been written about Antarctica falls short of the reality because I don’t believe that the words required to describe its unimaginable beauty have yet been invented.

Strong winds and high seas cased the Fram to pitch and roll during the night thus making slower progress than expected. It was almost 09.30 ship’s time (12.30pm GMT) Monday 25th February when we reached Neko Harbour for our first opportunity to sample the Antarctic mainland. At 64 deg 55″ S we are now further south than many of us have been north. This is an immensely beautiful place despite the somewhat overcast conditions. We are surrounded on all sides now by snow capped peaks that tower above us and in places giant crevases are visible that suggest an avalanche could be imminent. Even when we make our landing at the small harbour, we are advised not to remove our life jackets – if a giant piece of ice should “calve” into the sea, the resulting waves will likely swamp the beach. And suddenly there is a giant roar like thunder through the bay followed by a moments apprehension as we await the aftermath. There is none. However, although we can’t see it, it is clear that close by part of the ice shelf has broken away and crashed into the sea with a cracking, then roaring sound that reverberates like a bass drum through the air.

Sunday 24 February:

What an afternoon on Half Moon Island! For almost everyone this was our first opportunity to witness penguins in their natural environment. No matter how blase you might be about these remarkable animals, it is hard not to be totally in love with them after you have been around them even for a brief while. Their cute waddle, their complete lack of fear of people and their natural curiosity is endearing.

After a short while, a group of us is led by expedition leader Andy on a hike to a nearby peak. It takes about an hour or so and leads across a stoney beach, past a deserted Argentine research station and up the side of a snow covered incline. It is not long before we are shedding layers of outing clothing as the exertion is keeping us warm in the bright sunshine. It is steep towards the top but the effort is rewarded by stunning views in all directions. Andy warns us not to step on the native mosses and lichens as it is important to preserve as much as possible of the natural environment.

On our return journey, Andy surprises us by offering us the opportunity to toboggan down the side of the hill on our backsides, warning us to keep well to the left to avoid large rocks in the area. It is a long way down and by the time our turn comes around, the track has become smooth and fast and clearly defined. It is certainly a quick way to the bottom and a lot easier on the knees than walking. Exhilarating!

Back on the Fram, it is straight to the bar where the Fearlerss Four enjoy a well deserved cold beer. Or two.