Xplore arrives in Antarctica: 21 Jan 2009

A piece of Brazil in Antarctica Plans change and so does the weather. Skippering here in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica means that you have to recognise conditions as they change, and change with them. Our well thought-out plans to head for Elephant Island changed just as we were 124nm from the eastern Cape Valentine. With the weather changing to the ENE and becoming windier, we altered course to King George Island. The options had narrowed so the move to KGI was sensible, as low cloud and snow would have meant that even if we had reached Elephant Island, we would not have been able to see it or land due to the high winds. With no anchorages there we would have been left exposed with few options but to continue pushing all night with poor conditions. But after three days traveling across the Drake the team and myself needed a break and a safe anchorage. With charts out and some local knowledge "Mud Maps" we turned into Admiralty Bay in early afternoon. The visibility was no more than one mile, so it wasn't until we had made the entrance to the channel that we started to see glimpses of land; 'til then it had all just been blotches on a radar screen. Our first option was an anchorage in Lussich Cove, well suited for southerly winds and we still had ESE. We entered over a very shallow moraine bar where we only had 2.8 meters of water under the keel. Not content with the winds blowing off the glacier within the bay we opted to move to the west side of Keller Peninsula, which on the eastern side where the Brazilian Base Commandante Ferraz is located. Anchoring close to the shore with excellent holding, I sighed my normal and deep relief that we had once again crossed safely with no problems. Twilight came, and we enjoyed good food and wine on a level table with everyone's spirits lifted. Sleep came early for me, and I believe for many others. I woke a number of times during the night to check on our position and conditions; at 2am we continued to have a dusting of snow just to remind us of where we really were. Dawn came, and we enjoyed lifted skies and nearly sunshine as we prepared the Zodiac for shore landing. Near to where we were anchored is a refuge hut for the Brazilian station for field research (or possibly to get rid of troublesome base staff??). As we prepared the Zodiac, three quad bikes came over the hill and the Brazilians were there on the beach. It took us another half-an-hour to finish and launch our boat and our first landing in Antarctica was underway. Then, with everyone on shore, some of the crew came back to prepare for the day. To our surprise we received a call 15 minutes later from the shore: it seemed that one of the Brazilians was in trouble. In traveling along the rocky hillside one guy had flipped his quad bike when the loose rocky ground had given way. His condition wasn't good as they suspected a broken arm, and their request was for us to ferry him around the other side of the peninsula with our Zodiac, as for him to return to base on another quad bike was going to be excruciating agony. With pleasure to help as is always the attitude of the South, two of us picked him up on shore and made the voyage to the other side. He was a lovely guy, but even at slow speed you could see the pain that he was in. As we traveled around he had communication with the base and they asked what nationality his rescuers were: French and Australian we were!! As we walked up the beach to the front of the station two of their staff were raising the Australian and French flags at their station mast to say 'thank you for the help'. We entered and were given the warmest welcome you could have asked for, with hot Brazilian coffee and friendly faces; and an invitation for the entire team to come back during the afternoon for a complete station visit and afternoon tea / coffee. More news to come ~ Stephen

Xplore to Antarctica: 19 Jan 2009

Green Flash Myth from Jules Verne's stories says that those who have seen the green flash are empowered with the ability to look into their own hearts and to be able to recognize true love ! If that's the case then why - after seeing the green flash four times in my sailing life - is it that I am still single ?!! Oh well, maybe it's because I spend too much time at sea. Anyway, last night at sunset it looked possible that we might see the green flash, however it didn't occur as there was low cloud on the horizon. This morning though, at 5.20am; myself and first mate Audrey were doing the Dog Watch, and low and behold as the sun was rising giving a beautiful painting of reds across a stratocumulous sky, I was looking intently on the horizon and there we both saw the instantaneous green flash milliseconds before the top rim of the sun broke through. It happens because the earth's atmosphere acts as not only a "lens" but also as a "prism" to the light rays and the colours that are transmitted from the sun. Red is a long wave light that has the greatest distance, hence why you always see reds in the sky at sunrise and sunset. Green and blue are short wave colours with blue being the colour which is seen most at high mid-day sun and least at sunrise / sunset. Green though holds its own and if the conditions are crisp and clear then the light of green can be seen as the sun rises or breaks, normally only at sea. Why is it seen as a flash? Well because red and green are at two different frequencies there is a split second difference between the two light colours, effectively giving a green and red sun. More news of our travels soon ~ The team onboard Xplore

Xplore to Antarctica: 18 Jan 2009

The "dog watch" was in raptures ... Dawn in the Southern Ocean summer happens early; light is full at 4am, and when the daytime watch came on deck the talk was all about 'the whale'. The first whale sighting of the trip was an excellent one with a Fin whale coming right next to Xplore as we slid along at a healthy 8.5 knots. Daytime winds started to ease in the mid-afternoon as forecast, lifting stratocumulous clouds showed broken patches, and the rain eased. Well across the convergence zone, where the relatively warm water of the Southern Ocean blends into the cold icy waters from Antarctica, we had small amounts of the telltale fog and mists that can last for days. By evening meal time though we could see to the west the opening clear skies of the centre of the passing low that had slowly been moving to the east. A number of us sat on deck as the sun finally dropped to the horizon, at 10.20pm, soon to rise again in a few hours from the east. We sat in hopes of possibly seeing the "Green Flash" as the hues of different colours painted the sky from blues, pinks, reds and greens, a wonderful recuperative sight -- especially for those who suffered a little bit of seasickness during the first days of the passage ... We continue with 230 nm to Elephant Island, first known by whalers and sealers beginning in the 1820's for the large number of Elephant seals. We hope to be able to land there at the site where Sir Ernest Schackleton departed on his rescue mission to South Georgia to save his men. He left these frozen shores in the tiny James Caird with a handful of his team mates to make the epic voyage across the Southern Ocean, and finally save the entire team with no life lost some months later. More news to come ~ Stephen and the team on Xplore

Xplore to Antarctica: 17 Jan 2009

Swing low, sweet chariot Xplore departed Puerto Toro on the eastern side of Navarino at 1100 hours local time [17 Jan 2009] with still fresh to strong winds from the back side of the low depression that has swept the coasts of Tierra Del Fuego. All onboard seem to be in excellent spirits as we head on a course of 142 degrees true to make our landfall in the Antarctic archapelago of the South Shetland islands. Winds are due to swing more to the west during the day and during the next 36 hours ease. At present we are still experiencing squally gusts of hail as the clearing cumulonimbus clouds race through across the southern skies. Boat speeds are in the mid to high 8 knots as we are not trying to push the boat hard, but just try to let everyone onboard settle into life at sea: no one wants to be a buckethead, so the easy start approach is best. More news soon. Stephen

Xplore underway to Antarctica: 16 Jan 2009

Writing about the preparation and the work that goes behind an Antarctic expedition can take time, but needless to say that it doesn't happen overnight. XPLORE has been based in the port of Ushuaia, Argentina for the last nine days. readying the boat for the passage from South America to cross the Drakes Passage. Our main concern in the big picture of things is what the weather is doing and what are the ice conditions, in the Drake and on the continent of Antarctica. This season stated with large amounts of ice being present in the south with vessels having difficulties with how far they could go south, The cruise ship Ushuaia ran aground and holed her hull early in December, leading to a full evacuation of their passengers, with the Chilean navy coming to their rescue to tow the damaged ship back to safe waters of South America. And sailing yachts that ventured south in December had tough ice conditions: some trips returned early as it was hard to get into the safe anchorages that are normally used for small craft. All in all weather systems have been tough early on with high winds, snow and icing during the start of summer. Luckily, news of changing weather, and the commencement of more stable summer weather started to come through with some vessels sending reports of long sunny days and higher temperatures in late December and early January. For us, our team of people all came together to Ushuaia, mid-January with our departure planned from there on the 15th. For days I had been closely looking at the weather prognostics for a good sailing window that we could leave on ... there was one on the 11th ... another on the 13th (lucky hey !! ) ... but for the 15th there was and still is no joy. With everyone onboard, safety briefings completed, and customs cleared with Argentina; we slipped our lines from the dock and headed east along the Beagle Channel to the military port of Puerto Williams (PW) in Chile. We headed to Puerto Williams for two reasons: the forecast for a savage low pressure system due to hit Tierra Del Fuego during the night; and the other, that late to join the team is a couple from New Zealand and the UK -- and one of them (James) has been there in PW, as Sonia had come to Ushuaia to pick up final personal clothing and gear supplies for the expedition. Sailing the Beagle when its good is a joy, and the trip to PW was magic sailing. But fresh breezes from the north, which prelude the changing weather conditions, hung heavily in my mind as I watched the barometer drop all day. At 730am the Bar was 991, by midnight it was 962 -- 29 millibars in one day. We entered PW and cleared customs and immigration into Chile, probably one of the fastest turnarounds with paper work because we needed to get a new Zarpie (permission to weigh anchor) from the Navy department so that we could continue navigating in their waters. With the forcast looming, we cleared PW as I feared they would close the port for potentially two days -- possibly more if the intensity of the low was blocked into a stationary pattern. Chillean forcasts only reinforced what our weather systems onboard had been telling us, N to NE winds 45 to 50 knots shifting during the night to S to SW 60 to 70, with gusts predicted into the 80's. The last thing I needed as skipper was another 23 nautical miles of travel at night to round onto the eastern side of Isla Navarino ... and when you smell the aromas of the Thai green chicken curry bubbling away on the stove, the saloon all warm and a half-finished Heineken beer on the side bench, who would want to move? But move and travel we did, to the tiny fishing settlement of Puerto Toro (PT), the most southern settlement in South America. We motored and ate excellent food as the Beagle Channel continued to lull us into the false image of peace and tranquility. Lines went onto the dock in PT at 2355 and the port Navy personal kept the generator on for 10 minutes longer to give us light on the dock. The night remained calm, no wind, nothing. We sat on deck and enjoyed a laugh and a bottle of wine, sleep came over me and I slipped off to the warmth of my duvet. 650am woke me with the boat rocking at the dock, side to side with not so smooth a motion ... nature called and I rose to check on conditions: wind gusts were tossing us at the docks and the shift to the South / SW had come through. No one is moving today -- not XPLORE nor the other two yachts who had snuck onto the dock for protection during the night and early morning. Everyone has the same idea, 'Dont go to sea!' We sit, relax and wait Stephen

XPLORE to Antarctica: 15 Jan 2009

STAY TUNED for dispatches on our 28-day voyage departing from Ushuaia across the Drake Passage, with ample time to explore the Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula. Unforgettable vistas and wildlife.

XPLORE prepares to leave for four-week expedition to Antarctica