James Bennett in Paradise Harbor

Thanks again James for another great blog!!!

In my last blog post I described our experience in Paradise Harbor where we had a nearly surreal experience with the incredible weather, sunlight, indigenous fauna and natural environment.  Since then we have motor sailed south through Gerlache Straight leaving Nansen Island and Arctowski Peninsula to port.  Entering Errara Chanel, which is a very narrow passage between Ronge Island and the Arctowski Peninsula we saw amazing ice formations, whales, most likely hump backs as they were quite large, and amazing vertical cliffs rising to elevations over 4,000 feet from the water’s edge.  We also passed beside a dead baby whale, most likely a humpback, a stark reminder of the vulnerability these beautiful creatures face in maintaining their existence in this harsh but beautiful environment.  Exiting Errara Channel we crossed the opening of Andver Bay and entered the harbor beside the Chilean base at Molina Point.  We were invited ashore to share a meal with the 12 persons assigned to this outpost, six air force and six navy personnel, whose mission is to provide communications services and logistic support for the Chilean operations in the region.  Adjacent to this base is Paradise harbor, previously described, Lieth Cove and to the west Bryde Island.  In the afternoon we remained drifting through Paradise Harbor while a superb barbecue was served up by our resident chef Lars.  We left Paradise Harbor late in the afternoon bound for Skontorp Cove, where we anchored. On the way into Skontorp we passed by the Argentinian base named Brown after the Irish naval hero of Argentiine, Guillermo Brown. Mooring Spirit in this place was particularly challenging as there were very few rocks to secure the stern lines to.  Isaac performed heroics in securing the lines to two suitable rocks we found.  We went ashore to visit the Argentinians and did a short climb to the top of the rise behind the base, then returned to Spirit.  We all slept well that night.

Today we arose to overcast skies but flat calm conditions.  The group divided itself as usual between kayakers and hikers. The kayakers encountered whales early on in their excursion, allowing them to approach within a few boat lengths. Very exciting but also disconcerting even though these were relatively small, most likely  minke whales perhaps 12 meters or so, they are nonetheless large creatures and capable of upsetting small kayaks without intending harm.  We also encountered a group of seals, of at least a dozen, moving as though they would run us down if we did not yielded to their progress. The shore party focused on picking up water for the boat, after which the kayakers rendezvoused with Spirit at the face of the glacier at the head of Skontorp Cove.  There Leo and Isaac deployed the drone to capture some aerial photography of the amazing features of this glacier before we set off for Port Lockroy.  The route to Port Lockroy is one of stupendous visas.  We proceeded west down the Bryde Channel and beyond, crossing the Gerlache Straight toward the north end of Weinke Island.  On the way through the Bryde Channel we saw the Dutch sail training vessel, a barkentine, passing aside Bryde Island, probably on its way to the Argentine base.  The Gerlache was full of stupendous ice bergs, some with vertical spires many tens of meters tall.  As we approached the passage into Neumayer Channel, the elevation of the surrounding mountains becomes even more stupendous, the Osterieth Range on the west side of Nuemayer Channel with mount Camber and Copper peak heights over 3,500 feet.  The day has again turned to sparkling clear azure sky with brilliant sunlight setting off the colors of the mountains and the wisps of clouds overhanging the precipitous peaks. The snow fields and glaciers descending from these heights to the water’s edge with shear ice faces well over 100 meters in height.  Ice bergs of enormous size were prolific as well as many smaller growlers and bergie bits. This stunning landscape we progressed through southwesterly all the way to Port Lockroy where we are anchored this evening.  A Russian research vessel is anchored out in the channel and one other sailing vessel, the Sara Vorweck, is beside us in the very snug harbor here at Port Lockroy.  We have eaten a sumptuous meal cooked by Isaac of chicken vegetable stew and rice.  While just about to  sit down for this meal a thunderous boom alerted us to the nearby glacier calving off another massive hunk of ice as the world continues its changing of climates and seasons.

Leo has done an incredible job of bringing us to these unique places, safely and with ample time to enjoy fully this experience.  And we have been blessed by amazingly good weather (Dwight lays claim to being the first of our group to achieve a sun tan on his torso).

All for now, Jim February 17 2018