Here we are, sitting around the teak table on the sailing yacht, sharing
stories of our day over appetizers and libations. There is a lot of
laughing and chatter coming from over my shoulder in accents indicative
of at least four different countries.
This is the end of our first paddling day after crossing the infamous
Drake Passage. I am sure that we all had concerns about the crossing
and I don’t think the passage disappointed. We motored for the first
few days as there was not enough wind to get up sail, although the
swells got bigger and bigger and gave us a great sense of being out, way
out, to sea.
Well south of any land and having not seen any other signs of human life
for days, our Skipper Calypso was keen to tell us that the wind was
imminently on its way and that we would be sailing soon. And we really
were. Each of our “watches” monitored the gauges and made note of each
new highest windspeed and fastest boat speed for our voyage. At one
point we reached 50.1 knots of wind speed and 16.2 knots of boat speed.
I do not have a lot of sailing experience and none of racing, but I can
say that the experience of rocketing along in bigger seas than I have
ever seen, aboard a vessel that seems to find her stride the faster she
goes was exhilarating. I have no benchmark to compare the performance of
Spirit of Sydney and especially in these kind of seas, but I was, and
am, extremely impressed.
And to experience these winds and dynamic seas , already days away from
all that is familiar, through another howling day, into the night and
through the next day with no option of turning back, fully committed to
come what may, has the ability to change a person. Having said this, our
crossing would have been a different experience if we did not have the
calm, assured and completely competent disposition of our Skippers
Adrian and Calypso. While most of us have a certain amount of trees and
grass in our blood, I think the constitution of Calypso and Adrian is
born of brisk winds, spindrift and nature unleashed.
No matter how much one reads about Antarctica, educates themselves by
watching documentaries, and contemplates what it might be like through
their imaginings, there is no way we can prepare ourselves for the
actual experience. The experience of being here is surreal, larger than
life, other worldly.
Once we became more used to the rhythm of life on board the sailing
yacht including our participation in around the clock rotating
“watches”, our world become one of constant movement and the blurring of
time. We knew that both finally and before long, the first vestiges of
land that we could call Antarctica should come into view. Our evening
horizons were blurred by sea fog and our first view of land melted in
and out of view. On cue, tiny dry snowflakes began drifting about. Soon
after, Adrian pointed out a massive tabular iceberg some distance ahead.
It was entirely invisible until, suddenly, it wasn’t. It seemed to be
carved out of sea fog. Ethereal, grandiose. As much an expression of an
idea of what we might expect to see in latitudes such as this, as
reality, and both concepts impossibly massive.
A small squadron of Cape Petrels escorted us the rest of the way to
Deception Island, having been our ocean mascots for some distance now.
We knew that Deception Island is a caldera, the watery heart of a
sleeping volcano was to be our anchorage for the next few nights.
Neptune’s Bellows, the entry to the caldera, was guarded on one side by
a watchtower of crumbling rock dusted with fresh snow. The other shore
of the caldera entry rose from sea to sky with an authority born from
fire, earth and ice and scribed an arc into the caldera for miles
defining the shore on that side.
The ramshackle wreckage of an old whaling station at the top of the
beach and stretching for some distance spoke of the hard lives spent
harvesting the most magnificent mammals of the sea. The circle of snow
dusted mountains around us gave us a still and safe anchorage for a few
nights while we explore this area. It seemed strange to be on a ship
that was not moving for a change, but we are all thrilled to be here. It
is amazing. We are here!
Lyle,Vivian,Allison,Kim, Regina, Justine and JF