16/02/2020 – Sunday
We left Port Lockroy after a very interesting night – strong winds and
ice hitting the hull intermittently throughout. We travelled towards
Booth Island through the Peltier and Lemaire Channels. Some parts of the
Lemaire were quite narrow, creating a bottleneck for ice floes and
bergs. At one point, Adrien had to climb the mast (not too far up) to
look for a safe passage through the ice. For me, and I suspect most of
the expeditioners, this was the epitome of the Antarctic landscape –
huge snow covered mountains rising steeply upwards from the narrow
channel, with glaciers all around and ice floes and bergs covering the
channel. Absolutely spectacular!! I suspect pictures will not do the
Lemaire Channel justice.
We moored at Booth Island near a penguin colony that is both Chinstrap
and Gentoo, and watched the penguins traversing “penguin highway” from
their colonies up at the peak down to the water’s edge. The highlight of
the day was a walk for trekkers on Booth Island. The majority of the
crew walked and part climbed to the highest point in the cove. After a
short trek, they were rewarded with amazing views of Leopard and
Crabeater Seals on icebergs, and a very scenic coastline. The island was
covered with much less snow than previous seasons, and paths once
covered with snow were now exposed and impassable. The trekkers ended up
walking much further than expected, which wasn’t a bad thing given the
previous two days of minimal activity.
Post from Denise
February Trip 2020
