DEPARTURE

Throughout the day the vessel was cleaned and prepared for arrival of the new passengers.  Some of us arrived to Ushuaia early this morning we found a small town in a wonderful setting.  The town, setting is near the shores of the Beagle channel surrounded with snow capped mountains, and flashy greenery which combined makes a stunning landscape.

At the arrival to the vessel we got assigned several duties, ranging from registration, turning our medical forms, collect our blue jacket, a mandatory safety drill.  Later we set sail through the beagle channel, and on the upper deck we had a reception and we meet the officers and expedition team members.  It was a long day, but now is where we started our exciting new adventure.

Gone fishing

Overnight we sailed north back around Adelaide Island into Crystal Sound arriving at the norther end of Crystal Sound and Fish Islands near Prospect Point around 0830. 

The sun was shining and the magnificent peak towering above Fish Islands was in full view. The Fish Islands are a group of small low laying islands that are home to 4000 pairs of Adelie Penguins as well as Blue-eyed Shags. 

The chicks are now almost fully fledged and many have already taken to the water. But we all enjoyed the comical haircuts of the chick still left on the island. 

There was also still a lot of parent-chick interactions and feeding. Some of us enjoyed a scenic kayaking whilst others went cruising seeing at close quarters Minky Whales and Crabeater Seals.

After lunch we headed further north through the Grandidier Channel full of ice floes and bergs to Petermann Island. 

We got there in the late afternoon and started immediately with all the activities: landing for all passengers, kayaking for some, and cruising in Iceberg Cemetery for others. 

Just as its name says, this shallow waters between Booth and Planeau Islands is full of beautifully shaped grounded icebergs and very often, like today, we get to see many Crabeater Seals resting on the ice floes. 

The camp was also prepared during the landing and a lucky bunch went over to Petermann Island to spend the night in the company of penguins and a Fur Seal.

Sunny day in Marguerite Bay.

We started early in the morning with landing at Stonington Island. Greeted by hundreds of Antarctic terns which built their nests here, we were slowly walking between two bases located on the island. American Base East and British Base E, both abandoned since many years, gave us an opportunity to see how humans lived in Antarctica in mid 1940s (Base East) and mid of 1970s (Base E).

Afternoon we were at Horseshoe Island. Also here, an old and now abandoned British Base Y is situated. The small bay inside the island is still frozen and many seals were sunbathing on the ice.

Some of us enjoyed snowshoeing, Polar Cirkle Boat cruising, kayaking and camping.

Windy Detaille

We had planned a landing this morning at 0830, but the strong winds didn’t allow us to carry on with it. Detaille is located at the entrance of a deep fjord where the winds are accelerated due to catabatics coming down from the surrounding picks and glaciers. This morning they reached the 35 meters per second, so any attempt was impossible.

The landing was replaced by onboard lectures. We also went out on decks to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Our ships photographer took a group photo of us all and at 1400 we had the visit of King Neptune himself. He welcomed us at the South Polar Circle and baptized many of our passengers by pouring some ice cold water down their backs.

In the afternoon we sailed the west coast of Adelaide Island to reach our next destination for tomorrow: Marguerite Bay, where, if the weather allows it, we plan to do several landings and activities. So cross your fingers for us!

Lemaire Channel & Yalour Islands

We left Neko this morning around 07.30, right after the campers were back on board. We had a calm day before lunch and people were enjoying the beautiful scenery as we went through the Lemaire Channel. As we entered the channel the clouds broke up and we had sun and blue sky pretty much the rest of the day. In the channel there was plenty of wildlife, we saw a lot of Crabeater seals and several Humpback whales.

Around 14.00 we arrived at todays landing sight, Yalour Islands. It´s a small group of islands with a wonderful scenery surrounding it and several small colonies with Adelie penguins spread around the Island. The kayak group had wonderful conditions during their tour between small islands and big icebergs and the cruising group could enjoy a close encounter with several Humpback whales. The Humpbacks  put on a fantastic choreographed display for the lucky cruisers.

In the evening we headed south. According to plan we will cross the Antarctic Polar Circle tomorrow!

Our first penguin rookery.

Today in the morning we landed on Danco Island. The island is a home to almost 1000 pairs of Gentoo penguins. First time during the cruise we were able to see how penguin nest is constructed and how penguin nestlings look like!

 Afternoon we were in Neko Harbour. It was our first, but not last, landing on Antarctic Continent itself. Also here  we meet with few hundred of Gentoo penguins. Most of us went high up, in to the view point, to see beautiful glacier scenery of Antvord Bay.

But the day is not over yet. After dinner kayak trip and camping on the Antarctic Continent will take place.

The Great Wall

The Drake continued to be calm, beautiful clear skies soon changes to fog as we approached the South Shetland Islands. Preparations for landing continued with the fitting of our muck boots and the mandatory IAATO briefings.

We first sighted land as we went through Nelson Strait and turned to the East towards King George Island, where we made our first landing of this trip at the Chinese Station Great Wall. One of our passengers has overwintered at Great Wall and was the first to land with the Expedition Team. His arrival to the station was warmly welcomed by his former colleagues. We all very much enjoyed seeing the reality of life in Great Wall Station after having seen and heard much about it at home. The cool wind and overcast skies did not dampen our spirits, and specially this, our first landing in Antarctica.

After finishing the landing the Captain turned Fram towards the south and we headed across the Bransfield Strait in preparation for our landings tomorrow. After diner the Expedition Team and Crew modeled the latest garments from the MV Fram shop in the (in)famous fashion show.