\nGreetings from Grey Wolf<\/em> and Iron Lady<\/em>. We are cruising in dense fog about 1.5 nm apart. Present location is 60 degrees 37 minutes South – roughly 165 nm from the Antarctic Peninsula. Weather has been pretty much as forecast. Last night, we passed thru a weak frontal zone and winds dropped to light and variable. Seas are slight with a gentle long swell. Visibilities have varied but have generally been around 50 meters in fog. Barometer has been falling and seems to have bottomed out at 980 mb. Air and sea temp are now down to around 1 C.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThere was a brief period of darkness that lasted around 2 hours last night. At current speed we will make the pass south of King George Island around 0100 local on January 23rd. We may then need to hold station until first light to get into the Frei Station anchorage.<\/span><\/p>\nWe passed our first iceberg last night. Sun is attempting to break thru the fog now so maybe we will see the next one visually other then on radar.<\/span><\/p>\nThe crew were playing the game Battleship over the VHF yesterday – pleased to report we sunk Grey Wolf<\/em> with only minimal damage.<\/span><\/p>\nCheers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Report from FPB 78-3 Wednesday Jan 23, 2019<\/p>\n
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Pete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nAfter a difficult approach (for me) with inaccurate charts, ice bits and building seas with an approaching system, we are now anchor down in Yankee Bay at 0315 local. Blowing up to 35 knots on the way in. Running on adrenaline.<\/span><\/p>\nFantastic sunrise silhouetting the glacier and penguin colonies in the bay, so had to throw the dinks in to experience the moment.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nToasted the occasion aboard Grey Wolf<\/em> with Shackleton reproduction scotch.<\/span><\/p>\nCannot begin to describe the rush of navigating these difficult waters in our own boat with challenging navigation, and the stark beauty of being here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOff to bed now. More to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Thursday Jan 24, 2019
\nPete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nMade Antarctica landfall around 2115 local on January 23.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Entry into the Nelson Strait at around midnight. Had 3 to 4 knots of current against us with following seas that built into large standing waves as the water shoaled. Those of you who have been in tight quarters in inlets with opposing wind and tide know how challenging this can be.<\/span><\/p>\nMost of the charts here are inaccurate. While they accurately depict the size, shape and relationship between land masses; they are not generally accurate in terms of latitude and longitude. This necessitates using parallel index lines on our radar using prominent land features to establish course and safe distances from land masses based on charted water depths. In the case of Nelson, there was very little margin for error.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
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Once thru Nelson, we proceeded south down the Bransfield Strait to Yankee Harbor. Winds were blowing up to 35 knots with ice bits around so navigation in the wee hours of the morning in almost total darkness was a three person affair, with two lookouts using visual and radar and a helmsman.<\/span><\/p>\n
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We made turn into Yankee Harbor and dropped anchor around 0315 local. While everyone aboard both boats were tired, but the thrill of being at anchor in Antarctica was too much. We put the dinks in the water. Sunrise was spectacular with wonderful shades of purple and pink. Aboard Grey Wolf<\/em>, we all toasted our safe arrival with Shackleton reproduction scotch. A fitting choice.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter a bit of rest, we were all aboard Grey Wolf<\/em> for brunch and a briefing on Yankee Harbor, the rules for observing wildlife, protected areas and boot cleaning to insure no contamination was brought ashore. Then it was to shore to observe the Gentoo penguins and seals. In the afternoon and evening, we watched humpbacks feeding in the Strait close up and did a tour of the glacier at the head of the bay.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter dinner and a very long day, everyone went to bed early except those charged with anchor watch necessary due to the nearly constant flow of ice of from the glacier. Particularly necessary since the weather was forecast to deteriorate over night. We have ice poles aboard to push away the smaller chunks. During the day, we used our dink as a tug to push them away. Overnight, Grey Wolf\u00a0<\/em>had to start her engines to maneuver out of the way of one the size of the boat.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nBy 0530 today, it was blowing 35 with gusts to 50 knots in the harbor with snow and sleet and one meter waves. Glass is down to 974 mb. The surrounding hills are now snow covered. Can’t imagine what it is like outside the harbor. Looks like a day of anchor watch and boat chores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Friday January 25, 2019
\nPete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nWeather subsided late in the afternoon on the 24th, so members of both parties headed to shore in Yankee Harbor to see some elephant seals. Late in the day, several of us joined Grey Wolf<\/em> for a trip to Half Moon Bay (about 6 nm distant from Yankee) to see a colony of Chinstrap penguins and some remains of an old whaling boat. Upon return, Grey Wolf<\/em> could not get back in to Yankee due ice and had to wait outside for several hours.\u00a0Iron Lady’<\/em>s dink was able to negotiate the ice so we were back aboard before Grey Wolf<\/em> could get in.<\/span><\/p>\nFast dinner and to bed as we are all exhausted. Standing two hour ice watches. Wind came up again overnight and the glass is now down to 968 mb. During the 0200 watch, a massive amount of ice came down from the glacier. The next 3 hours were spent dodging car-sized bergs using the engines and bow thruster while still anchored. We were also on deck using ice poles to push some of the smaller ones away. No fun in 35 knots with sleet. Long night. Plan is to head to Deception Island today but first need to get some sleep.<\/span><\/p>\nShort nap. Wind changed direction and all the ice that was past us began to blow back our way.\u00a0 Anchor up and underway at 0700 as it was right on our stern. Back to bed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Saturday January 26, 2019
\nPete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nPlan was to depart Yankee around 1000 for Whalers Bay on Deception Island, so the ice attack simply resulted in an earlier then planned departure. Deception is around 50 miles or a 5 hour steam from Yankee. I slept until 1100 but upon coming on deck, we had clear skies, light winds and unbelievable scenery. A mammoth iceberg was astern of us and the high cliffs of Deception were in front of us.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\nDeception is actually a volcano with a flooded caldera that is around three miles in diameter.\u00a0 Imagine a bowl full of sea water with the surrounding rim some 500 meters high. At the southeastern corner the rim has collapsed and is open to the sea, providing a narrow entrance to the central caldera. It is called Deception because the entrance is deceptive and difficult to see.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nInitially, sealers came here and slaughtered some 500,000 fur seals for their pelts. They effectively wiped out the population and, even today, we only saw a few. They departed when the seal population collapsed, and on their heels came the whalers. They built a significant infrastructure and the remains of that are still present today. After the whalers, several research stations were located here but they were abandoned as a result of volcanic eruptions as late as the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\nDeception is still geothermally active today. Sulfurous hot water springs create clouds of steam along the beach in Whalers Bay. After an explore of the ruins, some hiked to Neptune’s Notch which overlooks the bay. Shore operations were concluded with a traditional Polar Plunge. Most of us stripped down to bathing suits and shorts and took the plunge quite literally. The first few feet were acceptably warm but by the time one was waist deep, the water was getting down to a more polar-like 5C. Swimming didn’t last long but the air was actually quite warm in the bright sun so I actually took the dinghy back to the boat just in my swim gear.<\/span><\/p>\nUnderway this a.m. at 0700 bound for Enterprise Island some 100 nm South. Got some good pics of penguins on an iceberg and whales as we left Deception.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Sunday January 27, 2019
\nPete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nLeft Deception around 0700 as we had a 100 nm passage south down to Enterprise Island at 64 degrees 32 minutes South. Spectacular day with bright sunshine and light following winds. As we proceeded south, the icebergs became more numerous and the terrain much more rugged with high peaks, glaciers and snow fields, especially on the peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\nWe made Enterprise around 7 p.m., as we did some whale watching along the way and that slowed our progress a bit. The inner harbor at Enterprise is home to an old steel whaler which lies half submerged with the bow up. The guides bill this as a hurricane hole though it doesn’t appear to be one from the charts. We had hoped to side tie both boats alongside the wreck which is the preferred thing to do. Unfortunately there was a traffic jam and 4 other boats were already tied alongside, leaving no room for us.<\/span><\/p>\nWe scoured the small bay for several hours looking for alternatives as the next anchorage was 3 hours away and a forecast northeast blow overnight made that untenable. Our final solution was to anchor the boats in a northeast\/southwest direction and stern tie to rocks on the shore. Grey Wolf<\/em> anchored to one shore with her bow pointed northeast and we anchored to the opposite shore with our bow pointed southwest. We each ran two shore lines to the shore behind us and ties off to rocks and bollards that someone had placed there. Apparently we were not the first to come up with this strategy. The boats faced each other about 200 meters apart.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nThe primary remaining problem was two grounded school bus-sized bergs in the bay with us. Our concern was that they would float at high tide and drift down on us overnight. We even gave some thought to lassoing them and dragging them out of harm’s way but abandoned that idea as being too dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\nOur strategy was to toss the shore lines and retrieve them later if we had to move in the middle of the night. We also left the dinks in the water to use as tugs to hold the bergs at bay while we moved the boats.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter we had a great dinner, we were off to bed\u00a0 – it was a long day.<\/span><\/p>\nFortunately, no extraordinary measures were necessary as the bergs stayed put overnight. The blow that was forecast is either late coming or isn’t coming at all- just a bit of snow this morning. Point being, however, that everything could have gone pear-shaped just as easily. Down here you must, of necessity, plan for the worst and be grateful when that doesn’t happen.<\/span><\/p>\nGrey Wolf<\/em> is coming over in about 30 minutes to discuss plans for the next few days.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Monday January 28, 2019
\nPete Rossin writes:<\/p>\n
\nWe took the back channel route from Enterprise down to Paradise Bay. Lots of whales, penguins and icebergs along the way. We anchored up near the Chilean Armada Station at Waterboat in Paradise Bay. The prime spots were once again occupied by two yachts so we had to anchor off and put out shore lines. We actually ended up pulling the sterns of the two boats together for a photo op. Got some pictures but it was late and the light was bad in fog and rain.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nHad to stand ice watches again due to a calving glacier at the head of the bay. That put an end to our togetherness as large bergs drifted down on us around 0600. We had to toss our shore lines and start our engines to negotiate around them but we did not have to pull up the anchor. We had planned to continue south to the Lemaire Strait, but a cruise ship we talked to said it was iced in and impassable. Everyone was actually pretty tired from doing tours, being underway every day and watches all night so we made the decision to spend another night here. With 21 hours of daylight, it is awfully easy to push the limits and get overly tired.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter sleeping in a bit, we were invited to visit the Armada station where they had a small museum documenting the history of Waterboat. The Armada Station has been here since 1950 but is only occupied for 3 months of the year during the summer as it is completely iced in during the winter. The Chileans have all been most hospitable everywhere we have been and we have really enjoyed spending time with them. We are sending postcards from here to folks at home.<\/span><\/p>\nThe station is also host to an enormous Gentoo penguin colony. Many are still nesting with young chicks. There is also an albino penguin here and we are trying to photograph it.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter lunch, we side-tied both boats together with Grey Wolf<\/em> having an anchor down and three shore lines. We will try again to get some good pics of the boat, as the sun is coming out and the surrounding mountains are spectacular. <\/span><\/p>\nTime for an afternoon tour so off in the dink for a bit to actually step on the Antarctic Continent for the first time – all of our landings have been on islands.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nReport from FPB 78-3 Tuesday January 29, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nIce was not a problem overnight and we shared watches as both boats were side-tied together so everyone got a good night’s sleep. We decided to move on today and try for Lamaire, but a passing cruise ship reported that it was choked out with ice and they had to turn back. The ice is already quite thick as we proceed south from Paradise so it is not looking promising. We are only making idle speed due to the concentration of ice. Our alternative is Port Lockroy.<\/span><\/p>\nStopped mid-channel on the way down as it was dead flat. Grey Wolf<\/em> put her dink in to go whale watching and we also did several drone flights to get shots of the boats sitting side by side. Looking forward to seeing the videos tonight once we are at anchor. As expected, Lamaire was not open so we proceeded to Port Lockroy via Canal Peltier, a narrow alternative channel with breathtaking mountains with sheer rock faces falling from 1200 meters vertically to the sea. We stopped and flew the drone again to try and capture the stark beauty of the place. A large humpback surfaced within 15 meters of the boat–our closest contact yet.<\/span><\/p>\n
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We made Port Lockroy around 1800 local and set up the boats to raft together again in the inner harbor. About the time we had everything done and the engines shut down, the glacier at the head of the bay decided to calve off a huge amount of ice which promptly headed across the bay towards us. No choice but to leave the bay for something safer.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nOutside, the Shackleton<\/em>, a research vessel from the Falklands, was anchored off a rocky bar that overlooks the bay. An ideal spot for us but we had to stand off until they departed about 1.5 hours later. No rafting this time–we simply anchored with enough swinging room for the two boats in 40 meters of water about 150 meters off the bar.\u00a0 Forty to 50 meters seems to be the rule here so we are happy to have that big anchor and lots of chain.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nFast dinner and off to bed for me as ice watches are in order and I am on 0400 to 0700.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nJanuary 30, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nAfter a boring ice watch (there wasn’t any), I went down for a snooze and woke up to the sound of large props. A cruise ship came into the anchorage around 0730. Turns out that the Captain of Le Soleal<\/em> was the same ice pilot that was aboard Grey Wolf<\/em> during their charter trip. A bang on our cabin door at 0900 and Jim told us that Grey Wolf<\/em> had arranged for a tour at 0930. After a mad dash to get ready, we launched the dinghies and went across to visit.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nIt was a wonderful tour of the boat by the Captain including all its facilities. On the smaller side, the boat hosts roughly 220 passengers and 150 crew. Our tour included the bridge deck which was most impressive including a fully 3D scanning sonar and the capability to reorient charts to be accurate with the radar. The tour concluded with espresso coffee in the aft salon. It was all most special. Upon returning to Iron Lady<\/em>, our helm station, of which I am quite proud, looked pretty paltry by comparison.<\/span><\/p>\nOnce back aboard, we went ashore to the Port Lockroy station which is run by the British Heritage Trust. It was opened during WWII as a British land claim and during the 1950s and 60s, was converted to a research station doing research into ionospheric radio wave propagation. The station was abandoned in the early 80’s and was reopened by the Heritage Trust. The site has been completely restored with artifacts from the operations during the 50s and 60s. It was most impressive to see the conditions that the staff of 10 people lived under during those times as the station was occupied year around. Now the station is operated by a staff of 6 which are paid by the Heritage Trust to tend the station and museum during the 4 months it is open. The area is completely iced in during the winter.<\/span><\/p>\nThe station is also the southern most post office in the world so post cards to the folks back home were the order of the day. For my two best buddies back home, I procured a bottle of Shackleton reproduction scotch which is produced by the same distillery to the same recipe as the original. Blind taste tests by experts could not tell the difference between the original and the reproduction. We can share a wee dram (or two) by the fire when I get home.<\/span><\/p>\nThe station staff do not have running water, shower facilities or a boat to get off the island so the two boats will host them this afternoon for tea and cookies and a shower if they desire. Later we are planning a small boat tour to hunt for leopard seals.<\/span><\/p>\nSomeone asked about our dress down here. Inside the boat, our hot water Webasto heating system keeps the boat nice and toasty so fleecy tops and pants are the norm. For small boat tours, the charter that Grey Wolf<\/em> did had expedition-style one piece suits that they were selling on the cheap after the charter. We all bought one. They are made by Regatta for the Norwegian Coast Guard and are one piece, weather proof, extremely warm and also provide flotation. They have high visibility reflective patches and colors on the legs and sleeves. All that is required under them is lightweight pants and tops or a thermal layer. To complete things, we wear thigh high insulated rubber boots, weather proof gloves (rubber gloves with fleece linings used by cold storage workers are excellent), along with appropriate head gear to complete things. <\/span><\/p>\nWhile we had hoped for sun today, the fog has just rolled in. The cruise ship advised that no one this year had made it thru the Lamaire Passage, but tomorrow we may head that way just to see the scenery near the entrance.<\/span><\/p>\nMore later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nJanuary 31, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nWe did it!<\/span><\/p>\nWe took a chance as we had light winds and clearing weather and fired the engines off at 0600 and pulled the anchor, bound for Lemaire Passage. We talked to a passing cruise ship and they indicated it was mostly open except at the southern end, so at 1000 hours we entered the passage. It is simply spectacular with snow and glacier-covered black granite peaks rising vertically to some 1100 meters on both sides of the passage. At its narrowest, the passage is only some 400 meters wide. It was glassy calm about midway down the passage so we pulled the boats beside each other and flew the drone to get video and photos of the boats in the passage. At one point, we had just about everyone on the bow of both boats waving for drone photos and video. Should be really spectacular.<\/span><\/p>\nBy all accounts, we are only the third or fourth boats to get thru this season!\u00a0 Understandable as a mammoth iceberg blocked most of the southern end of the channel.\u00a0 Go Team FPB!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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I have had lots of great experiences over my boating career – especially aboard FPBs, but driving Iron Lady<\/em> thru Lemaire at 65 degrees 5 minutes South is at or close to the top of the list.<\/span><\/p>\nThe day started out with a different form of excitement. I was scheduled to come on ice watch at 0300 but Jim started the engines around 0200 and that is not a good sign.\u00a0 Upon coming on deck, he was negotiating around a small cottage-sized iceberg that had come out of Peltier Channel. It made a sweeping right turn and honed in on us like it was laser guided. It proceeded to pass down our starboard side at less then 10 meters away and then grounded on the rocky bar behind us.<\/span><\/p>\nNo more sleep for me after that as I was on watch and we got underway at 0600.\u00a0 Amazingly, there were just a few other large chunks of ice around and only one that I had to push way with our ice poles.<\/span><\/p>\nWe are now headed for Port Chaeot – more later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFebruary 1, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nPort Chaeot is around the corner from Lemaire and was simply a day stop. A number of folks from both boats went ashore and hiked to a Cairn overlooking the bay that honored the explorer who first came to this area. Others went on a dinghy tour of the bay that had numerous Crabeater seals hauled out on icebergs.<\/span><\/p>\nBy 1500, it was time to start the trek back north back thru the Lemaire Channel. Getting back was more difficult then coming down, as brash ice and small bergy bits had accumulated around the southern entrance and the mammoth ice berg that blocked off most of the channel at that end. It required slow and careful going until we were several miles into the channel and then it opened up. There was a fair amount of ice to be dodged all the way back.<\/span><\/p>\nOnce clear of Lemaire, our plan was to head back north to the Port Lockroy area, but a forecast wind change to southwesterly did not favor our prior anchorage. Instead we made for Dorian Bay around the corner from Lockroy. The Admiralty Sailing Directions indicated that the inner harbor was too shallow to enter but, just outside, anchoring could be obtained with fair but acceptable holding in 35 meters. After two attempts, with up to 120 meters of chain out, our big anchor simply skidded over the bottom indicating hard smooth rock. Plan B was to anchor uphill and shore tie the stern to a rocky bar behind the boat. Even pulling the anchor back into the sloping bottom did not work. By now, it was almost 1930 and our only remaining option was to go back to the anchorage where we started the day.<\/span><\/p>\nGrey Wolf<\/em> anchored first and we came along side and side-tied to Grey Wolf<\/em>.\u00a0 Everyone was very tired after a long day and side-tying allowed us the luxury of standing one anchor watch overnight so more of us could sleep thru. With 5 standing watch, two from our boat and three on Grey Wolf<\/em> doing two hours each, we could cover from 2200 to 0800.<\/span><\/p>\nI was fortunately given the night off, so after a quick dinner I went to bed at 2200 after a 19 hour day. I did wake up several times out of habit and went up to check on things. The night was relatively uneventful with only one two-hour ice assault with nothing big or threatening.<\/span><\/p>\nI was the first one up on Iron Lady<\/em> and Peter was up on Grey Wolf<\/em>.\u00a0 He asked me over to see some of the drone video that we shot yesterday. Simon, drone pilot, videographer and Captain, already had some of the footage put to music. It was simply breathtakingly beautiful seeing the two boats gliding thru the Lemaire. It closed with a still shot of the boats side by side with everyone on the bow waving. Brought tears to my eyes.<\/span><\/p>\nNot sure what the plan is for today yet but we are beginning our trek back north and will begin watching weather for the Drake Passage to understand the current pattern for our return past the Horn to Puerto Williams.<\/span><\/p>\nMore later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFebruary 2, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nYesterday morning we set off for a local tour with the idea of ending up at Brown Station for the night. The winds which have primarily been northerly shifted to the south and the day dawned wonderfully clear giving us a clear view of the surrounding mountains. We cruised up the Canal Neumayer which was similar to, but not as spectacular as, Lemaire and got more drone footage.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nThe winds continued to build during the day and by midday, it was blowing 30 gusting to 40 knots. We heard from a few boats in the area that a pod of Orcas was off the north end of Isla Lamaire (not to be confused with the passage). Interestingly, the Orcas here are smaller then their northern cousins and are a yellow brown color as opposed to black and white. <\/span><\/p>\nI took a few hundred photos and sadly only ended up with one or two mediocre ones.\u00a0 Simon, however, flew the drone and got some great shots. I looked at his whale videos this morning – he is truly gifted. Can’t wait to show the folks back home.<\/span><\/p>\nLate in the day, we got to Brown Station and had hoped to anchor up in Skontrop Cove behind the station but a sailboat grounded four times trying to get in. After the third time, we named him Cap’n Crunch. His keel must be a good bit shorter now.<\/span><\/p>\nWe decided to raft up again outside off a glacier with the wind forecast to stay light and keep the bergy bits blowing away from us. Grey Wolf<\/em> ran two shore lines – one from her bow and one from the stern. The bow was held in place by the bow shoreline and the anchor in a “V” shape, and we side-tied to her starboard side.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter dinner, it was already 2200, so it was off to bed with both boats sharing anchor watch. I heard our dink going in at 0600 so took a peak out the port light and saw that we were surrounded by ice. Overnight, the glacier had calved off a massive chunk and the wind, although light, had shifted 180 degrees and the ice was now coming down on us. Fortunately, with the light wind we were able to push even quite large bergs away with ice poles. We also used the dinks as tugs and the mains on Iron Lady<\/em> and Grey Wolf<\/em> to blow them away.\u00a0 Some of the larger ones were the size of school buses.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nA number of people wanted to go ashore to the research station so we dropped them off and proceeded to retrieve our shore lines and negotiate our way out of the ice field, using the tenders to push away the larger chunks.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nSeems every time Peter Watson suggests we are going to have an ice-free anchorage, we get just the opposite. We have now gained new monikers – I am Captain Impatient (who me?) and he is Captain Iceberg. All good fun.<\/span><\/p>\nMore later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFebruary 3, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nBrown Station is Argentinian and they are actually doing research there. It includes a multi-year study of ice fish that were once harvested in this area to near extinction. The effort is to learn more about their life cycle, growth rate and changes in population since they are no longer harvested. There was also an opportunity to stretch the legs by climbing to an overlook above the station.<\/span><\/p>\nOne of the station members was having a birthday so we gave them some supplies and a bottle of wine. All the stations really appreciate a bit of a change to their mostly frozen and canned diets down here. We have tried to oblige.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter everyone was back aboard, we were off to Neko Harbor. Neko is home to massive icebergs, whales and beautiful scenery. The largest berg we saw was 70 meters high and 500 meters square and it was grounded in 150 meters of water. You completely lose the scale of things down here. A glacier and ice cap in the distance appeared to be about one or two miles away, but a cruise ship near it appeared to be the size of an ant. Radar and AIS confirmed that they were over 6 miles away. A large flat plateau some 700 meters high had an ice field on top that had to be 200 meters thick.<\/span><\/p>\nThere were plenty of whales in the harbor and we also got our first close encounter with a leopard seal that was sleeping on a small berg. They are some four meters long with long snouts and very sharp teeth. Their principal diet is penguins and they patrol around and under small bergs waiting for unsuspecting penguins to enter the water.<\/span><\/p>\nAs the day wore on, it was time to think about an evening anchorage. The winds were supposed to go northwesterly overnight. The harbor we had been in at Brown was still ice choked; the inner harbor where Captain Crunch went aground (he was still there) was perfect but too shallow for us to get in after we surveyed it with the dink. The anchorage off Waterboat was exposed to the northwest and a large berg had now grounded where we had anchored. We thought about running to Enterprise but we would not have made the harbor until around midnight.<\/span><\/p>\nIn the end, we settled on Skontrop Harbor just around the corner and south of Brown. The Sailing Directions suggested that it had good holding and protection.<\/span><\/p>\nThe path in is tricky and we surveyed it carefully with the dinks to generate a good AIS track to follow. Grey Wolf<\/em> went in first and set the anchor and two shore lines. We followed Grey Wolf<\/em> in and side-tied on their port side. In each case, we followed one of the dinks in as they called out soundings over the VHF.<\/span><\/p>\nBased on our experience the night before, we decided to stretch one of our floating lines across the cove to keep the small ice at bay. It took about 250 meters and by the time we went to bed, it had done an excellent job catching a two-meter wide band of ice. It was our hope that the northwest wind and outgoing tide would take the ice out with it by morning.<\/span><\/p>\nThat was partially true. Most of that ice was gone but overnight it snowed and two inches covered the decks and there was now pancake ice in the cove. The pancake ice does indeed look like one to two meter round thin pancakes. There were also more bits scattered around the cove and bay.<\/span><\/p>\nPlan is to get underway around 0700 – it will be a bit tricky until we are clear of the ice and the bay. Destination will depend on weather in the Drake as we are now planning our crossing back to Chile.<\/span><\/p>\nMore later – engines just started.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFebruary 4, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nAs we prepared to get underway, the temptation turned out to be too much for the respective crews and the departure devolved into a snowball fight. There was ample time for same, as hauling in all the shorelines and water soaked 200 meter ice boom poly line and stowing it took a good bit of time.<\/span><\/p>\nOnce the shore lines were clear and the ice boom line was stowed, the two boats were free to swing on the anchor which simplified the departure. It was tight quarters as an ice berg gave Iron Lady<\/em> just enough room move sideways off Grey Wolf<\/em> and then spin to come about and head out of the anchorage. After a bit of ice dodging, both boats were off to Enterprise hoping to be able to side-tie to the wreck and get a good night’s sleep.<\/span><\/p>\nOur plan as to head north past Danco and Cuverville Islands but the passage proved to be choked out with ice. We then diverted to the Gerlache Strait which is part of the main north-south backbone of the peninsula. Lots of whale watching and lots more good drone footage.<\/span><\/p>\nWe made Enterprise around 1600, but unfortunately there were already two boats tied up. Not surprising as it had been blowing up to 35 knots in the strait. Grey Wolf<\/em> anchored up and ran a shore line and we side-tied to them. One of the couples that were on a sailboat tied to the wreck stopped by. We first met them in Puerto Williams and have bumped into them on occasion down here. They have done both the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage. That makes our trip from New Zealand to here via French Polynesia, Costa Rica, the Galapagos and Chile look a bit like a trip to the corner grocery store for a loaf of bread.<\/span><\/p>\nLast night, we combined forces for a feast aboard Iron Lady<\/em>.\u00a0 It included manuka smoked roast beef, grilled sausages and chicken, roasted potatoes and pumpkin, homemade coleslaw and fresh fruit with yogurt for desert. After dinner games were enjoyed by all.<\/span><\/p>\nEveryone slept in this morning and we are preparing to get underway later then planned.\u00a0 More later as we are not planning our trip north based on an anticipated weather window opening for the Drake Passage around the 7th.<\/span><\/p>\nCheers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFebruary 5, 2019
\nPete Rossin reports:<\/p>\n
\nPosition S 63 54.39 W 60 48.07<\/span><\/p>\nYesterday we continued our trek back north up the Gerlache Strait with the intention of doing a dinghy tour at Spert Island but that did not work out, due to a swell which made that untenable. Our anchorage for the night was close by in Mikkelsen Harbor so we made for that and put down the hook around 1630.<\/span><\/p>\nThe wind came up overnight and it blew 25 knots with an opposing swell. Had to put out the flopper stoppers – surprisingly one of the few times we have had to do so. Also had our first major kelp encounter – the anchor chain and anchor were pretty much a mess. Fortunately we have a wooden pole with a tree saw on the end to deal with such encounters.<\/span><\/p>\nThe best part of the trip north was a whale encounter. Four humpbacks were lounging on the surface so both boats launched dinks and motored quietly up to them. They were curious and played around and under us within feet of the dinks. I have never been so close to such mammoth creatures. They seemed as intrigued with us as we were with them. A younger one lifted its head out of the water within a few feet of us to get a better look. The encounter was one of the many highlights of the trip.<\/span><\/p>\nToday we are making our long run of about 100 nautical miles back north to Pratt Station which is just north of Yankee Harbor where we first made landfall. Pratt is a Chilean station and