Unfortunately by the time we arrived, the wind and forecast had changed to a South Westerly which opened up Ferguson Bay to the winds and swell. So anchoring here was out of the option. Sailing back up North did not look good either with a huge storm sweeping over South Georgia and the northern of the South Sandwich Islands […]

Once nighttime fell we switched on the radar to detect bigger bergs and the ice light on the bow to spot smaller bits in time to alter course and avoid impact. (…)

The South Sandwich Islands are the most remote and inhospitable part of the UK Overseas Territories, which means they’re also the most data-deficient […]

[…] The wind starts to "scream" when its speed exceeds 45 or 50 knots as it interacts with the ship's rigging. But the wind also tells you its own story. The arrival of an intense depression is announced by a marked drop of the surface pressure we usually record on board with a barograph.

[…] One of the many challenges Ocean Yachtmaster students face during this voyage is to find Gough Island in the middle of the South Atlantic.

The challenge is to do it as the navigators before us, combining two traditional navigation techniques: celestial navigation and dead reckoning.

[…]

[…] Twenty-four hours later, we were around the majesty of the capes. Sudden blizzards and squalls prevented us from landing on its island that afternoon. Which we did the following day in a weather window after spending the night very nearby, hidden in Skip’s bullet-proof cave in the Wollaston Archipelago.

[…] Zavodovski Island, classed as an ‘active volcano’ and degassing continually contains probably the largest aggregation of any large vertebrate species in the world. In other words, it’s bigger than all of the great migrations of Africa and it’s probably only swarms of locusts or swarms of krill that could scoop it for the record.

Speaking for myself, every single breath of these westerly winds was soaked up and deeply enjoyed and I felt extremely fortunate traveling with this fine pack of life-artists and pro-adventurers. On top of the scientific success, this expedition leaves the deepest part of me enormously grateful and unbelievably happy.

[…] We had successfully embarked on the shore with all that equipment, only because this fortress of an island had a ‘key’ which was discovered decades ago by Dion’s father Jerome.

[…] The whole team worked together like a well oiled machine. Justino and me unloading boxes from the big boat into the dinghy, Tor and Dion transferring the load from Vinson of Antarctica to the shore, where Skip and the shore team hauled up the boxes with climbing ropes and carried them to the chosen camp site.

(…) As a safety officer (Expedition Leader in the parlance) I have to call the landing ‘yes or no’ with input from Dion Poncet who knows these islands better than anyone and will be doing the critical dinghy driving.

All these scenes are in a loud and penetrating symphony of cries, calls, and sounds. Witnessing this powerful and ancient scenography makes anyone reflect on the essential and rudimentary life cycle. Birth, youth, death, genetics, hunger, desire, feed or starvation, power, loss.

Tussac provides food and shelter to almost every bird and mammal native to the Falklands and happily grows in high acid soils- of which the Falklands has plenty of. The perfect plant for our large scale coastal restoration project. […]

[…] As Thies and Kikih told us, while Antarctica, South Georgia, and Patagonia catch you instantly, the Falkland Islands slowly "grow" on you.

Time flies!

Its been five months since I stepped off Vinson of Antarctica at Cape Town harbour after 27 days at sea and the experience is still fresh in my mind.

For me the Alternative Shackleton Traverse was unfinished business. We came to try it in 2014 but were turned back by snow, rain and 60 knot winds. […]

I was savoring the coffee and toast when Skip called down from the hatch – “ roust out, we need some hands up here sorting out the docklines. ” […]

[…] Whether this was a better route than Shackleton’s, I’ll never know. What I do know is it was absolutely brilliant and we had the most amazing time. We got to Stromness and I didn’t want it to end. I wished we could have turned around and done it all again.

You don’t find outings like this at your exclusive high class travel agents. Thrilling, unique, physical and highly recommended but not for the feint hearted. […]

Because of the remoteness of the island, the only way to attempt and accomplish such an ambitious adventure is to have a capable vessel in support – and the old adage of “shjps are only as good as the men (now persons) who sail in them,” never holds more true. […]