This will be my last entry on this blog since I am now back to reality here in League City.  I have put a few landscapes and ice photos on my website (http://dempseyphotos.com/p87070021).  For now I am working on a formal album to torment visitors to our house.  Animals will come later as I work through my backlog of photos. 

Thanks for participating in my therapy for the past 2 months.  It was the adventure of a lifetime.   If you want a long or short story, I have a million to suit your interest level.  Just let me know.

Bob

Sorry to drop off the face of the earth for a week.  Getting back to reality is a real drag!  I will be posting my photographs to my website (www.dempseyphotos.com) in about 2 weeks.  After that I will discontinue the blog and relax.  Here are a few fun pictures from our expedition. 

The advantage of sailing with a small crew is that you can set your own schedule and do things in groups of 1 instead of 100 like the cruise ships offer.  One thing you can do if you are a little daring is sledding.  Here is a photo of one of our crew tearing down a mountain.  What you can't see from the photo is the end of his ride, which came to a crash in the vast penquin peeing grounds.  He had it coming.

I decided to be the photographer for this, not because the end of the ride looked a bit dodgy, but because you had to carry your sled up to the top of the very steep hill.

Another crazy thing you can do is take a dip in the ocean, where the temperature can actually be below the normal freezing temperature of fresh water.  Here is Kris taking the plunge.  Another activity I opted out of:

Finally, no blog entry would be complete without an iceberg.  This one lingered around our anchorage and necessitated a night anchor watch rotation.  Being up, alone on the deck under a crystal clear sky at 2:00AM was almost worth the cost of the trip by itself.

Calm Water and Whales

Well, I told you we saw whales and could prove it.  Here we are motoring through dead calm waters in the narrow passageways between islands.  The water was perfectly reflecting the mountains and glaciers as we passed on this easy leg of the journey. 

As we entered into a wider bay we were visited by this little guy.  He is a humpback whale, I am guessing about 40 feet long.  He came right up to our boat and circled us for about 15 minutes.  Sometimes he came up within 8 feet of the boat and just looked at us.  He also did some passes under the boat and rolled over as he went beneath us. 

Here he is giving us the 'fish eye'.  Even our seasoned skipper and mate were amazed.  This is an encounter you can't get on a cruise ship (although I believe they have flush toilets and running water).

When I process my photos I will have more shots on my website.  In all, we saw whales about half of the days we were sailing in Antarctica.

Penguins Ahead

Everyone loves the penguins.  I fear that if speak ill of them in any way, I will be put off the boat.  True, they are adorable - - - - upwind.  Downwind adorability is quite another thing.  A penguin is a machine that eats krill, removes all the krill matter that doesn’t stink, then deposits the product on the eternally preserved Antarctica landscape.  On a warm day it positively steams off the snow and displaces every breathable molecule of air.  A penguin colony can be spotted miles away by the pinkish cast of the snow.   

They have no fear of people.  Clearly they do not know what I do.  If you sit still, you will have a visitor walk up to you every few minutes to check you out.  If we were allowed to approach them, I would give one my little camera and see if he actually photographs humans.  It only seems fair.

Penguin chicks are ungrateful little bastards.  Their parents run daily gauntlets of leopard seals to bring them back food.  If the parent doe not have enough the new fledgling will chase it around the colony and mercilessly grab its parents beak to be fed.   By the time they have fledged (?) they are easily as large as their parents.  Watching one of the bloated kids sucking food from its mothers stomach just seems unfair.  But of course, they are adorable.

And, of course, if you misbehave in the penguin colony you will be sent to 'time out'!

Icebergs Ahead!

Icebergs are living things.  They don't just sit inertly in the water waiting for the Titantic.  They are constantly being eroded by water below the surface and wind, rain and snow above the surface.  This means that its size and geometry is constantlty changing.  At some point, the center of gravity moves enough that the iceberg rolls and shoots up out of the water.  That is why is it is not such a good idea to tie your boat to one longer than necessary to obtain your glacier ice for the evening drinks.

Don't believe me?  Here are 2 photographs taken 20 seconds apart.  We were returning to the boat in the Zodiac when we started to see movement next to our anchored boat.  In the 20 seconds between these 2 exposures the iceberg rose 10 feet out of the water and dropped a 200 pound chunck of ice (see upper right of second image) near our boat.  Our captain was on the boat to conduct the panic.

These things are awesome.  We could watch them all day and night.  I will select a few of the more interesting icebergs for the next entry.

During the Drake Passage crossing I intended to take a wide angle photo from the stern of the boat that would capture the boat rising and breaking the swells in the heavy seas.  That picture would have been awesome.  Two things prevented me from getting that shot for you.  The first was the technical issue of getting salt spray on my camera and the difficulty of low light in the overcast skies.  The second was that it was wicked scarey and cold.  So it was difficult for me to get the shot while I was curled up in the fetal position crying like a little girl (well, in fairness to me I was not quite that bad).

A pretty calm moment:

So here is an even more horrible story that I may have alluded to along the way.

On the second day of the crossing, one of the crew blocked up the only toilet on the boat.  The captain punished us with an alternative to bathrooms, which he refers to as “the outside toilet”.  The concept is that you lash yourself to a suitable fixture on the boat then lean or squat over the stern deck platform (about 6 inches above the sea) and enjoy the fresh 0 degrees C air as you do your business.  To demonstrate that this is perfectly possible, he availed himself of the facility on the night watch and stepped down on the stern platform.  The rest he recounted to his first mate in a quiet and solemn tone and she subsequently passed on to us with a bit of a lighter take. 

Being that a number 2 was required, he pulled down his pants to the knees and then stepped back to the edge and squatted.  During the actual physical motions, so to speak, the only rogue wave of the night washed the entire platform.  One can only imagine the shock to the system as such a wave washes over you at 2:00AM.  Nevertheless, he ensured that we all had the opportunity before the toilet could be repaired.  Of course at a early point, the crew revolted and insisted that a bucket be provided in the head and then carried out to the stern for disposal.  This is a bit demeaning, but preferable to the Southern Ocean b’day concept recommended by management.  Initially the process of carrying out a bucket of stuff out to the deck was a bit embarrassing.  After a day or two, we comfortably passed the bucket to the person on watch for handling.  No digestive secrets on this boat.   Still, for 9 people that soon got old.  After about a week, we found a calm harbor where Grant was able to redo the entire plumbing system.  He was our hero for a few hours! 

Search for the culprit that blocked the toilet in the first place continues.

We made it back to Houston yesterday at 7:00AM.  Now that I have spell checkers, a computer and a flat stable surface I will try to fill in the details and prove that we actually did this.  Right now, I don't entirely believe it.  So, let's start with the boat:

This is my first mate, June, starting to layer up for the journey.  Actually, the weather as we depart from Ushuaia was cool and calm.  Hard to get great pictures from a boat that you are on, so I will give you a link here to the Spirit of Sydney website, www.spiritofsydney.net, in for more details. 

And here is a photo of Pascal, our actual boat first mate, organizing the sails as we depart for the Beagle Channel.  In the foreground, with dreadlocks, is Kris, an amazingly enthusiastic and optimistic young man from Martha's River, Australia.  Grant, our captain, has his back to us and the third man in the cockpit is Doug, a 59 year old Aussie from Melbourne.

And here is Jess, our Aussie emergency room nurse, who is demonstrating the 'survival suit'.  Apparently if you have 15 minutes to suit up, this doubles your chance of surviving a fall overboard in the Southern Ocean from 1 percent to 2 percent.  Poor Jess, the Drake Passage was not kind to her.  Her head is in a bucket for most of our pictures of her over the next 5 days.  I will spare you those photos. 

First anchorage, all is calm and perfect in the world:

We arrived back in Ushuaia, Argentina yesterday.  Our crossing was brutal for the first 2 days then settled down for the last 2 and a half.  While we have been at sea I have been sending short email updates to my son for posting on this site.  I have been unable to post photos until now.  Traveling today back to Houston.

I will begin posting photos of the amazing places and things we have seen along the way, just to prove we really did this.  Even our adventurer skipper and biologist first mate saw things they haven't seen before in their extensive travels (which includes stays in the Arctic and Antarctica of more than a year at a time.  More on this latter.

Our journey photos will follow when I can get to my computer.  Here a a couple of average shots!

Arriving at the Peninsula.

Anchorage at Argentinian 'science' station.

CHAPTER XIV.


Date: 3 March, 6:00am
Location: 55° 51.54' S, 66° 13.38' W

Leaving Drake Passage now.  Just off night watch.  Clear sky, milky way from horizon to horizon.  Expect arrival in Ushuaia about midnight.  Will stay on boat this last night then pack up and go to hotel in the morning.

CHAPTER XIII.


Date: 2 March
Location: Lat 58° 01' S, 65° 31' W

Wind 20 knots, still motoring.  Weather clear, seas calm.  Not much else to report.  I have been a bit seasick, but not badly.  Desperately awaiting real shower in Ushuaia.  Looks like we will make landfall at Beagle Channel about mid afternoon tomorrow(Saturday).

CHAPTER XII.

Date: 1 March
Location: Drake Passage

Calm seas, motoring into headwind.  Still looks like Saturday arrival in Argentina.

CHAPTER XI.

Date: 27 February
Location: 64° 19.239' S, 62° 54.981' W (Melchior Islands)

Last day at this anchorage before entering the Drake Passage.  Weather looks good with optimum wind; However, we will be sailing into the wind, so the ride will be bumpy.  Grant and Pascal are pleased with the outlook, but Pascal has been going around the berths installing the harnesses that prevent sleeping passengers from being thrown out of their bunks.

Today we are making meals for the crossing and preparing our areas so stuff doesn't go flying.

Out of rum.  Ate weakest crew member yesterday.

Sending emails while sailing may be a problem.  I may miss an update before our expected arrival in Beagle channel on Saturday.

CHAPTER X.

Date: 25 February

Location: 64° 19.237' S, 62° 54.981' W (Anchored at Omega Island)

Waiting for weather window for the 500 mile Drake Passage crossing north.  We expect to be here two nights then head out, weather permitting.

I will begin posting photos to prove we did this on March 4th.  Another cold day but with first cloud we have seen in a week.  Uneventful sailing day, but have minor medial issue with one of passengers.  Doug (60 year old Aussie) believes he has an abscess tooth.  He has been in considerable pain and we are considering options, which include requesting help from cruise ship.  We have a nurse on board and a supply of various antibiotics.  Someone who shall not be named supplied a Vicodin dose and it did wonders.  In any case we are happy this passenger is sedated (long story).

Our nightly routine is to send kayaks out to collect glacier ice for drinks.  So far my supply of Appleton Dark rum has been the best received.  Nothing says sailing like rum, even in Antarctica.

Our skipper, who I now believe is Superman, pointed out he mountain he climbed.  He is one of only ?? people to have climbed this peak, but the only person to snow board down.  He and his wife also showed us two of their children's puppet videos that they produced, and they are awesome.  By the way, when discussing options for ailing passenger, our first mate recounted her experience drilling a persons tooth and replacing a filling.  If necessary, they could  easily remove an appendix.  These people are not like us.

I learned something today.  Aussies never say "throw another shrimp on the barbie".  The exclusively say prawn.  Also, notwithstanding the Foster's Lager ads, apparently no one in Australia drinks it.  But to be honest, this sounds like the observation that 'no one goes to that restaurant any more, it is too crowded."

Amazing adventure so, far.  I could write a book.

Bob

[note from the editor]  I can confirm from travels in Australia and New Zealand that indeed, nobody appears to drink Foster's.

CHAPTER IX.

Date: 22 February

Location: 64° 54.179' S, 62° 51.907' W 

Weather continues to be fine, but  cold.  Highlight for boat today was leopard seal catching and eating a penguin.  Missed this one with camera.  French boat still shadowing us.  Kind of like those freeloaders that follow paid tour groups at a discrete distance.

Last night we were terrorized by an iceberg until sunset (10PM).  After many attempts to reposition anchor, we finally settled on lasoing the iceberg and lashing it to a shore structure about 100 feet away.  This iceberg was approximately the size of a garage.  Great fun.  These anchor watches are

getting old.

We have an Aussie crew member on board who loves to cook.  This morning: scones, tea and coffee. Awesome.

We will stay at this anchorage one more day then sail for Port Lockroy.  After that we head back North to Ushuaia and home.

Verdict so far - Amazing scenery and wildlife.  For my crew mates, I am a bit leery about describing them just yet.  But many very interesting characters. Working as crew is demanding.

CHAPTER VIII.

Date: 21 February
Location: S 64° 49.351, W 62° 51.317

That's odd, yesterday I was having a conversation with two other crew on shore.  After a few moments I looked around and found a penguin had joined the group.  They have less fear of people than I do.

Ok, for the past 3 days we have been followed by a French boat.  I think it is a matter of the skipper sponging off our professionally prepared itenerary.  Tomorrow we will give them the slip.

On sail today we were joined by a humpback whale, who swam around our boat about 10 feet from the boat.  He did flips under water and came up frequently to check us out individually.  In the clear water we could see his entire body, about the size of the boat.  I have photos to prove it when i get back.

Most of crew getting along, but it is starting to get interesting.  I will write more extensively on them, but first, our captain.  He is a New Zealander with the most impressive sailing resume imaginable.  His partner, Pascal, is a French Canadian woman with too much energy.  They run a tight ship, and we are expected to pull our own weight or we are held accountable.  Last night we enjoyed two hour anchor watches through the night.  Icebergs threaten us from time to time.

On the happy side of anchor watch duty, we had a crystal clear night with the Milky Way visible like I have never seen.  Indescribable to be sitting on the deck alone at 3:00AM and watching the sun starting to rise.

The unhappy side is that I can just see the luxury cruise ship on the horizon.

Visited Chilean Naval station today.  Most gracious hosts.  Amazing.

CHAPTER VII.


Date: 20 February
Location: S 64° 41.324, W 62° 38.123

Second day at anchorage.  Perfect weather.  Whales and penguin colony.  The boat seems to be cursed.  Today the backup motor for the zodiac failed.  Pending repair, we must row to shore.  Anchorage also suseptable to passing icebergs.  This requires us to man anchor watches thru the night.  About every hour the person on watch must push off passing icebergs.  Nights are very cold.

I introduced the crew to Jamaican rum two nights ago.  They left the cabin in less than ship shape, which earned us all a dressing down from the captain.  Still, how can you sail without rum?

Many interesting characters that I will cover in more eloquent detail when I can get proper email access.

CHAPTER VI.
Alive!

Date: 17 February

Location: 64°09′S 60°57′W

After a 14 hour sail into the freezing wind, arrived at the Argentine science station, Primavera Base.  The arrival at sunset was the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen.  We chose an anchorage that seemed clear of icebergs and called it a night.

Morning of 2/16 woke to find the boat surrounded by medium size icebergs, up to the size of a semi truck.  It looked safe, so our Kiwi captain called the base and asked for permission to visit.  I am pretty sure he ordered a combination platter, but they seemed to welcome us.

Let me say that there are some great jobs, but working at an Argentine science station, studying leopard seals for the Antarctic summer must be at the top of the list.  They gave us a tour and shared some adventure stories.  By the way, everywhere we go we get the same reaction 'you must be crazy' from the people we meet.  The station was pleasant, of course good weather helped, and they had working toilet!  Yes, we are on day 5 of no toilet.  We will be at an anchorage for the next 2 days, so the captain will have no excuse.

Every day we see whales, penguins, seals, and birds. Photographic evidence to follow on return.

On return to boat, the iceberg near the boat rolled and cracked apart. It was quite dramatic.  This particular iceberg was the size of small house.

We sailed south this afternoon and tied off to the wreckage of an old whaling ship.  We

are at 64 deg 32.415 S and 61 deg 59.904W.

I will write more about cruising companions on return.  A nearly perfect selection!

Tomorrow 3 of crew plan to swim.  Not sure why.

CHAPTER V.
Radio Silence

No transmissions from the adventurers for the past few days.  Let's assume that the Kraken has migrated south and devoured them all.

CHAPTER IV.
Landfall!--The Locals

Date: 13 February
Location: Deception Island

Made landfall today.  On the way in, we were surrounded by a pod of feeding humpback whales.  They surfaced within 10 feet of boat and occasionally went just under the boat.  Quite spectacular.  Greeted by penguins jumping.  We will be anchoring tonight in the caldera of a volcano.  A penguin colony of 500,000 will be joining us.  We are anchored for 2 days, about 5 miles from an Argentina science station.

CHAPTER III.
Alert the Italian Navy--Further Bathroom Updates--Dereliction of Duty

Date: 13 February
Location: En Route to Deception Island

Bob reports: "Coffee is instant and tastes like it..."
I have notified Italian Navy that there may be need for an emergency espresso drop.  They assured me a drop would not be a problem, should the situation become more dire.

Doug Haass asked: What do you think the odds of having 10 buckets are?
Bob reports: "We have 9 souls on board, 1 bucket.  Nothing private anymore."

This transmission was cut short because "I am supposed to be watching for iceburgs, we have radar and the sky is clear."

CHAPTER II.
Great to Well


February 12

We are well, but behind schedule due to lack of wind.  Crossed 60 degrees South latitude today.  The wind has fallen off and we are now motoring only.  At least this means calm waters.  Two of our fellow crew have just recovered from two days of severe motion sickness.  We are now scheduled to arrive at our first Antarctica landfall, Deception Island.  It is an active volcano.  Should be interesting.

CHAPTER I.

Mutiny on the Mainland--Southernmost Dempseys--Frosty Relief

Concerning the current authorship of this blog:  I, the most honourable James Dempsey, have seen fit to relieve my dear sister from the burden of faithfully recounting the facts of my not-quite-aged parents' adventure to the frozen wastelands of the south.  In addition to the dry facts, which fully intend to enhance (where necessary!), I'll also provide commentary (in and out of the style of Mark Twain himself), facts, and allusions to passages from "The Innocents Abroad," ( which I'll assume from this point on, you have obtained and are reading.)  I'll make every attempt to entertain you while my adventurous parents are outside the far reach of the Internet, but should this blog bring upon you the exquisite agony which one might only expect from having a shave by a French barber, please feel free to notify me in the comments section and we will engage the creative talents of my dear sister to convey the adventure from that point on.

February the 11th finds our pleasure-cruisers solidly staking their claim their newest accolade: "Southernmost Dempseys."  Having departed Ushuaia, they are currently making their way across the most unforgiving Drake Passage.  Sir Francis Drake, you will recall, is not only famous for circumnavigating the earth in 1577, but also for capturing and plundering the Cagafuego (in English: "Fireshitter") which was carrying an undisclosed amount of treasure.  While the Queen didn't allow Drake to disclose the value of the treasure, we do know that Drake stated that his backers received £47 for each pound invested, which is a 4,700% return even with the portion appropriated by the Queen.  Those interested in examples of Drake Passage weather can check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jld5pIUKhCE

Of their vessel, our adventurers have said that no expense has not been spared to make it comfortable.  Having had the pleasure of inspecting similar conveyances, I can safely say that there is not enough room to swing a cat in, at least with entire security to the cat.  Among the expenses spared appears to be a functioning toilet, which has been has been non-functioning for the past twelve hours.  Viable alternatives appear to be limited to a bucket and direct contribution to the sea.  I have requested details on anyone brave enough to endeavor to warm the sea directly.

Their unembellished and uncorrected account can be read below:

We are doing great.  neither of is seasick.  Wa are 2/3 of way across the

drake passage.  light wind, sa

Seas about 2 meters.  hard to write on boat due to pitching.  we will

reach calm waters of antarctica tomorrow.  happy with all crew mates,

but accumulating some every day.

No exspense has not been spared to make this boat comfortable. It is a

true working boat.  The tioilet in the only bathroom blocked and out of

service for past 12 hours.  The first suggestion to just pee off the

stern platform was rejected by almost everyone.  Now we have a bucket

that we must carry away and dump.

During our hike yesterday, we stopped in a small café up on the mountain.  Health and building inspectors had not been there recently, but it was an amazing little place.  One of the staff there was listening to music on his cell phone.  He had improvised a cheap amplification system that worked like a charm.  I can’t describe it, but here is a picture:

This seriously works!

We just wrapped up our second day in Ushuaia.  This is a very pleasant town, but I will have to say that people here are not in a hurry to get things done.  On the other hand, here is the view from a point 100 feet in front of our hotel room.

We took a small hike today up to a glacier that is about 3 or 4 miles out of town.  Spectacular views and great weather.  Here is a are two images from our trip.  The first is a grand view of the glacier and the second is the "grumpy old troll" that lives under the bridge.

We will soon depart from Ushuaia and once on the boat, we will only be able to send text updates.  So I will try to keep it interesting.  If you get bored waiting for our pictures, go back and read that book I recommended.

Bob

Ok we made it to Ushuaia last night.  According to Google we traveled 6017 miles.

There is not much I can add to the endless horror stories about flying today.  Pick up any travel magazine and you will get the drift.  But I will have to say that it just doesn’t seem fair when June can curl up into a 2 ft by 2 ft seat, pull a blanket over her and sleep for 9 hours of a 10-hour flight.  Seriously, if she pulls that on the way back there is a real danger that someone might spill a drink on her.

Here is a ‘before’ photo of us on the bus between the 2 airports in Buenos Aires.  The second photo is Ushuaia from the air after I was supposed to turn off all electric devices.


 So far, so good.

We depart from Houston in a few hours so I am a little light on photographs so far.  To compensate, here are 2 links from one of last years sailings published by Phil Wickens, a British photographer and mountain climber.  I classify these links as a 'happy link' and a 'sad link'.  For those of you that want to feel the wonder of an Antarctic sail, click the first link.    For those of you that get some degree of satisfication from the greater suffering of others ('shadenfreude' as our German brothers would say) click the second link.   Go ahead, you know you want to.

http://www.philwickens.co.uk/Movies/Escape_From_The_Ice/

http://www.philwickens.co.uk/Movies/Sailing_to_Antarctica/

My apologies to Mark Twain for associating my humble Antarctic expedition blog with his masterpiece, The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869.  If you haven't read it, stop reading this blog now and come back when you are done.  The only similarity between my blog and Mark's book is that they are both accounts of a sailing adventure and the people encountered along the way.

During the next 8 weeks I will be recounting our trip sailing on 'The Spirit of Sydney'.  I cannot promise you Mark Twian's literary craftsmanship, but I do promise no references to Gilligans Island or similar cheesey devices.  I will post photos until we are at sea, then publish a more comprehensive gallery when I am able.  I will be able to post text updates while at sea. 

The adventure begins.