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.