Vernadsky, Perseverance and a Well-surrounded Anchorage
The Ukrainian Vernadsky station deserves a special mention; it's located on Galindez Island (65°15'S) in the Argentine Islands archipelago. I had given advance notice of our arrival. As we entered the archipelago, we crossed paths with the Perseverance, the sturdy service vessel of Jean Louis Etienne's fantastic Polar Pod project.
We take shelter in a small cove alongside the Boulard, the charter sailboat belonging to our friend Jean Monzo, who has been visiting the area for over 30 years and knows it like the back of his hand.
During the night, the Rantje (a private German yacht we'd met in Puerto Toro) also arrived, making quite a crowd, you might say! There are several reasons for this. In addition to the site's exceptional shelter, it's also a southern limit, accessible without too much difficulty... To go any further, you need a lot more time and the sailing conditions become more complicated.
But above all, what attracts us here is the exceptionally warm welcome extended to us by the station's hosts.
After dinner, the two crews are invited to tour the station (offices, laboratories, equipment, etc.), and learn about the programmes being carried out. Everything is modern and perfectly maintained. This is one of the few bases to remains occupied in winter.
The base commander and members of his team then welcomed us into their large, comfortable lounge (Faraday bar) for a game of pool, and to look at photo albums dating back more than 30 years, with endless discussions on subjects that became increasingly improbable as the hours passed... all fuelled by a variety of drinks and sweets treats. We'd brought some refreshments with us, but everyone preferred the delicious vodka produced at the base. Late at night, fuelled with enough calories to brave the cold, we headed back to our boats.
We are overwhelmed by their kindness and camaraderie. Their country is at war, they're stuck here for months on end, more than 15,000 km from home, inevitably worrying every day about their loved ones, and yet they welcomed us here with such warmth and friendship! THANK YOU. All our best wishes for peace.
Stopover at Wordie House and Sailing North of the Peninsula
The next day, we visited nearby Wordie House, a small former British from the heroic days of the early pionners, open from 1935 to 1954. It is regularly maintained, but entirely preserved "in its original state"; you can imagine the basic conditions in which the pioneers lived, cut off from the world!
Heading north, we came across an impassable pack of ice at the entrance to the Lemaire Channel. We passed west of Booth Island, then diverted to Cap Renard, the spectacular northern entrance to the channel...but the ice was the same, so we were right not to persevere.
Surrounded by Ice in Paradise Bay
After a brief stop at Port Lockroy to drop off some mail, we set off for the beautiful Paradise Bay. Our progress was slowed by numerous ice floes and small icebergs, but it was great to be making progress with so much ice around us. South of Bruce Island, the passage was completely blocked... we made a U-turn to try to get through further on.
We arrived late in the small cove just south of the Argentine station Almirante Brown. The chart sketches are clear: we go around the shoal at the entrance and anchor in 6 metres of water with a line at the stern. It's a superb, very quiet spot surrounded by mountains and glaciers. During the night, BalthazaR rolled heavily from side to side for a long time: an ice cliff must have collapsed nearby. In the early morning, we had a surprise: we were surrounded as far as the eye could see by a very dense pack of impressive growlers and the sea had frozen over. Nothing moved, no current seemed to want to carry them out to sea.
We extricated ourselves with extreme caution; everything was so dense that the slightest extra ice cube could break a propeller blade, which would leave us stuck there. We used the ice pole to push out the biggest boulders, then a few seconds of engine power gained us 5 or 6 meters, and so on for over an hour to cover 500m and find a few stretches of open water.
Circumnavigating Cuverville Island and Anchoring in Enterprise Bay
As we passed, the radio operator at the Brown station offered us the chance to tie up at their pontoon, but not to go ashore. At low speed, we rounded Cuverville Island with its multitude of penguins, a magnificent iceberg graveyard and a few uncharted rock heads.
That same evening, we arrived at Entreprise Bay, where the wreck of the Norwegian whaling ship <i>Governoren</i>, which burned in January 1915 with the oil from almost 400 whales on board, lies stranded and deformed. It's a popular mooring spot for the charter yachts, with a freshwater spring nearby in summer.
We were delighted to see the Boulard arrive, giving the two crews another opportunity to celebrate together their good fortune to be here in paradise. Balthazar has a good reputation for its cuisine, but Jean's wine cellar is unbeatable and he’s the king of Pisco Sour: Sir Ernst's memory was also toasted without moderation.
The next day, in gloomy weather, we set off to discover the many surprisingly well-preserved remains of whaling activity in the surrounding area: small barges used to transport fresh water, a stock of unused wooden barrels intended for transporting whale oil, impressive harpoon heads and mooring chains.
At the start of our third week there, I began to take an interest in the weather forecast for our return passage. A small window quickly appeared, giving us hope that we would be able to round Cape Horn in five to six days, between two low-pressure systems. We set sail and headed towards Melchior Base to gain ground to the west and improve our angle to the wind in the Drake Passage. We set off at the same time as two charter sailboats (the Boulard and the Dutch ketch Tecla), which was encouraging as they knew the area well.
The start of the return journey was ideal; a beautiful moon lit up the icebergs and the acrobatics of a group of whales... but gradually we could see that the window was closing, the two low-pressure systems were getting closer and would certainly merge; (a few days later, Charles Caudrelier, who was leading the Arkéa Ultim Challenge race, slowed down to avoid the resulting monster).
A Detour to Deception Island, between Volcanoes and Katabatic Winds
After a day at sea, we decided to turn back and visit Deception Island, a South Shetland Island more than 130 miles to the east. During the few hours of night, surrounded by several fields of ice floes tossed by the swell, we hove to; we drifted without visibility but without incident, at the same speed as the ice.
Deception is an unusual island, an active volcano whose crater (5 miles in diameter) can be entered via a narrow passage. There is little ice and snow, and the landscape is dominated by rock and gravel heaps. The dominant colour is a dark rusty brown, which looks gloomy in the bad weather that is soon to arrive.
On the starboard side as we entered, we could see the ruins of a large whaling base and followed by the remains of a British scientific station.
The wind, blowing on the nose, was stronger than outside, creating a nasty chop... In these conditions, the only option was to anchor at the other end of the crater in the small Stancomb Cove next to Telefon Bay, where the sketches clearly show how to moor. We anchor in 8 meters of water and had just enough time to hold on to a small rock at the top of the beach before the cove is swept by a violent crosswind: we were swept into the shallows and the small rock has decided to follow us.
Welcome here! In fact, none of the sketch charts mentioned the katabatic winds that were to accompany us here throughout our stay.
We repeated the manoeuvre and, after several hours of effort, we finished safely with 5 mooring lines ashore and 3 anchors set.
Deception doesn't really fit in with the classic image of Antarctica; on the other hand, you can walk for hours, easily access the peaks and see the penguins and sea lions that populate the beaches outside the island.
The Spanish scientific station Gabriel de Castille gave us a warm welcome at teatime. Many cruise ships come here for a short stopover, but we couldn't see them from our cove. The 58-metre three-masted Europa spent the night nearby.
Weather Window and Departure for Puerto William
After four days of bad weather, a new window of opportunity allowed us to start our return to Puerto Williams. Deception, located far to the east, is not the best starting point with westerly winds: for the first 2 days, in light airs and with engine power, we headed as far west as possible. Then a steady 30/40-knot WNW wind kicked in, the weather cleared and the seas were beautiful, well formed with lovely breaking crests.
BalthazaR, on a close reach, cuts through the wind under three reefs and a staysail or storm jib.
The Final Miles, Cape Horn and Our Return from the White Paradise
No sooner had we rounded Cape Horn than the fine weather suddenly returned. A relief.
The crew congratulated each other, we were back from the White Paradise!
Jan VAN OPSTAL
Sailing Yacht BalthazaR
at Cape Horn
