Crossing the Drake Passage on the Anne-Margaretha!
22 February 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
Crossing the Beagle Channel
It started to become real when we loaded our gear into the taxi in Ushuaia, and headed to the old port in the harbour to board Anne-Margaretha, our home for the next 25 days. We are Sally and Alan Smith from Sandspit, New Zealand. We have our own small cabin on this beautiful vessel, every inch of which was built by her owner Heinz. Built of steel and built to take the weather, a very reassuring vessel to be doing this amazing journey on.
We unpacked and stowed our gear, made up our bunks, met the other passengers then all of us walked back into town to clear customs. We departed around 6pm and motored in a flat calm sea to the anchorage of Harberton arriving around 1am. Al and I were on anchor watch from 12 till 1am, but we weren’t anchored till the end of our watch. We stayed up another hour to keep Paul company as he was next on duty. Heinz runs this ship very tightly and very safely. He is a very understated man of many talents. We are going to learn a lot on this voyage.
(photo: Harberton)
Awake and raring to go at 8am, breakfasted then ashore in the dinghy to explore this little settlement. We discovered that it was in fact a tourist attraction, with a penguin colony of about 5,000 nests just around the headland. We are expecting to see lots of penguins when we hit the Antarctic land mass so we declined the offer of a guided tour and just watched a small group of scientists dissecting a penguin instead.
There is an amazing museum here with a massive collection of sea mammal skeletons and bird skeletons. It has been a research station for many years. The museum was beautifully laid out with paintings around the walls of every species of dolphins, whales and seabirds, many with their reconstructed skeletons set alongside them. We learnt about the differences and similarities between subjects and most interestingly the similarity to a human skeleton. For example, the flipper of a dolphin has arm bones, wrist bones and finger bones just like a human but different in scale. Hope to visit for longer on the way back from Antarctica.
We headed out at midday, motoring in flat calm conditions along the Beagle Channel towards Drake’s Passage. We saw our first whale, a minke and were then visited by two large schools of dolphin which played around in our bow wave, leaping over the waves, throwing themselves out of the water, showing off and just being joyful. Lots of photos were taken
We had what was to be our last hot meal for a few days, then we were organised into three watches of three people plus a watch leader. Each watch was on duty for 4 hours then off duty for 8 hours. Al and I got the 4 till 8 watch which meant sun rise and sunset, though the weather was too overcast for good photos.
Unfortunately, as we headed out we could see in front of us a horizon which said big waves. As the boat started to rock’n’roll, people started going down like flies with seasickness. Many of our passenger group of 11 were incapacitated and forced to stay in bed. We had just enough still available to run skeleton watches so it was a bit like a ghost ship. It was cold out and on the first night quite wet as well. Helming on this ship is vastly different to helming on our own little yacht. Anne-Margaretha is heavy and has a long keel so the reaction time when you turn the wheel is slow but steady.
The wind was from the west initially then turned south west during the night. The waves were big, almost enormous and coming at us from many different angles. In the dark all you could do was keep the ship as near to the required compass course as possible. It was exhilarating sailing and for me a dream coming true. I was at the helm of a large yacht in the southern ocean. I just loved it and was pleased that I could stay on the helm for hours. The watch system rolled on for the next two days. When on watch I saw few people, just my watch leader and either Heinz our Captain, or Sam the First Mate (Helmsman). They were doing 6 hours on 6 hours off around the clock. All we wanted to do when our watch ended was to eat something, mostly bread (home baked) and butter then crawl into bed.
We are now on day 3 of the crossing of the Drake Passage and today everyone emerged from their beds and ate some hot food and there were people. We’ve realised that we don’t need to sleep for 16 hours of the day and that we can do other things on our off watch time, like writing this article for instance or trying to take photos of soaring albatrosses of which
we have seen several different species. Today it is the Wandering Albatross’s turn to visit. What a magnificent sight they are, riding the up currents and flying close to the wave tops. How lucky are we to be here!
In the late afternoon, Heinz, Sam and the watch Leaders gathered on the foredeck and reduced sail by lowering the jib (or if you are Dutch, the fok) and raising in its place a much smaller storm jib. There was a weather system ahead of us, moving from west to east, and packing some big winds. The winds so far had been varying from the high twenties to the high forties and occasionally into 50 knots. Winds of this magnitude had been easily handled so far and helming had been a real joy, but now we needed to slow down to let the weather system pass ahead of us. Heinz didn’t want to be in the ice, in the dark with such strong winds. The boat was hove to for much of the night, then there was a small burst of forward progress and another weather front loomed right in our path so it was back to hove to again for an hour or two.
It’s now 10:15am and we’ve been underway again for about an hour, but steering from inside the wheel house. Too blowy and cold to steer from outside at the moment. The wind is hovering around 40knots. We are lucky to have two options. Nearly everyone has emerged from their cabins for porridge and fresh peaches. Some have returned to bed, others will emerge when the 12 to 4 watch is due. We are about 24hrs from our destination in the South Shetland isles. We have seen only two ships since we left the Beagle Channel, they were cruise ships, travelling a lot faster than us. It seems we are all alone down here in this bit of the Southern Ocean. What a thrill!
Sally
Sally continues her adventures on the Anne-Margaretha!
25 February 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
24 February 2015, Land Ahoy!
Storm sail down, fok up and we are motor-sailing with the wind down to 10 to 20 knots. We were hove to (stalled with the jib backed) for a short while last night but as the seas calmed down to an oily swell it was deemed safe enough to make passage at night with a person outside on look-out for icebergs. None were sighted, but land was, on our starboard (right hand) side. Al and I were lucky to be on watch this morning as our island emerged in the distance. The reflection on the underside of the clouds and a thin bright line gave it away. A huge slab of rock and snow named after us – Smith Island. It will take us till dusk to make our chosen destination on Deception Island.
The crew
( photo: Heinz and Greet, the owners and captains of the Anne-Margaretha).
While we gently rock n’roll on, I can take the time to introduce you to the folk aboard. First we have the Captain and one of the 2 owners of Anne-Margaretha, Heinz Wutschke, and our First Mate, Sam, Heinz’s son. Next we have the Watch Leaders, Sigrid, Henrike and Thomas.
On Sigrid’s watch are passengers Sal and Al Smith and Silvya. On Henrike’s watch are passengers Paul, Mimi, and Mariette. On Thomas’s watch are passengers Lieke, Allard and Johannes. As passengers we are not required to stand watch but can if we want. Most of the passengers have found their sea legs now so this morning on our watch we had a full complement for the first time since leaving the Beagle Channel.
It is almost embarrassing to note that the English were in a minority, only three of us, but everyone else spoke English and none of the English spoke any other language. Out of deference to the English speakers on board, English was the language used in general conversation.
(photo: Deception Island, in the NNW our anchoring bay)
As we got closer to Smith Island, land began to appear on our port side. It was deceptive as it was an island that was a perfectly smooth, pure white, shallow dome with a parallel line of puffy white clouds hanging over it. This island is aptly call Snow Island. Off to port we saw our first icebergs, then they began to appear out of the gloom ahead as well. One huge one looked like an ice encrusted frigate to start with then morphed into a shaggy terrier pretending to be the sphinx and finally took on the persona of a grizzly bear as we sailed past it. The wind was gradually increasing as a weather front passed over us. We had a day of iceberg, bird and whale watching. We had a humpback whale surface and dive right next to us, many cape petrels soaring around us, sometimes a penguin and the occasional black browed albatross.
Deception Island
The wind was now gusting up to 50 knots accompanied by snow but thankfully it was short lived, the snow that is. We continued to have a wild ride in strong wind which unkindly increased again just as the crew were about to take the sails down to make the very narrow entrance to the harbour in the centre of Deception Island. A small ship belonging to the Spanish station called on the radio and said they would stand-off and wait for us to clear the entrance, then follow us through.
Deception Island is at the southern end of the South Shetland Islands. It has a volcanic crater at sea level that is accessed through a break in the crater wall. This forms a large enclosed harbour around the perimeter of which were smaller craters forming enclosed bays. It was in one of these that we were going to anchor. The first priority was to get the sails down. The boat was turned into the wind and Heinz, Sam, Thomas, Sigrid and Allard did battle with flogging canvas. Once everything was under control we set off under engine towards our safe anchorage for the night.
Heinz put two anchors out as there were still lots of squalls coming down from the high hills around us. The engine was stopped and we were still after 5 days and nights at sea.
We had crossed the feared Drake’s passage, an awesome achievement especially for those who had never been on a sailboat before. A real baptism of fire! I certainly will never forget the thrill of helming this ship in winds up to 50 knots. Wow is all I can say!
(photo: Henrike, Sam, Heinz)
The cooking..!!
Henrike had cooked us a superb dinner, most of which she had prepared on the equivalent of a bucking bronco. How she kept everything under control while we climbed up the swells and slid sideways down the other side and rolled and rocked and cork screwed our way over the seas outside the harbour. We dined on stuffed aubergine with meat sauce and pasta, followed by chocolate cake and accompanied by beer and wine. Then we had coffee with a drop of rum.
After dinner we started playing games. Banana proved popular with some playing in English and one in Dutch. Another group were introduced to Set and as the noise level rose, so did the laughter. We were brought back to earth however, when the roster for anchor watch came around. We chose our shifts and then headed for bed, the first stable bed we will have slept in for 5 nights.
Anchor watch
Doing an anchor watch means staying in the wheelhouse and monitoring the chart plotter which shows the ship meandering around the anchor chains. If the ship icon crosses a solid line marking the safety zone, we were to call Sam. As it happened one of the two anchors was reset during the night. When Al and I came on watch at 5am (or 5:30am for me who embarrassingly slept through the alarm) it was already daylight. We watched a penguin waddling along the shore, a fur seal sleeping on the beach and a very large male barking on the far shore.
Shelter place…
Our plan for the day was to go ashore and either do a beach walk or a hike up to the top of the hill. After breakfast we watched a short film on the history of Deception Island then Thomas gave a presentation on the wildlife we should be seeing both here and when we head south to mainland Antarctica. While this was going on the wind continued to blow at around 40 knots. Heinz had warned us that we may have to shelter here for a couple of days and he was right. It is now 6:15 in the evening and it has been blowing hard all day. It hasn’t been possible to launch the dinghies, let alone for anyone to go ashore.
An hour or two ago the anchors had to be reset. The strong winds whistling down the mountainside made this a lengthy task. We are secure again now and dinner preparation is underway as the day draws to a close. It has been a day of sorting photographs, writing diaries and resting. With luck on our side we should be able to go ashore tomorrow so I’ll stop now. Tomorrow there will be new adventures to report.
Sally
Antarctica (3)
28 February 2015
From Sally (3): Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
A Day in Telefon Bay!
(photo: Pedulum Cove 2nd Antarctica group)
Today is Wednesday 25th February and our 7th day at sea. The weather looked benign, nearly sunny with little wind but there was a storm forecast so we were staying at Deception Island till it blew though and the wind turned Northerly. The plan for today was to move from our safe little harbour, Telefon Bay, to Pendulum Cove where there was hot water to be found on the beach.
Swimming…
We all went ashore and Sam started to dig at the water’s edge. Sure enough the hole started to fill with warm water. Sigrid took off her waterproof jacket to reveal the penguin suit she was wearing underneath. Thomas made friends with a curious skua and got some good photographs. Paul stripped down to a pair of shorts and ran into the freezing water. He swam out for a bit then came back to wallow in the warm bath. Silvy followed but skipped the freezing swim and went straight in to the warm pool. Next was Johannes who braved the cold water first, followed closely by Thomas, then Lieke and Allard, and lastly Sigrid. They are all nuts, but I have to admit I would have been sorely tempted if I’d brought a swimsuit. I remember getting it out of the cupboard but somehow it never made it to my backpack.
Welcome on the Spanish Base Gabriel-Castilla
After lentil soup and a warm up back on the boat we up anchored and headed towards Gabriel-Castilla Bay where there was a Spanish research base. Heinz had been in contact with the base and had arranged for us all to visit. At least that’s what he thought was arranged. Just after the first dinghy load of us had got ashore, there was a call on the radio from the Spanish research vessel which was hovering a bit further out than us. They had been in to close the station yesterday and had actually invited us all on board their ship instead.
The Hesperides
Climbing up a rope ladder dangling from the side of a ship was a new experience for most of us. We were warmly welcomed aboard by the Commander of the ship who lead us to the mess room where we were treated to a presentation about the research vessel and the team aboard. The ship was called the Hesperides and was funded by the Environmental Department of the Spanish Government and manned by the navy. There was a crew of 60 on board, all navy, providing a service to groups of scientists. As it was the end of the season, there were no scientists aboard. The ship was now being deployed to close all the Spanish bases and mothball them for the winter.
We were then taken on a tour of the ship which started on the bridge. We were allowed to photograph anything we liked including the captain’s cabin, and the navigation screens. We saw the kitchens and the medical room which was very well equipped with even an x-ray facility and could do minor operations but nothing that required full anaesthetic.
They could even set up a direct video link with a hospital back in Spain and arrange to evacuate someone in an emergency.
We were also taken on a tour of the empty laboratories. The ship had multiple depth sounders which could show the sea bed in detail, below the sea bed, out to the sides and the water column immediately below the ship. The ship could be positioned precisely and kept in one spot for water sampling and other scientific research. While we were enjoying the tour we were taken to the side deck and shown the water sampling equipment.
More wind…
The wind had increased dramatically and Heinz could see Anne-Margaretha dragging her anchor. Quick as a flash Heinz, Sam, Thomas and Henrike were in the dinghy and off to the rescue. We all returned to the mess for coffee. Paul had thoughtfully brought a bottle of wine as a thank you gift for the Commander, who immediately called for one of the crew to fetch a bottle for us in return.
We struggled back into our waterproof gear and lifejackets. Heinz brought Anne-Margaretha close to Hesperides and we were transferred back to our ship by dinghy in small groups. It was another new experience climbing down a rope ladder into a dinghy which was being sucked alongside the Hesperides and buffeted by 40 knot winds and a rising chop.
Once everyone was safely back on board we waved farewell to our generous hosts and headed back to Telefon Bay where both bow anchors were set with the usual care. Enticing smells wafted from the galley. We dined on chicken risotto with apple and fennel salad, followed by banana and chocolate cake. Yum!! Anchor watches were allocated for the night, some stayed up for card games and others including Al and me retired for a good night’s sleep – we had a welcome night off from anchor watch.
Next morning the weather was still inclement so we stayed put and had another foray to the shore. This time we hiked around the lagoons, passing one lone Gentoo penguin sheltering from the wind and then headed up hill to the top of the nearest peak. There were now three boats in our bay, “Iceberg” registered in the Cayman Islands, “Hans Hansson” registered in London and us, really crowded.
(photo: crabeater on Deception Island)
Snow fun!
From the top of the peak we could see the whole of Port Foster laid out before us, with a new mantle of snow and a lot less rock showing than when we first came in. On the way down we had to make a snowman so everyone set to rolling snowballs. Silvy worked hard packing snow and building up the base. Thomas rolled a huge snowball for the head. It took two people to lift it into position. Two stones made the eyes, a small rock made a nose and three more stones made a smiling row of teeth. After taking lots more photos we headed down to the next plateau where a large crabeater seal was having a sleep lying flat on his back, or rather as flat as his enormous amount of blubber would allow. He looked dead, but there was an occasional wave of a flipper and a languorous scratch of the belly so we knew he was alive.
Back to Anne-Margaretha for an early dinner of hamburgers and chocolate pudding, then early to bed ready for a 4am start for the 18 hour sail south to Enterprise Island. Another great day enjoyed by all.
Sally
Sally on Anne-Margaretha (part 4)
2 March 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
27 January 2015: South to Enterprise Island!
Leaving Deception Island
The generator woke us at 4am as the crew started to retrieve the two anchors which had held us securely in Telefon Bay when it was blowing and snowing. Our little world was transformed by the snow. The night before it was stark black and white, snow on volcanic ash. This morning the black had all but disappeared and a new mantle of snow covered everything including our decks.
It was a long slow process retrieving hundreds of feet of chain and two heavy anchors. The dinghy had been hauled aboard the night before. By 6 am we were well on our way, motoring on a nearly flat calm sea. On the way out of Port Foster we were treated to a beautiful sunrise, a bonus for doing the 4 till 8 watch. Outside Port Foster the swell became more apparent and we rocked and rolled and twisted to the rhythm of the sea. Everyone had their sea legs now so all were up and about, some breakfasting, some taking photos and some just enjoying the morning. The sunrise had been quite beautiful, glowing red and gold against the white of the snow and the white of the clouds, a splash of colour in an otherwise black and white world.
On iceberg watch in the early morning
We were on the 4 till 8 watch so were on duty. Heinz set the auto pilot so there was no helming to do. Our job was to watch for icebergs and bergy bits. Bergy bits are bits that have broken off large icebergs. Just a little shows above the surface but there is a lot more underneath so they can pack quite a punch if you hit them. There are also things called growlers, which are iceberg remnants which float just below the surface, hard to spot and equally dangerous. There were two channels south, one each side of Isla Trinidad. The channel to the east of the island was shallower and full of icebergs that had grounded. The channel to the west between Isla Trinidad and Isla Hoseason was deeper so this was the one we took. Both lead into Gerlache Strait which was our route south.
Company!
There was an abundance of wildlife around and early into our passage we were visited by a large humpback whale. It surfaced on our port side, hovered long enough to be admired then down went the head, the back arched into the tell-tale hump, up came the tail and down it went. A few minutes later it blew behind us then surfaced again on our starboard side. A real show off. This was the first of many whales we spotted today. We also saw seals porpoising through the waves and many seabirds including fulmars and Antarctic terns. Both Antarctic and Arctic terns travel the furthest of any birds, from south to north and vice versa.
As we entered Gerlache Strait the wind started to increase. We left the big swells behind us and instead had 30 knots of icy wind coming over the port quarter and hurrying us south. Heinz was anxious for us to get to our anchorage in daylight as we were going to moor up to the wreck of an old whaling ship. We took turns on iceberg watch as we hurtled south.
Staying warm!!
It was bitter out on deck and 6 layers of clothing, including two layers of long sleeved thermals, a double thick fleece sweater, a puffa vest, a long sleeved puffa jacket and a Goretex jacket, two pairs of gloves, a woollen hat, a fleece balaclava over it, a puffa hood and a Goretex hood and a scarf, thermal long johns topped with trousers and Goretex wateproofs; three pairs of thermal socks, rubber boots, topped off with a life jacket just about kept the cold at bay and Pirelli woman was ready for work. It took a good twenty minutes to kit up ready to head outside.
Henrike cooked up delicious gnocchi with tomato sauce to keep us warm and we took it in turns to head into the wheelhouse for food.
It was dusk and the wind had thankfully eased when we arrived at Enterprise Island. Next to the wreck we were to moor to, were two tall masts, signifying another vessel. Sam and Henrike set off in the dinghy and returned to tell us that the folk aboard were happy for us to moor alongside them for the night. It was a tricky manoeuvre getting alongside but Heinz demonstrated how at one with he is with Anne-Margaretha and with a bit of help from the bow thruster we were soon snugged in for the night. No anchor watches required so a few beers and wines were gladly consumed and we all retired to bed.
Near a whalers wreck
We woke next morning to the hum of the generator starting up and the delicious smell of coffee. The boat we were moored to wanted to leave so our crew manned the mooring lines and our neighbour slipped out leaving us free to moor to the wreck. Thomas demonstrated his mountain goat abilities, scaling the bow of the rusty hulk to fix the lines. His reward was finding a tern’s nest with no eggs but chicks instead. He will no doubt make a return journey to take some photos.
Heinz had an outing planned for the day so after breakfast the crew got to work pumping up the second dinghy and retrieving the outboard engine from the depths of the bilges. Since we were not at anchor there was no need to leave anyone on board. We clambered, hampered by all our clobber, cameras included, into the two dinghies and set off to explore this stunning amphitheatre of snow and ice. We were surrounded by mountains of snow and protected at the entrance to the anchorage by three large, grounded icebergs.
A dinghy tour
First stop was at a rocky headland where we clambered out of the dinghies onto the rocks and climbed up to where two more wrecks rested. The wreck we were moored to was of steel, these two were constructed of wood. They were apparently the boats used to gather ice from the glaciers to provide water for the boilers for processing the whale blubber. Behind us was a hill of snow which Heinz encouraged us to climb provided we went straight up and did not divert too far from the middle. The snow was soft enough to get a reasonable footing so up we all went, with the younger and stronger gallantly assisting the oldies. From the top the view was fantastic, snow and ice as far as the eye could see. We just had a glimpse of the masts of our home tucked in behind the wreck.
The easiest way of getting back down our snowy cliff was to sit and slide, the easy way out for those of us not so sure of our footing, or wearing boots with slippery soles. We headed off in the dinghies again around to the next bay where there were icebergs of very old ice, compressed by the weight of years of snow upon snow, and eroded by years of wave action. The old ice was deep turquoise blue and nearly completely clear. It looked like glass. Some of the icebergs, not quite so old were a beautiful shade of soft, pastel blue and the younger ones were white. The underwater sections glowed bright turquoise. They came in all shapes and sizes from tiny growlers to great big bergs.
Along the cliffs of snow, huge cracks left sizeable sections of the cliff hanging in suspense about to break away and crash down. Some of the cliffs had clear horizontal demarcation lines along the walls, where layers of snow had compressed and fresh snow had laid down on top. One particular example had layers of dirty yellow snow and ice, interspersed with clean white. Wonder what caused that?
More and more pictures…
We saw two separate lone penguins, a number of fur seals and many birds with flocks of Antarctic terns wheeling around in the sky. Away in the distance there were whales blowing and on two separate occasions, humpbacks were seen breaching. A breach is where the whale comes completely out of the water and is momentarily suspended horizontally in the air before crashing back into the sea. The humpbacks are the only whales which display this kind of behaviour, so are easily identifiable.
It’s cold outside…
Taking photos on these outings was quite a mission. Most of us wore gloves inside our mittens so it was off with the outer mittens, fumble around with cold fingers encased in gloves, or frozen fingers in fingerless gloves, to get the camera out, switched on, focussed on the subject, the dinghy moving in the slight chop, everyone around you trying to do likewise and getting between camera and subject, picture taken, camera tucked away to keep warm, gloves quickly pulled back on to warm the fingers, then something else catches the eye and you go through the whole procedure again. There was so much to see and record it was hard to know where to stop. The cold finally got us and we headed back to the mother ship where the layers were peeled off and set out to dry and dry warm clothes were dug out of lockers and gratefully donned. Hot soup followed by scrambled egg and homemade bread was the order of the day, then everyone set to, to sort photographs, write up diaries, complete sketches, attempt watercolours out in the snow (always a tricky one!), collect pure iceberg ice for an evening drink and another day drew slowly to its conclusion, to the enticing smell of meatballs simmering on the stove.
Tomorrow we’re off to visit some penguin rookeries so there will be more to report. Watch this space!
Sally
Last days in Antarctica with Sally on Anne-Margaretha
6 March 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
6 March 2015
Port Lockroy,” Penguins Postoffice”
We arrived in Port Lockroy around ten at night and it was dark and damp. One anchor was set and it held firmly, no need for lines ashore or a second anchor in this sheltered harbour, but we still did anchor watches to make sure we didn’t drag.
The day dawned bright and sunny so after breakfast we all clambered into all our gear including life vests and boots and laden with camera equipment we clambered into the dinghies and headed for the path to the British Base and the southernmost post office in the world. The Post Office and Museum are staffed as a commercial enterprise and all proceeds go to the UK Antarctica Heritage Trust. The Museum is housed in Bransfield House which is the original accommodation for the base. It is very well laid out and very informative. The whole enterprise was closing for the winter in a couple of days and the staff were busy touching up paintwork and sorting and packing up what was being taken home and securing what was being left behind. They had had 18.000 visitors this summer so were due a rest!
We all bought postcards and mailed them home, and some of us also bought mementos. I bought a penguin puzzle which has intrigued and irritated everyone who has tried to solve it. No-one has succeeded yet and there is only one solution. It keeps us out of trouble on anchor watch.
The base is situated, like the Chilean base, in the middle of a (gentoo) penguin rookery, except that this time the base was there first. It was a beautiful clear day with no wind and therefore no windchill and a bright blue sky, so we ambled about in the sun photographing and filming penguins to our heart’s content. Once we had had our fill of filming we piled into the dinghies and went back to the boat for lunch.
One more day on Antarctica…
After lunch, Heinz announced that we were staying put for the afternoon and night and that tomorrow we would do a 10 hour passage to the Melchoir Islands where we would be spending our last night on the Antarctic Peninsula. We would be leaving the following morning to cross Drake’s Passage back to Argentina. There was a weather window which we had to take as it was the calm before the storm and we couldn’t afford to miss it. We would be spending the last few days of our time on Anne-Margaretha around Cape Horn and the Beagle Channel.
(Photo: the whale bones)
Thomas led a hike ashore for the afternoon and we landed at a stony beach which was still part of the extensive rookery. Right in front of us was a huge whale backbone laid out up the rocky shore. The whale had probably been flensed (stripped of blubber and flesh) there and the skeleton left to bleach on the beach. We were surrounded of course, by penguins in various stages of moult. Higher up behind the shore was a penguin playground on a snowy incline. We hiked over the rocks in a single file so as to create the least disturbance for the residents. Climbing up to the snow we came across a big brown skua pretending to be injured as a decoy for its partner on a nest on the cliff face. Skuas are aggressive and harass the penguins and feed on eggs and chicks. When they dive bomb the roost the young penguins join up into a bunch and shout back! Safety in numbers.
Up on the snow the penguins were having a ball, running around on the snow, slipping and sliding and just enjoying themselves. The view was awesome, snow covered mountains as a backdrop, thick walls of snow all the way to the water, the brightly painted base nestled amoungst the rocks and Anne-Margaretha sitting quietly at anchor on flat calm sea. A beautiful memory to take away with us.
Celebrating Antarctica..!
We tore ourselves away around 5pm when it was starting to get pretty cold again and went back to our floating home. Paul had bought a bottle of Pisco at the Post Office shop and went hunting for clean freshwater ice to mix his version of Pisco sours, a concoction of ice, brown sugar, lemon juice and pisco, pounded in a jug then poured for all. It was delicious, so delicious that we kept the remnants in the water jug to flavour the water! Sigrid and Thomas had made pizzas and quiches for dinner, with a cabbage salad. We ate our way through two huge pizzas and then two huge quiches and all the salad. All that fresh air had made us ravenous. Anchor watches were set for the night and one by one people sloped off to bed. Another great day!
Al and I scored the 5:30am till 7am watch. When my alarm went off I first thought I had forgotten to reset it from a previous night, then as I became more awake I remembered that I had to get up and get going. There wasn’t much sign of action from Al though I did hear his alarm. I dressed and went up to the wheelhouse. A sleepy looking Sigrid and Thomas had been looking at photos and film clips from the previous days and were more than ready to go back to bed for a couple of hours.
It was calm outside, no action and dawn was just breaking. The mountains behind us were lit up by the early morning sun but it promised to be an over cast day. It is amazing how much colder it is without the sun.
Via Neumayer Channel to the Melchior Islands
(photo: Neumayer Channel)
After an early breakfast we up anchored and headed up Neumayer Channel, a narrow channel between two steep sided walls of rock and snow. At one point early on the channel was thick with bergy bits and icebergs all the way across. Heinz slowed the boat right down and carefully picked a way through. It was cold and beautiful. I took over the helming to the instruction “Stay in the middle and don’t hit any ice!” so I did. The ice had all but gone except for a few sizeable bergs glowing pale blue against the white walls of the channel. Our usual mid-morning snack of fresh fruit appeared from the galley, the scenery was as spectacular as always and we were all on the lookout for killer whales (orca) as we hadn’t seen any yet on this trip.
Shouts of “blow” had everybody out on deck jostling for viewing space. It turned out to be a small group of humpbacks and they performed a different ballet for us this time. Instead of circling and creating a bubble curtain they came up head first, mouths open then entwined and rolled and softly retreated back into the sea. Over and over they repeated this ritual then one came right alongside us and rolled onto its back. It was awesome and there were penguins and seals and terns just to complete the picture. What a farewell from Antarctica.
It began to snow quite heavily in the late afternoon as we finally stopped whale watching and continued on towards the Melchoir islands. We had the first course of dinner en route, Hungarian goulash and mashed potato and cabbage, Delicious! What miracles Henrike, Sigrid and Thomas produce from the galley. They bake four loaves of bread a day, make soups from scratch with fresh ingredients and cook a fabulous dinner every night, keep the boat clean and tidy and join in all the fun.
It was dark and still snowing as Heinz manoeuvred Anne-Margaretha through a narrow channel between the islands, high cliffs of snow on both sides, some looking perilously close to breaking off and falling on top of us. We were just about secured with one anchor and two ropes to the shore, one off the bow and one off the stern when all was lit by a huge searchlite coming around the bluff and another yacht appeared. It was the Australis, another charter yacht heading south. They anchored around the corner from us. It was a surprise as we have seen few yachts in this wilderness. Once we were securely settled we had dessert, apple pie and a glass of wine. Heinz announced two pieces of good news. The first was that there was no need to do anchor watches and the second that we would be staying here for a day. Wowee! A chance to explore these stunning islands. Every day is a special day and we get one more day in Antarctica. How fast it has all gone, and how full every day has been!
Sally
(Photo: Anne-Margaretha in the Melchior Islands)
Last day on the Melchior Islands
11 March 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
Thursday 5. March 2015
The Melchoir Islands
(photo: Anne-Margaretha at the Melchior Islands)
Not wanting to waste any of our last hours on the Antarctic Peninsula, we set off in the dinghies soon after breakfast to explore the cluster of Islands. The islands themselves aren’t very high but were covered in metres and metres of snow which created some of the most spectacular cliffs you would see anywhere. Thomas wanted some pictures of kelp gulls and we saw quite a few. There were also fur seals on the stony beaches and up high on some of the snowy slopes. We found a fresh water waterfall hidden behind the snow cliffs, creating holes in the snow and pouring out underneath the snow where it met the beach.
Wood smoke at the Argentinian Base
We decided to visit the Argentinian Base which we had passed on our way into the anchorage the previous night. It had looked closed and no-one was answering the radio, but as we got closer we smelt wood smoke. Wood smoke in the Antarctic?? There are no trees here! As we neared the base a couple of people emerged from the building and waved us around to a landing point. We were warmly welcomed and invited inside to meet the residents and have tea.
Earthenware pots of mate tea were passed around for everyone to try, then we were each given a cup of our own. Bowls of sweet biscuits and cakes appeared, along with more residents and soon the room was abuzz with chatter. Luckily we had two in our group who spoke Spanish, Sam and Johannes, who were able to translate for us. We deduced from what was being said that the base had been there for over 100 years, had been closed for the last four years and was now being reopened. The current crew had only been there for a few months doing basic tidying up and readying the premises for a full crew next season. They had obviously shipped wood in because there was a wood burner providing the heat.
Anne-Margaretha: just the 3th vessel this year…
The Argentinians were so pleased to see us. They had only had three vessels visit all season, unlike Port Lockroy which had seen 18,000 tourist. I know which place I’d rather be at. This base had no penguin colony, but did have resident fur seals and the odd chinstrap penguin. The crew had also got the one lone navigation light working again. It was probably the only working navigation mark in the whole Antarctic. The fact that it flashed every 3 or 4 seconds instead of every 5 seconds as the chart said didn’t seem to matter. This was all part of ensuring that Argentina had a presence here and therefore a claim staked. We were invited for lunch but declined as we were expected back at the mother ship.
The penguin suit was a big hit. The suit belongs to Sigrid, but we’d all been taking it in turns to wear it and pretend to be a penguin. Henrike wore it to the base so lots of photos were taken by residents and guests alike. Heinz had refused to wear it so a deal was struck between him and Henrike. If she went for a swim, he’d don the penguin suit. We reluctantly waved goodbye to our new friends at the base and headed back home.
Antarctic swimming!
Henrike and Sigrid both stripped to bikinis and jumped in the water. They actually swam around for a bit before scrambling back into the dinghy. Not to be out done, Thomas stripped off and dived in from the cabin top. This started a mad rash of Antarctic swimming. Sam followed Thomas, then Johannes stripped off, donned the penguin suit and dived in. He was followed by Lieke and Allard, then a little later and more sedately, by Paul who paddled around for a bit before getting out of the water. The rest of us decided that this was a game for mugs and stayed fully clothed and on the boat.
Still one glass of wine and than…!
As the day drew to a close, we dined on lasagne, another triumph from the galley, enjoyed a last glass of wine and headed to bed. A 4 am start was planned for the next day to give us time to get clear of any ice before dark.
Dawn was just breaking as the lines were reeled in and the anchor raised and stowed. The dinghy was stripped of its outboard motor which was stowed in the lazarette (the big locker on the aft deck). The dinghy was then stowed upside down on the cabin roof and we motored quietly out of our anchorage.
It was sad to be saying goodbye. We have had an extraordinary time. Just before we got into the Drake there was a huge iceberg in front of us. It was the biggest iceberg we had seen, long and narrow with a flat top, the kind that are called tabular bergs. It was sparkling in the early morning sun. The view astern as we continued on our way north was nothing short of spectacular. Everyone was taking last photos and reminiscing on what we had seen and done. It was time to turn our thoughts to the passage home. We still had the Drake to contend with!
Sally
Sally’s story (8): over the Drake Passage…
11 March 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
Tuesday 10 March 2015
Crossing the Drake
Crossing the Drake on the way down to Antarctica had been a baptism of fire for most on board. Many had missed the action, being confined to their bunks for the first three days. There were few who weren’t affected by seasickness. We were hoping for a different journey home and we got it.
Friday 6 March 2015, calm seas and whales around the ship
The first 24 hours we motored in an almost flat oily calm sea. It was hard to believe this was the same stretch of water we had crossed on our way to Antarctica. We were surrounded by birds, the usual dark brown giant petrels but also a snow petrel, and many albatrosses. We were all on the lookout for orcas (killer whales) but had no luck. Instead we had three fin whales come to visit us. They are the largest whales and are longer than this ship is. It was such a thrill to see them. They stayed with us just long enough for some photos then continued on their way.
Saturday 7 March 2015, albatrosses all over!
The next 24 hours were similar but a breeze came in from the north so we motor-sailed into it. The bird watching and whale spotting continued but with no success as far as whales were concerned. It was great having everyone up and about again. We were visited by the most beautiful wandering and royal albatrosses. They soared around the boat and coasted just above the waves with one wing tip just stroking the water. It was a photographer’s delight and Thomas the birdman took hundreds of photos.
Sunday 8 March 2015, orcas??
Day three and the wind was still coming from the north so we were still motor-sailing and pushing into it. We still had an entourage of birds which were a delight to watch. Then came the call, “Orcas” and everyone rushed to get their jackets and life vests on, find their cameras and get out on deck. It was a pod of 5 or 6 and they were coming straight towards us as though they didn’t know we were there. We stopped the engine and watched. They weren’t orcas but pilot whales, close cousins but not the real thing. It was wonderful to see them even so as we hadn’t had them visit us before. They were obviously on a mission as they ploughed straight across our bows and off into the distance. We had now seen minke whales, humpback whales, fin whales and pilot whales and of course the hour glass dolphins that escorted us out of the Beagle Channel on our way south.
After the excitement was over and Al was at the helm, a small rain shower passed over us followed by the longed for shift in wind direction more to the west. The crew put the reefed mainsail back up and our speed increased to around 6 knots. Thomas had been busy in the galley and produced spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. It was the end of our watch and Al and I retired to bed to get some sleep as we were on duty again at 4 am.
Monday 9 March 2015 , almost at Cape Horn with increasing wind…
During the night the wind increased till it was blowing 60 knots. The seas were pretty wild and we were rocking and rolling and twisting our way along, occasionally falling off a wave with a crash that reverberated through the boat. The crew on watch were hand steering and were soaked through. Heinz, Sigrid, Thomas, Allard and Johannes went forward to drop the mainsail and lash it down. I was watching from the wheelhouse, counting heads to make sure everybody was safe. They had nearly finished their task when the boat went head first into a wave and smothered them all. Thank goodness they had all been tethered by their harnesses and came up spluttering and smiling.
It was now Sigrid’s watch. I was the only one of her watch still standing so, rather than have Sigrid and me outside in the dark for the whole 4 hours without a break, Heinz put the auto helm on and we stayed in the wheelhouse watching the radar. It was a wild ride and at the end of our watch still showed no signs of slowing down. At this speed we would be at Cape Horn in less than 24 hours.
It was not to be. The wind eased off for a bit. It had never really gone into the west as we had hoped but continued pretty much right on the nose. We were motor sailing right into a northerly breeze. It continued thus for the rest of the day, increasing up to the 40 knot range then easing off for a while. Sail up, sail down, fok up fok down, storm fok up, storm fok down.
Monday-Tuesday 9-10 March 2015, Wind North!
(photo: Cape Horn, Febr. 2015)
At midnight on Monday night I was off watch, supposedly sleeping but my inner clock told me we might just be seeing Cape Horn. I got up and went up to the Wheelhouse. Disappointment. We were pushing into a head wind still and now a head sea as well and we were making all of 3 knots over the ground. We still had 18 miles to go. Oh well, we might be the first to spot Cape Horn on our next watch!
At 4 am I headed back up to the wheelhouse and there it was in the dim light of predawn. A rounded hump of an island with two navigation lights, and very puny they were too. Surely this iconic Cape could have a majestic lighthouse with a huge beam scanning the horizon. No, it was two pathetic little flashes. An anti-climax to be sure, but hey, we have crossed the Drake again and lived to tell the tale, but the Drake had not finished with us yet. There was more drama to come before we could rest!
There was still a northerly weather system waiting in the wings so Heinz decided to adopt plan B, and instead of doing another 45 miles to Port Toro, we would anchor in a small harbour about an hour away. When we got there, two problems arose, our anchor chains had got tangled during the wilder parts of the crossing and the mooring buoy which used to be in the bay had disappeared.
Tuesday 10 March 2015, to Puerto Toro
Heinz decided to revert to Plan A and head after all to Porto Toro, the southernmost settlement in the world (as opposed to Ushuaia which is the southernmost city in the word). Heinz helmed the boat through Canal Washington and into Bahia Nassau which we had to cross to get to Porto Toro and then I took the helm again. The wind was picking up nicely into a good sailing breeze which, by the end of our watch was a stiff sailing breeze and the helming was getting a little wild. The next watch, Henrike’s watch appeared and Paul took over from me. Al and I retired below to catch up on some sleep.
Lying below in my bunk I could feel the motion of the boat changing and it seemed that we had picked up speed quite markedly. I could hear the crew on deck. The wind had been blowing about 40 knots when Al and I had gone below. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I crawled out of my secure bunk and headed up to the wheelhouse. All you could see out of the windows was foam being blown off the top of the waves which were scudding past at great speed. The wind had risen into the high sixties and had just hit 70 knots. We were storming along with just the mizzen (aft) sail still up. The noise I had heard on deck was the crew taking down the fok.
Sailing with stormfok, speed 12 kn.!
(photo: Anne-Margaretha underway to P.Toro)
Still the wind increased though the seas were different to what they would have been out in the Drake. They were less mountainous and shorter as the wind was coming off the land. Heinz was steering with Sam, Sigrid and Henrike outside with him. We passengers were not allowed outside so watched the spectacle from inside the wheelhouse. The wind peaked at 77.5 knots. We were still sailing close to the wind and climbing up and over the oncoming wave. Heinz called the crew out again and they raised the storm fok and took down the mizzen sail as it was pushing the stern of the boat around making it hard to stay on course. Our speed picked up from around 3 knots to 5 knots and about half an hour later we reached a point where we changed course a little. The wind shifted slightly in the opposite direction so we now had the wind almost behind us. With the engine just ticking over and only the tiny storm fok driving us we reached 12knots. It was exhilarating sailing. This magnificent ship and equally magnificent captain and crew just took it all in their stride. There was never an anxious moment.
Moored in Puerto Toro!!
All too soon our crazy sleigh ride came to an end as we had to make a turn to port, rounding the bottom of the island on our port side to sail close to the wind up to Port Toro. Sam called the Port Officer to let him know of our arrival. We slowed down just off the entrance to the bay and the crew took down the fok and made lines and fenders ready for our arrival at the dock. The dock was not very big and there were four fishing boats moored on one side of the pier and two yachts rafted together on the other side. The only space for us was on the end. The space was about equal to a third of Anne Margaretha’s length and at what would be our stern end the fishing boats protruded beyond the end of the dock. It would have been a tricky manoeuvre at the best of times, in flat calm conditions but even in this sheltered bay we still had 25 knots of wind. No need to worry. Heinz and crew had us docked in no time, the stern one third of Anne-Margaretha against the end of the dock and the rest of the ship protruding out beyond. It was all watched by two scruffy but very friendly dogs, a cluster of fishermen and the Port Captain, resplendent in his captain’s cap.
What an amazing day it had been. We were finally secure after 4 days and 9 hours at sea. We all felt that we had seen and experienced things beyond our wildest dreams. How lucky we have been!
Sally
Farewell to Anne-Margaretha..!
14 March 2015
From Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic on the Anne-Margaretha
February-March 2015
Re-entry
11 March 2015, a day in Puerto Toro (Chile)
(photo: little church of Puerto Toro)
Puerto Toro is a small settlement of about 10 families. It was quiet. Not much happened. We spent a lovely day catching up with ourselves and going for walks. You could follow the track out of town and up the hills behind to the old cemetery where one lonely cross remained surrounded by parts of a wooden wall. The timber of both was bleached by years of rain and wind. Beyond the cemetery and across a dry swamp was a beaver dam. Some of us got that far, others settled for a walk around the beach and over a small isthmus where three old hides were found, remnants from the wars between Chile and Argentina across the water. We were in Chile but had not yet formally checked in to the country. That would happen tomorrow in Puerto Williams.
( photo: docked in Puerto Toro)
All the other vessels left early in the morning and Anne-Margaretha was moved around to the side of the dock. The crew worked steadily all day cleaning, repairing and doing general maintenance. They sorted out the tangled anchor chain by letting it all out then re-stowing it. Sails were unfurled to dry and re-stowed. Wet clothing was hung out all over the boat. Heinz seemed to be upside down in the bilges or engine room all day. The fuel they had got in Ushuaia came in drums which looked none too clean, from which it had to be pumped into the ships tanks. The wild passage the previous day had shaken up the contents of the tank. We were halfway through dinner and bread baking when the generator stopped. Poor Heinz, back in the engine room to clear the problem. Oddly enough, the bread which had been half baked, stood for a while then finished off when the generator was running again proved to be the best we had had on two occasions.
While we were dining on delicious fish and curry, another yacht came in and moored alongside us. They were heading for Cape Horn and back. One fishing boat returned and the crew immediately set to work mending crab pots on the dock. The resident dogs came back to the dock hoping for a snack. We spent the evening sharing photos and film clips and watching each other’s favourites. Heinz showed us a great little clip of a beautiful bird of prey that had stayed on Anne-Margaretha for five days when they were en-route from the Cape Verden to Brasil. The bird would land on his gloved hand for food every time he emerged from below. He and his crew were very disappointed when it finally flew away. He also showed a photo of two killer whales about to rip the head off a penguin. Big mouths and sharp teeth!! We all sloped off to bed rather late and tomorrow came all too soon.
11 March, to Puerto Williams
(photo: Little harbor in Puerto Williams)
Another beautiful day dawned and around 10am we set off for Puerto Williams. The wind came up and we had a beautiful brisk sail. The sky was blue with some great cloud formations. There were birds in all directions. We were all secretly hoping for Orcas. Al saw a fin and a blow but it turned out to be a minke whale. The orcas remained as elusive as ever. For some inexplicable reason we were all very hungry today. We managed to eat four and a half loaves of bread by the end of lunchtime. Henrike had put bread and lots of great toppings up in the wheelhouse and we all fell upon it like a herd of locusts.
We arrived here in Puerto Williams shortly after lunch and came to rest rafted to a French boat at the Puerto Williams Yacht Club. The Yacht Club is an old vessel, stuck fast to the bottom. The visiting yachts raft up on both sides. Over the years the old ship has been renovated to provide a club room, power and internet. Some of the intrepid long distance sailors from all corners of the world over winter here, brave souls, it must be perishingly cold. Actually, since writing this I have found out that it is only about 5 degrees colder in winter and the winds are steadier and more predictable so winter cruising is better than summer. How I wish we could just stay here.
At six pm we all have to go ashore to be checked in and out of Chile as our next port of call is Ushuaia in Argentina and the last day of our stay afloat. I know we are going to spend many happy hours pouring over our photos and reminiscing. It is, as always, over too soon.
13 March, sailing back to Ushuaia!
But not over yet. Next morning we set off around 10am. We were delayed slightly because the first boat moored to us appeared empty. No-one around. The crew of the boat furthest out jumped to the rescue and as we backed out of our secure berth the wind arrived. Soon it was blowing 40 knots right from the direction we wanted to go. No problem! The crew were like a well oiled machine and soon had reefed mizzen, reefed mainsail and the fok up and drawing. As we turned into the wind Anne-Margaretha surged off, close hauled and making a steady 5 knots. What’s a mere 40 knots when you’ve weathered 77.5!
We had a great sail to Ushuaia, tacking all the way, Anne-Margaretha, well heeled over and really showing off. Around the halfway point Heinz called the crew up and down came the fok and up went the storm fok. This added another knot to our speed and soon we were back in Ushuaia. Our adventure was over. We had a hasty meal of pasta and delicious tomato sauce, prepared by Henrike while the boat was laid over at a near impossible cooking angle. After dinner we all trooped ashore and followed Heinz to the customs office for signing back into Argentina. We waited an age, then the appropriate person turned up and said “I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon. Where have you been?” Passports were examined and stamped and we all trooped back to the ship for a last evening of wine, beer and stories. Thomas took us through a compilation of everyone’s best photos and we all reminisced. One story lead to another and around midnight we all turned in for our last night asleep on Anne-Margaretha.
14 March, Last meeting in the morning
At breakfast this morning Heinz asked us all to say what the trip had meant for us. Everyone agreed that even if they’d wanted to die in the first few days out in the Drake, it made the experience all the better when they emerged from their sea sickness and became part of the dream. We are all still mesmerised by the journey, the sailing, the sights, the unique bond between captain and crew, and the bond that developed between us all. It truly was trip of a lifetime and I would head back out into the Drake in a heartbeat! For me it was all beyond magnificent. There can be no other way to see and experience the Antarctic than the journey we have just made.
Thank you Heinz, Sam, Thomas, Henrike, Sigrid and Anne-Margaretha. You are the amazing team that made our journey out of this world!
Sally
