Archive for the ‘expedition’ Category

When I graduated as a geologist a long time ago and was deciding whether to work in the field, one of my first questions to my lecturers was ‘How do I get to Antarctica as a geologist?’ The answer was to spend 3 years working on a pHd, which didn’t appeal to me. Instead, I immersed myself in film making and exploring the world by sea kayak. But the desire to visit the magical landscape and seascape of Antarctica has never gone away .

While Barry and I were kayaking around Tierra Del Fuego last year, we wandered into the harbour in Ushuaia and stumbled upon the “Spirit of Sydney” yacht. Co-incidentally, not only did I know one of the people working on board, Phil Wickens, it was also the same yacht that supported Andrew McAuley and friends on their kayak trip along the Antarctica peninsula. The skippers Cath Hew & Darrel Day are in the film I edited of that trip and have supported dozens of trip to Antarctica, the Patagonia Fjords and South Georgia.

They take sea kayakers, mountaineers, TV crews and adventurous sightseers on  up-close-and-personal journies to these wild places that team with wildlife. They recently offered me the chance to be an assistant leader on one of their trips if I can match them up with some sea kayakers who want an experience of a lifetime to the icebergs, penguins, whales and dramatic landscapes of the frozen South. There are some spaces on a sea kayaking trip to Antarctica from Dec 31st – Jan 25th 2014. Are you interested?

The Spirit of Sydney sets sail from Ushuaia and the first adventure is the 550 nautical mile sail across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula, with a stop at Cape Horn if weather permits. This typically takes 5-6 days. The brochure says,

Spirit of Sydney is an ocean greyhound and her origins as a southern ocean ’round the world’ racing yacht reflect in her thoroughbred handling and the chance to steer a real racing yacht in the southern ocean is an exhilarating experience in itself, an exhilaration matched by the soaring flight of wandering albatrosses as they lift off the wave tops and soar above the yacht. Adventurous guests of all abilities are catered for, (you don’t need to be an experienced sailor to lend a hand) as the yacht is easily shorthanded, and even non-sailors have returned as seasoned veterans of southern ocean sailing.

Our arrival in Antarctic waters is heralded by porpoising penguins and the fantastical shapes of weird and wonderful icebergs, with anchorage perhaps at Whaler’s Bay in the sunken caldera of volcanic Deception Island – home to 300,000 pairs of bustling noisy chinstrap penguins. High jagged peaks, overhanging seracs, huge glaciers dropping newly formed ice bergs into the ocean…… and everywhere life abounds in this icy paradise.

Once there, the itinerary can be adapted to the small group of 6 or 7 on board the yacht. Kayaking trips of a few hours, a day or overnight trips of several days can be on the menu, depending on the weather and the desires of the participants. There are opportunities to walk, shoe shoe, toboggan or even ski on Antarctica, as well as explore the remnants of the whaling industry and an visit an unmissable hot springs!

Days 6-22 Our next days merge into each other as we cruise the relatively sheltered waters of the Antarctic Peninsula, exploring the wild and beautiful landscape and fascinating plethora of animal life. The chance to see this “Last Paradise” as part of a small and flexible group offers opportunities for adventures that are beyond the realms of travel by any other means. As an independent yacht we are able to visit tiny coves and shallow anchorages where one can enjoy the magnificent solitude of one of the remotest places on earth, while watching close-up the antics of the local inhabitants, curious leopard seals, playful humpback whales, or frenetically busy penguins. You are part of the landscape! – and we have the time and flexibility to stop and enjoy it. This is an expedition and you are a participant. As we sail through spectacular islands and straits you may take the helm or climb the mast to look for leads in the ice. Imagine yourself as one of the first visitors, early explorer or whaler, pushing into new territory, dwarfed by the awesome majesty of the landscape, and astonished by the amazing wealth of animal life.

After over 2 weeks to explore, the Spirit sets sail back to Ushuaia.

There are 6 Current Designs ‘Storm’ kayaks available for use on board, plus paddles with pogies, spray deck, pump, and lifejackets. They have 6 hand held VHFs and 2 hand held GPS. You can bring your own drysuits or use their Kokatat suits.

Once you step aboard ‘Spirit of Sydney’ all food, drinks including local beer and Argentinean wine, port fees and Antarctic permits, and Iaato passenger fees are supplied.

So if you – like me – dream of one day going an adventurous trip to one of the remotest places on Earth – sailing there and sea kayaking past fairytale icebergs while watching close-up the antics of curious leopard seals, playful humpback whales, or frenetically busy penguins… then think about when ‘one day’ is! How about this January!? For more information, see the Spirit of Sydney website 0r facebook page. Kath’s contact details are on both – email her for more details and prices.

Last weekend, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times published an article about unusual ways to travel around Ireland. I spoke to a journalist for half an hour about our kayaking circumnavigation around Ireland and he condensed all my waffling into a few lines for the story! Seems we aren’t the only ones getting out and about.

The French Magazine ‘Canoe & Kayak‘ has published a very colourful article about our trip around “Isla Grande”, Tierra del Fuego. It’s a 10 page article that I wrote, translated into French, illustrated by lots of photos. It’s in the current issue – number 230 -I think it looks great!  The magazine can be bought here. A preview clip of the Tierra Del Fuego video can be seen here.

British paddler Simon Osborne was attracted to adventure at a young age. Spurred on by a desire to raise money for leukaemia after his older brother passed away, he became the youngest person to kayak around Great Britain in his early 20s. He has since become a BCU level 5 sea kayak coach, set up his own business, Seakayak Cornwall (in partnership with Jeff Allen) and teaches sea kayaking all over the world. He also continues on his own adventures and has paddled the South Korea coastline & rowed across the Atlantic. Simon filmed many of his trips & has now put together a DVD with films of his solo circumnavigation of Ireland, and his attempt to circumnavigate Madagascar. He made two 3-month long visits to the African island with Phil Clegg the first year, and with a local paddler on his next visit.

The DVD is 64 minutes long. It’s only in PAL format, which means it won’t play in most DVD players in the North America or Japan, but if you live in one of those countries and really want to see it then it should play on your computer. It’s £14.99 & Simon is donating £2 of that to leukaemia research. Cackle TV will also make a 50p donation to leukaemia research for any DVDs bought through us. You can buy it here.