February 13th-real Antarctic Exploration, were no one has been be fore

Chris here. Another day of exploring and not climbing. However, the
exploring by yacht has brought us success as we are now safely anchored in a
previously uncharted anchorage on Edwards Island at 65 34.4' South 64 19.1'
west. Around us we there are several unclimbed peaks and a choice of routes
to climb.

Back to this morning. Alan and I had both turned in early (notice the
increasing use of nautical terminology as we become more seasoned sailors)
and woke up this morning in a very snug and safe anchorage at Vernadsky
base, tied up to another yacht (Pelagic Australis) which the crew all seemed
to know. The weather was better this morning with high cloud and a hint of
sunshine. We could actually see the mountains we are planning on climbing
and the improvement in the weather raised everyone's spirits. We weighed
anchor at 8 o'clock and motored out into the Grandidier Channel. The views
were spectacular, innumerable glaciers and snowy peaks. In the channel we
were passed by a Chilean Navy vessel which demanded the name of the yacht
and country of origin. Steve the skipper answered politely and maintained
good international relations.

Unfortunately, as we sat with Steve debating with Guy, Mark and Luis the
bays we should explore for possible landing sites a thick bank of early sea
fog rolled towards us. Understandably, Steve did not wish to go exploring
uncharted bays in fog so a quick return to our anchorage at Vernadsky was in
order.

Various plans were mooted including a possible visit to the Ukrainian
science station and climbing some ice cliffs on the island. Unable to
reach the Ukrainians on the radio several of us went in the dinghy to see if
they would accept a visit and ask for permission to climb some cliffs. They
were too busy to accept a visit but said we were welcome to climb the ice
cliffs. By the time we go back to Evohe, Steve had received a call from the
Pelagic Australis that the fog had cleared. So we were off again. This
time there was no false start and we sailed towards Beascochea Bay to look
for landing sites and unclimbed peaks.

Navigating between enormous bergs in the middle of a channel there was a
hairy moment as Steve slammed the engines into reverse when the depth
sounder changed from 90 feet to 17 feet in a matter of moments. The risks
of sailing in unsurveyed waters with no depths on the chart were very
apparent at this moment. Steve seems to have a sixth sense about these
things as we were moving very slowly at the time. Motoring further into the
bay the ice became thicker with more and more growlers and the sea ice
becoming denser with every yard of travel in fact at one point it reminded
Al of chicken soup - I thought this was a good analogy. Though you
wouldn't want any of this soup as the sea temperature was now -0.7 degrees!

Wonders of modern technology such as Satellite Global Positioning System,
radar and satellite phone mean little in these waters where the experience
of the skipper and good judgment matter as much as they did a hundred years
ago. The depth sounder has replaced a sailor swinging the lead to find
depths. In regions where there is ice still have a crew member on the
fo'cstle on ice watch. Semi-submerged ice poses a real threat to the
propellers - the steel hull is very strong and will withstand a large
impact. Steve's experience and good judgment came to the fore as he decided
there was too much ice to proceed safely and we set off back out to sea.

The next area of opportunity was Lehille Island at the mouth of Leroux bay.
This time the ice conditions were favourable and after investigating a
couple of unappealing anchorages we sailed around Lehille island and spotted
a potential anchorage on Edwards Island. After a slow motor into a small
cove we dropped anchor at 6 o'clock in "Kafka's Cove" (which we decided to
name after the skipper, Steve Kafka). It took another hour and a half to
run lines ashore and make us totally secure. The anchorage is good and the
climbing looks interesting. We are all looking forward to tomorrow. Mark,
Luis and Murray have even shovelled out a platform so that we can land
directly onto the snow - we'll have to be careful not to puncture the zodiac
dinghy with our ice axes and crampons as we leap from the dinghy onto the
ice (joke)!!

Quote of the day: Imagine the scene - laundry facilities are limited
(actually non-existent) and we are sitting around the edge of the saloon in
a sort of circle and one of the guides jokes that there will be a supervised
underwear change tomorrow and then Gerry pipes up "will that be clockwise or
anti-clockwise?" - think about it!!

Tomorrow we will hopefully have news of first ascents and intrepid adventure
- stay tuned.

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