Deviations are possible and likely!
Deviations are possible and likely!
By Blog.Admin
Otto NordenskjoldWhen I was in Antarctica last, our Expedition Leader, Olle Carlsson told the story of Otto Nordenskjold and the Swedish South Polar Expedition (1901-1904). The events that unfolded on Snow Hill Island and in the Weddell Sea predated Shackleton's by a decade and were equally as riveting.
In February 1902, Otto and five members of his expedition established one of the earliest research stations in Antarctica on Snow Hill Island. The scientists were stranded on the island for two winters. The ship sent to resupply the station - Antarctic - was beset and eventually sank, just like Shackleton's ship Endurance. The crew took shelter on Paulet Island.
The men on Snow Hill Island did not know what had happened to Antarctic and its crew. Otto had included a back up plan in his preparations - a rendezvous point on Hope Bay. Through a series of coincidences that a century later border on the unbelievable, the men from Paulet Island and from Snow Hill Island met at Hope Bay and were rescued.
I would love to see the remains of Otto's hut on Snow Hill Island. Although we'll be near-by, I expect that will be impossible. But you never know. That is what makes expedition cruising so exciting. Unexpected deviations in the itinerary are possible and likely!