Ross Sea
So few voyages, so little time!
By Blog.Admin
We had a call last night from someone on the waiting list to participate in our Epic Antarctica voyage this winter. She was so far down the list, she despaired of getting aboard.
Ross Sea Centennial Voyage - Your Last Chance
By Blog.Admin
From time to time we report on the availability of cabins aboard End of an Era voyages. Our penultimate voyage - big word for a big ship - is our Ross Sea Centennial Voyage. There are only a few cabins left.
Southern Ocean - January 3, 2009
By Blog.Admin
The sea and the swell had calmed down considerably during the night, so we awoke to a very pleasant movement on the ship and so many birds around us. The sky was still very overcast, but blue sky was visible in the distance.
Bob began our morning’s lecture program with his talk, ‘Exploitation of the Southern Ocean –
Sealers and Whalers’. Human beings have really devastated some of these southern areas and the wildlife found here, and in particular the whales, at least the larger baleen whales, have been slow to make a comeback.
Happy New Year - January 1, 2009
By Blog.Admin
Jonas, our Expedition Leader, was very kind to us this morning and allowed us all to sleep until 9.30 a.m. We did have the chance of getting tea, coffee and pastries at 7.30 a.m., but most of us chose to take the extra two hours of sleep.
We awoke to a very overcast sky and still lots of ice which had slowed our progress somewhat during the night. However, we expected to be in open water later today, so we were duly warned to secure our cabins and not have any loose objects lying around which could fall on the floor.
Cape Evans - December 24, 2008
By Blog.Admin
While we were all ashore yesterday, rather large tidal cracks opened up in front of the ship, so Captain Pavel took the opportunity of using these and started up the engines and moved almost 30 miles.
So when we woke this morning we were quite close to Cape Evans. This is the site of Scott’s Hut, and another very special place to visit. Straight after breakfast helicopter operations started up and off we all went to visit this very historical site. It was from this hut that Scott and his party departed to travel to the South Pole and never to return. Ghosts are definitely present in this
Cape Royds - December 23, 2008
By Blog.Admin
During the night the ship worked very hard trying to break through serious ice in McMurdo Sound. Much of this ice was multi year ice which is unusual for this area, but Kapitan Khlebnikov was working hard with all six engines trying to get into a good position. Finally around 8 AM the engines were shut down and the ship settled into the ice as a final position. We were a little over 30 miles from Cape Royds, but that was okay for the helicopters and there was not too much wind.
After breakfast helicopter flight
Cape Washington - December 22, 2008
By Blog.Admin
This morning we woke up at Cape Washington. This is one of the largest emperor penguin rookeries in this Ross Sea region. Again we had sunshine, no wind and we had emperors all around us. After some effort, which took almost 2 hours, Captain Pavel got us into the ice, so the gangway was lowered and we could go out and see the penguins.
Jonas told us we would have the whole day here and the ship would not leave until around 7.30 p.m.
Summer Wedding - December 21, 2008
By Blog.Admin
Today we awoke to another glorious day with sunshine and very little wind. We were cruising the area of Cape Hallett, but the ice was really severe and there was no chance of getting in close enough to make a landing. We then moved on to Coulman Island, but again the ice prevented any landing.
Reaching the Pack Ice - December 19, 2008
By Blog.Admin
True to his promise, Jonas woke us at 6.30 AM when we reached the edge of the pack ice. The morning was absolutely glorious, with bright sunshine, no wind and ice all around us. We had lots of birds following the ship and often swooping in low over the bow. It was definitely a morning to be up and out on deck, which is what most of us did.
The serious photographers had their tripods set up and it wasn’t long before we had wildlife to photograph. Penguins were in the water and on the ice floes.
Heading south towards the ice...December 17, 2008
By Blog.Admin
Once we left Campbell Island, we headed south towards the ice. Jonas, our Expedition Leader, had explained that the weather conditions were very bad at Enderby Island, so it would serve no purpose to try and make a landing with a low pressure system seemingly fixed over this area.
We still had lots of wonderful albatross soaring around the ship, enjoying the winds and - maybe - the continuous rain. For us - less well adapted to the environment - the deck was not so pleasant.