Antarctica Sailing - Expedition 2024-2025
The Great White Continent - Sailing Antarctica
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wonders of Antarctica. Albatross will be soaring the waves and lighten up our time on watch. With some luck it will take 5 days or so to get there and drop our anchor in the South Shetland Islands, our first stop to Antarctica. Here we will see our first Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie Penguins and birds like Giant Petrels, Skua’s and Blue Eye Shags. Humpback whales often feed around the southern end of Livingstone Island and Elephant seals will be lazing on the beach. All there for us to enjoy while we rest from our crossing from the Drake Passage. Now we will have all the time to sail the Antarctic Peninsula where the weather during the summer months is often quite calm.
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Whale Watching while sailing in Antarctica
See our Watch whales in an eco-friendly way in Antarctica onboard SY Jonathan. Whale Watching in Antarctica video
See other Antarctica Videos.
See other Antarctica Videos.
But as expected in Antarctica the temperature will not rise very much during the day in these waters. Days will be long, for so far south nights are very short and often not more than twilight like. Deception Island has some hot springs; you actually anchor right in the old crater basin. Once in Gerlach Strait the Great White Continent lives up to it’s name, all around you you will see icebergs, glaciers, snowfields with some of the mountain tops sticking out from this all white world. This is Antarctica. You will have to see it for yourselves to believe it!!! Other topics will be the visit of Port Lockroy where there is a former
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British Scientific Station now turned into a museum, open to visitors, where they run a small post office selling post cards, stamps, T-shirts and the like. But that is no what we are here for so we move on to Lemaire channel which has the name to be full of ice. Steep sided mountains on both sides make this one of the most impressive sounds in the Antarctic Peninsula we can think of. So very different from some other historic sites in the Arctic like Hindelopen Strait in Spitsbergen or Bellot Strait in the North West Passage. S/Y Jonathan now spend 5 seasons sailing these wonders in Antarctica (December 2014-March 2019) finding Blue Eyed Shags, Adelie Penguins colonies, feeding Humpback whales and Orca’s slowly cruising the sounds. Next to the scenery and wildlife there will be some remnants of huts and scientific stations to visit: like the refuge hut on Petermann Island, the Vernadsky station runs by the Ukrainians or the Wordie hut part of British operations in 1943. In our sailing expeditions to Antarctica, you will not find an itinerary from day to day.
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We prefer to be flexible using the best of the weather and last minute info of where whales where spotted or massive Icebergs have run aground. But quite likely Cuverville Island will be where we prepare for our return crossing of the Drake Passage. The Antarctic island has many different birds and penguins nesting on its slopes. While waiting for the right time to leave, we prepare Jonathan and can hike up the island or take the zodiac to explore. Gamma Island might be another island to set off from for the Drake. It will be a different experience sailing north. Full of new impressions that will stick in your memory for years to come... The Drake might be rough but by now you know it is well worth it. To see the Horn again will be the ultimate experience. Weather permitting we will try to do a landing so you can walk up to the lighthouse and its Chilean keepers to write your name in the logbook. The last days we leisure sail the waters back to Ushuaia . . . . .
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