Brash Ice and Southern Right Whales
February 25, 2006
After two days of being locked in by brash ice at Spring Point, we're finally on the move again. It was frustrating watching two days of perfect weather slip away after brash ice moved in overnight. This stuff was so thick it was impossible to paddle through, and there was no chance of turning your kayak either. The prospect of not being able to go backwards, forwards, or turn in this 'orrible stuff is no fun. However, an overnight wind change cleared our bay out and we were able to leave Spring Point early on Feb 23rd.
Map of team's current position.
In the last couple of days we've knocked up some big miles to make up for lost time. We covered around 50km yesterday to reach Portal Point, accompanied by Southern Right Whales for the last few kilometres. Fantastic stuff. We paddled through the seldom-navigated Graham Passage to glimpse some rarely seen peaks, and for a couple of hours there we thought we might be blown up them by a katabatic wind that came up very strongly, but then died away almost as quickly after just a couple of hours.
Today we had another magnificent day paddling from Portal Point to Cuverville Island, where there is a large Gentoo Penguin colony. We took some great pics of some crabeater seals on an ice floe near Spigot Peak. Orne Harbour was another highlight, a steep and dramatic place that is well worth a visit. Right now we're camped across the passage from Zeiss Needle and Sabre Peak, two towering mountains of rock and ice surrounded by ice cliffs and glaciers tumbling into the sea.
Tomorrow we're moving on to Paradise Harbour, where with any luck we'll get a break from the mist & cloud we have at the moment and see some of the spectacular mountain peaks that surround this well-known spot.
After two days of being locked in by brash ice at Spring Point, we're finally on the move again. It was frustrating watching two days of perfect weather slip away after brash ice moved in overnight. This stuff was so thick it was impossible to paddle through, and there was no chance of turning your kayak either. The prospect of not being able to go backwards, forwards, or turn in this 'orrible stuff is no fun. However, an overnight wind change cleared our bay out and we were able to leave Spring Point early on Feb 23rd.
Map of team's current position.
In the last couple of days we've knocked up some big miles to make up for lost time. We covered around 50km yesterday to reach Portal Point, accompanied by Southern Right Whales for the last few kilometres. Fantastic stuff. We paddled through the seldom-navigated Graham Passage to glimpse some rarely seen peaks, and for a couple of hours there we thought we might be blown up them by a katabatic wind that came up very strongly, but then died away almost as quickly after just a couple of hours.
Today we had another magnificent day paddling from Portal Point to Cuverville Island, where there is a large Gentoo Penguin colony. We took some great pics of some crabeater seals on an ice floe near Spigot Peak. Orne Harbour was another highlight, a steep and dramatic place that is well worth a visit. Right now we're camped across the passage from Zeiss Needle and Sabre Peak, two towering mountains of rock and ice surrounded by ice cliffs and glaciers tumbling into the sea.
Tomorrow we're moving on to Paradise Harbour, where with any luck we'll get a break from the mist & cloud we have at the moment and see some of the spectacular mountain peaks that surround this well-known spot.
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