Katabatic Capers
Editor's Note: Below are the first eight dispatches from the team. Many more coming, so stay tuned!
ARGENTINA, January 30, 2006
we arrived in Buenos Aires on January 24, and stayed with Carla, Marta and Avana Speciale, a wonderful Argentinian family who had extended their hospitality towards us via a friend in Sydney (thanks for lining it up Miester!!!). Buenos Aires, or BA as it is often known, was great fun for a couple of days. We had time to soak up a bit of culture, albeit briefly, and Andrew brushed up on some Spanish that wasn’t quite as rusty as he thought it was. There wasn’t much time to sleep with a very early flight to Ushuaia on Friday morning. The 3:20 am start wasn’t all that welcome after the midnight dinner finish with the Speciale family. (Jetlag...what jetlag?!)
Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, is a beautiful town reminiscent of Chamonix (France), surrounded by spectacular snow-covered peaks and full of tourists!
Our kayaks all turned up in one piece here in Ushuaia a couple of days ago. We were very excited as a lot of time, effort and heartache had gone into the complex problem of kayak freight. No real damage to the boats either, which is a bonus given the convoluted path they took from New South Wales to Argentina. The next few days here will be taken up with our final bit of food shopping, sorting gear and getting ready for the sail to Antarctica on February 1.
THE DRAKE SHAKE, February 4, 2006
The Drake Passage is the body of water that separates Cape Horn from Antarctica. This is one of the wildest passages of water in the world - and it's lived up to its reputation for this crossing! We had 50 knots of wind chasing us down the Beagle Channel, and for some reason Stu found himself at the wheel! He did a great
job of keeping us upright though! With rotating shifts we covered 240 nautical miles in 24 hours, an average speed of 10kts an hour - not bad.
With the rough weather we all spent some time feeding the fish. Stu & Laurie raced each other to the galley sink. Gages won the race and copped an armful of Stu's spew as the prize! Our stomachs have settled down now though, and unfortunately the wind has died away too. Now we're motor-sailing against a 1-knot current, about one-third of the way across the Drake. The Drake Shake has become the Drake Lake, with flat seas and a gently rolling swell. We expect to reach Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula in about another 3 days, making a 5-day crossing all up.
There's been heaps of wildlife around. So far we've spotted Magellanic Penguins, Blue-eyed shags, dolphins, a majestic pair of Wandering Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Grey-headed Albatross, White-Chinned Petrel, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Antarctic Prion and a Gentoo Penguin a long way from home.
ANTARCTICA AT LAST! February 7, 2006
It's been a wild ride to get here. From a 50kt start to motor-sailing with no wind at all part-way across the Drake Passage. Thankfully we all found our sea-legs eventually. As we approached mainland Antarctica this afternoon a katabatic wind came up from no-where. We were rigged up with sail area suitable for 20 knots. The wind hit 55kts with no warning and we were WAY overpowered. With bergs all around us it was a desperate situation. We dropped sail as soon as possible but the boat still copped a few knocks on bergy bits. The boat had a few scrapes but was relatively unscathed.
Right now we've found an anchorage on the Trinity Peninsula. While the yacht is anchored well we've backed it up with some mooring lines tied off to rocks both fore and aft. The weather forecast indicates gale-force winds are likely for the next couple of days. In this kind of weather with very heavy kayaks we're unlikely to leave until the wind abates. This is an incredible place. Antarctica has already left its indelible impression on our psyche. We can't wait to get started.
KATABATIC CAPERS, February 10, 2006
The weather here has been pretty wild. Every day the wind has exceeded genuine 50kts at some time during the day. We’ve had the kayaks loaded and ready to go for a couple of days now. This morning the weather was looking good so we prepared for an early start. The wind was pretty light to start with, about 10-15kts on the nose. We crossed the fjord just north of here, the scene of some very strong wind over the last few days.
Paddling through heavy brash ice.
As we rounded the headland to turn to the north, the wind picked up a little, reaching about 15-20kts. Here we had to cross a large bay, perhaps 10km long, lined by ice cliffs about 50m high – no landings here! As we approached the far end of the bay, still a little way offshore, we were hit by a wall of spray and incredibly strong wind. For those who may not be aware, katabatic winds are caused by air high on a polar plateau cooling and accelerating as they sink and follow the path of least resistance towards the coast.
Whether the wind we had was katabatic or system-generated is academic. Whatever, it reached storm force (in excess of 50kts) very quickly, and we had to battle for our lives. In these conditions there is not much you can do for your fellow paddler, even if you want to help them. I feel very fortunate that I was paddling with kayakers of the calibre of Gages & Stu. We all dug deep and found it impossible to make headway into the wind. Our strategy was to ferry glide across it to the southern end of the bay, where we could get some shelter. We had a real fight to stay upright. After several hours of bloody hard yakka we reached the southern headland with a great deal of relief. A rather frustrating retreat to Hope Bay was in order.
Here we’ll have a day of much needed rest as we are pretty knackered after today’s effort. Let’s hope the weather improves! We have heard tantalizing stories of balmy warm still days in December and January in this area (Hope Bay) – but there’s no sign of weather like that right now. Let's hope that winter has not come early to the Antarctic Peninsula this year!
CAT & MOUSE, February 12, 2006
We had a fantastic day's paddling here in Antarctica today. We left Bahia Esperanza (Hope Bay) in Antarctic Sound at around 7am, as our 5am weather check revealed strong wind. We were bucking headwinds & current all day, but nonetheless had an awesome day's paddling.
The large bay lined by ice-cliffs mentioned in our last update acts as the drainage path for all the winds on the high plateaux of the Trinity Peninsula. We had fierce bullets of wind toying with us as we crossed this bay. The memory of the katabatic storm-force winds of two days ago was uppermost in our minds. We stayed in close to the ice-cliffs and hoped for the best. Thankfully the really nasty winds stayed away for long enough, although we still had willi-waws and the occasional bullet whipping up walls of spray and keeping us on edge.
Later in the day a wall of fog rolled in, reducing visibility to 50m. This was bizzarre to paddle in. The wind disappeared and was replaced by rain, which still falls as I type this. We have now reached the northern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula. From here it's all downhill (south-west)!
HACE MUCHO VIENTO!! February 15, 2006
In English - it's very windy here right now! Its blowing around 45 knots. Wind-driven snow is pounding our tents and anything not tied down will disappear pretty quickly.
Despite the gnarly conditions we managed to jag a small weather window of a couple of hours early this morning, enough time to get about 15km under our belts. Not a big day by any stretch, but as it happens we had planned a short day today anyway, as the next bit of coast has no landings for almost 50km. We are camped at Cape Ducorps, and the scenery is incredible. There are a lot of gounded bergs, and many more floating past with the tidal currents. Astrolabe Island is a few miles offshore, a mystical looking place with a couple of great looking (if you're a climber) twin peaks drenched in snow & ice. Astolabe Is. has a wild coastline littered with features bearing names like "Dragons Teeth" that just beg to be explored. One to remember for the next trip.
Antarctica is slowly revealing her secrets to us. The coastline is just stunning, it is a place like no other. We're having a ripper of a trip, and it has only just begun!
CRACKER, February 19, 2006
We had a cracker of a day today, in fact we've had 3 crackers in a row. Finally the weather has relented and given us a break from the hammering we received further up the Peninsula. We've covered a shade over 150km in the last 3 days. We're very pleased with this tally given the heavy loads we're carrying (we have all our supplies with us in our kayaks, there will be no re-supply en route). The paddling conditions have
been pretty good, ranging from light headwinds to flat calm, to even a couple of hours of tailwinds (joy!! I'd forgotten what paddling downwind was like!).
We've had to contend with large fields of brash ice at times, which does nothing for forward speed. Brash is very hard on the kayaks - surprisingly small lumps of it will stop you in your tracks. Large fields of it make for extremely slow going and risk paddle breakage or boat damage. If the wind comes up this stuff can be dangerous too. So where possible, we paddle around it, sometimes necessitating long detours.
The campsites we've had have been amazing. Cape Roquemaurel wasn't all that flat, well OK it wasn't flat at all, but the place is like something out of Mordor- giant castles of rock soaring into the sky, birds screeching and flying all around. Great stuff.
Right now we are camped in Curtis Bay, it's snowing quite heavily and we arrived here in a whiteout. It's quite an experience paddling through heavy, gently falling snowflakes into an unknown bay. All around this small rocky peninsula are glaciers calving into the sea. It's very atmospheric.
South from here we expect a few more options for landings & campsites, so with any luck we can take it a little easier and take some more time to enjoy the scenery. And there's plenty of that!
BANANA BELT, February 20, 2006
We're now at Cierva Cove, after another great day on the water. We've reached a part of the Antarctic Peninsula known for its more benign weather conditions - the so called 'Banana Belt'(!) to borrow a term used by some of the yachties around here. We've learnt that Antarctica can throw anything your way at any time though so we're not relaxing too much!
Map of team's current position.
We saw some humpback whales feeding today. Seeing these powerful, majestic creatures from a kayak is an amazing experience. They approached us and came within five metres of our kayaks, not at all bothered by our presence. Such is the privilege of travelling in a non-powered vessel.
Right now a we roll out the sleeping bags there's a huge leopard seal lazing on an ice floe below us and the sun is slowly setting over Brabant Island, lighting up the mountains behind us in a flame of pink & orange. It's a special place and travelling
by kayak is a special way to see it.
From here we'll take things little easier for a while and see a bit of country on the way through. We've had a few problems with our solar panel so updates may be a little les frequent but we'll do our best to keep you posted on our progress.
ARGENTINA, January 30, 2006
we arrived in Buenos Aires on January 24, and stayed with Carla, Marta and Avana Speciale, a wonderful Argentinian family who had extended their hospitality towards us via a friend in Sydney (thanks for lining it up Miester!!!). Buenos Aires, or BA as it is often known, was great fun for a couple of days. We had time to soak up a bit of culture, albeit briefly, and Andrew brushed up on some Spanish that wasn’t quite as rusty as he thought it was. There wasn’t much time to sleep with a very early flight to Ushuaia on Friday morning. The 3:20 am start wasn’t all that welcome after the midnight dinner finish with the Speciale family. (Jetlag...what jetlag?!)
Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, is a beautiful town reminiscent of Chamonix (France), surrounded by spectacular snow-covered peaks and full of tourists!
Our kayaks all turned up in one piece here in Ushuaia a couple of days ago. We were very excited as a lot of time, effort and heartache had gone into the complex problem of kayak freight. No real damage to the boats either, which is a bonus given the convoluted path they took from New South Wales to Argentina. The next few days here will be taken up with our final bit of food shopping, sorting gear and getting ready for the sail to Antarctica on February 1.
THE DRAKE SHAKE, February 4, 2006
The Drake Passage is the body of water that separates Cape Horn from Antarctica. This is one of the wildest passages of water in the world - and it's lived up to its reputation for this crossing! We had 50 knots of wind chasing us down the Beagle Channel, and for some reason Stu found himself at the wheel! He did a great
job of keeping us upright though! With rotating shifts we covered 240 nautical miles in 24 hours, an average speed of 10kts an hour - not bad.
With the rough weather we all spent some time feeding the fish. Stu & Laurie raced each other to the galley sink. Gages won the race and copped an armful of Stu's spew as the prize! Our stomachs have settled down now though, and unfortunately the wind has died away too. Now we're motor-sailing against a 1-knot current, about one-third of the way across the Drake. The Drake Shake has become the Drake Lake, with flat seas and a gently rolling swell. We expect to reach Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula in about another 3 days, making a 5-day crossing all up.
There's been heaps of wildlife around. So far we've spotted Magellanic Penguins, Blue-eyed shags, dolphins, a majestic pair of Wandering Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Grey-headed Albatross, White-Chinned Petrel, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Antarctic Prion and a Gentoo Penguin a long way from home.
ANTARCTICA AT LAST! February 7, 2006
It's been a wild ride to get here. From a 50kt start to motor-sailing with no wind at all part-way across the Drake Passage. Thankfully we all found our sea-legs eventually. As we approached mainland Antarctica this afternoon a katabatic wind came up from no-where. We were rigged up with sail area suitable for 20 knots. The wind hit 55kts with no warning and we were WAY overpowered. With bergs all around us it was a desperate situation. We dropped sail as soon as possible but the boat still copped a few knocks on bergy bits. The boat had a few scrapes but was relatively unscathed.
Right now we've found an anchorage on the Trinity Peninsula. While the yacht is anchored well we've backed it up with some mooring lines tied off to rocks both fore and aft. The weather forecast indicates gale-force winds are likely for the next couple of days. In this kind of weather with very heavy kayaks we're unlikely to leave until the wind abates. This is an incredible place. Antarctica has already left its indelible impression on our psyche. We can't wait to get started.
KATABATIC CAPERS, February 10, 2006
The weather here has been pretty wild. Every day the wind has exceeded genuine 50kts at some time during the day. We’ve had the kayaks loaded and ready to go for a couple of days now. This morning the weather was looking good so we prepared for an early start. The wind was pretty light to start with, about 10-15kts on the nose. We crossed the fjord just north of here, the scene of some very strong wind over the last few days.
Paddling through heavy brash ice.
As we rounded the headland to turn to the north, the wind picked up a little, reaching about 15-20kts. Here we had to cross a large bay, perhaps 10km long, lined by ice cliffs about 50m high – no landings here! As we approached the far end of the bay, still a little way offshore, we were hit by a wall of spray and incredibly strong wind. For those who may not be aware, katabatic winds are caused by air high on a polar plateau cooling and accelerating as they sink and follow the path of least resistance towards the coast.
Whether the wind we had was katabatic or system-generated is academic. Whatever, it reached storm force (in excess of 50kts) very quickly, and we had to battle for our lives. In these conditions there is not much you can do for your fellow paddler, even if you want to help them. I feel very fortunate that I was paddling with kayakers of the calibre of Gages & Stu. We all dug deep and found it impossible to make headway into the wind. Our strategy was to ferry glide across it to the southern end of the bay, where we could get some shelter. We had a real fight to stay upright. After several hours of bloody hard yakka we reached the southern headland with a great deal of relief. A rather frustrating retreat to Hope Bay was in order.
Here we’ll have a day of much needed rest as we are pretty knackered after today’s effort. Let’s hope the weather improves! We have heard tantalizing stories of balmy warm still days in December and January in this area (Hope Bay) – but there’s no sign of weather like that right now. Let's hope that winter has not come early to the Antarctic Peninsula this year!
CAT & MOUSE, February 12, 2006
We had a fantastic day's paddling here in Antarctica today. We left Bahia Esperanza (Hope Bay) in Antarctic Sound at around 7am, as our 5am weather check revealed strong wind. We were bucking headwinds & current all day, but nonetheless had an awesome day's paddling.
The large bay lined by ice-cliffs mentioned in our last update acts as the drainage path for all the winds on the high plateaux of the Trinity Peninsula. We had fierce bullets of wind toying with us as we crossed this bay. The memory of the katabatic storm-force winds of two days ago was uppermost in our minds. We stayed in close to the ice-cliffs and hoped for the best. Thankfully the really nasty winds stayed away for long enough, although we still had willi-waws and the occasional bullet whipping up walls of spray and keeping us on edge.
Later in the day a wall of fog rolled in, reducing visibility to 50m. This was bizzarre to paddle in. The wind disappeared and was replaced by rain, which still falls as I type this. We have now reached the northern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula. From here it's all downhill (south-west)!
HACE MUCHO VIENTO!! February 15, 2006
In English - it's very windy here right now! Its blowing around 45 knots. Wind-driven snow is pounding our tents and anything not tied down will disappear pretty quickly.
Despite the gnarly conditions we managed to jag a small weather window of a couple of hours early this morning, enough time to get about 15km under our belts. Not a big day by any stretch, but as it happens we had planned a short day today anyway, as the next bit of coast has no landings for almost 50km. We are camped at Cape Ducorps, and the scenery is incredible. There are a lot of gounded bergs, and many more floating past with the tidal currents. Astrolabe Island is a few miles offshore, a mystical looking place with a couple of great looking (if you're a climber) twin peaks drenched in snow & ice. Astolabe Is. has a wild coastline littered with features bearing names like "Dragons Teeth" that just beg to be explored. One to remember for the next trip.
Antarctica is slowly revealing her secrets to us. The coastline is just stunning, it is a place like no other. We're having a ripper of a trip, and it has only just begun!
CRACKER, February 19, 2006
We had a cracker of a day today, in fact we've had 3 crackers in a row. Finally the weather has relented and given us a break from the hammering we received further up the Peninsula. We've covered a shade over 150km in the last 3 days. We're very pleased with this tally given the heavy loads we're carrying (we have all our supplies with us in our kayaks, there will be no re-supply en route). The paddling conditions have
been pretty good, ranging from light headwinds to flat calm, to even a couple of hours of tailwinds (joy!! I'd forgotten what paddling downwind was like!).
We've had to contend with large fields of brash ice at times, which does nothing for forward speed. Brash is very hard on the kayaks - surprisingly small lumps of it will stop you in your tracks. Large fields of it make for extremely slow going and risk paddle breakage or boat damage. If the wind comes up this stuff can be dangerous too. So where possible, we paddle around it, sometimes necessitating long detours.
The campsites we've had have been amazing. Cape Roquemaurel wasn't all that flat, well OK it wasn't flat at all, but the place is like something out of Mordor- giant castles of rock soaring into the sky, birds screeching and flying all around. Great stuff.
Right now we are camped in Curtis Bay, it's snowing quite heavily and we arrived here in a whiteout. It's quite an experience paddling through heavy, gently falling snowflakes into an unknown bay. All around this small rocky peninsula are glaciers calving into the sea. It's very atmospheric.
South from here we expect a few more options for landings & campsites, so with any luck we can take it a little easier and take some more time to enjoy the scenery. And there's plenty of that!
BANANA BELT, February 20, 2006
We're now at Cierva Cove, after another great day on the water. We've reached a part of the Antarctic Peninsula known for its more benign weather conditions - the so called 'Banana Belt'(!) to borrow a term used by some of the yachties around here. We've learnt that Antarctica can throw anything your way at any time though so we're not relaxing too much!
Map of team's current position.
We saw some humpback whales feeding today. Seeing these powerful, majestic creatures from a kayak is an amazing experience. They approached us and came within five metres of our kayaks, not at all bothered by our presence. Such is the privilege of travelling in a non-powered vessel.
Right now a we roll out the sleeping bags there's a huge leopard seal lazing on an ice floe below us and the sun is slowly setting over Brabant Island, lighting up the mountains behind us in a flame of pink & orange. It's a special place and travelling
by kayak is a special way to see it.
From here we'll take things little easier for a while and see a bit of country on the way through. We've had a few problems with our solar panel so updates may be a little les frequent but we'll do our best to keep you posted on our progress.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home