We spent the last three nights anchored near Vernadsky, the Ukranian Base, before departing and heading North this morning for Palmer, the American Base. From our anchorage at Vernadsky we managed to squeeze in several adventures.
The night we arrived, half the group camped on the island while the other half enjoyed a bit more space on the yacht. The campers took advantage of being on land to capture some great photos of the sunset and sunrise, as well as a passing whale, many skuas, and more penguins.
The next day was a leisurely morning checking out Wordie House, a historic building formerly used as the British research station. Then it was off in the kayaks to check out nearby islands and bergs lousy with crabeater and leopard seals. That evening we enjoyed the Ukrainian hospitality as they showed us around their base. We got to see some bizarre Antarctic sea life (of particular note was a giant red sea spider and an isopod) and other fascinating research. Then to top it off we enjoyed a toast (or several) in their bar where we played pool, wore silly hats, sampled their homemade vodka and marvelled at their excellent vinyl collection.
After our rather late night we managed to rally early for a longish paddle to Berthelot Islands. The day took us to our southernmost point (65°20′) where we had lunch, Kim rolled his kayak a few times, and we navigated through miles of bergs clogging up the southern side of the islands before heading back north to the yacht. The day wasn’t done though. Half the group returned to Vernadsky for some spa time – alternating between the sauna perched on the cliff, and dips in the freezing cold ocean below. Brisk!
This morning it was an early start, sailing north to Palmer. We dropped the kayaks in a few miles away and explored the surrounding islands on our way to the yacht’ s anchorage. The wildlife featured today was elephant seals, piled together in cuddle puddles (not a scientific term). They appear to really enjoy each other’s very close company.
Tomorrow will be our last day of kayaking before we head back to the Drake. It seems like its the right time to head out, as each morning we woke up at Vernadsky we saw more sea ice formed around the yacht, and seemingly more bergs pushing into the channels and coves around the islands. Winter is coming.
Allison, Kim, Lyle, Vivian, Regina, Justine, JF, Calypso, and Adrien.