Team Mowbray 'Commitment' Expedition 2006-7

Team Mowbray Update #35
Thursday January 4, 2007 - 12.30pm LDT
(Friday January 5, 2007 - 2.30am AEDST)
Position 62 56 S, 60 41 W (anchored at Deception Island)
Wind SW, 30-40 knots
Water Temp, 1.6 degrees
Air Temp, 1 degree

... what an amazing thing to do ... anchor your boat inside a volcano that last erupted in 1970! Not so bloody long ago! Since I last wrote, life has been full and interesting to say the least (not to mention VERY cold!) ... the closing part of our Drake Passage crossing was beaut with a good following breeze and we managed to shut the motor down and get in some good sailing ... as we closed the islands of the South Shetland group we were inundated by an incredible array of bird life ducking, weaving and diving around us ... almost like a welcoming party saying ... "Welcome to our home". We also received a visit from another sort of "bird" when we were "buzzed" for a very long time and very closely by a helicopter intent on identifying us. They had the door open with cameras whirring and video rolling ... Keir took some photos of it and it looks like as if it was of German origin (don't mention the war or Sgt. Schultz who knew nothing!) It stayed for a long time circling low enough for it's downdraft to really disturb the ocean just near us. This place has an abundance of countries supporting stations whether they be for research or whatever else I guess and it is my observation that there is a certain amount of posturing and parochialism.

We closed in on Deception Island late on the evening of the 2nd January and motored through "Neptune's Bellows" (what a great name) at about 2.00am on the morning of the 3rd ... the Bellows is the entrance (very narrow) to the waterway within. A small section of the rim of the crater collapsed allowing the ocean to flood in ... imagine the rush of water back then! The caldera is about 5 miles in length from SE to NW and tucked up in the very NW corner is a tiny kidney shaped inlet and that is where we are currently moored riding out a gale. When it blows down here ... it blows! As I have written before, because the atmosphere is so dense here 30 knots packs much more of a punch than 30 knots in the tropics (don't mention the Great Barrier Reef to any of the crew or there might be a mutiny).

Anchorages can be quite restricted here with not much room to swing plus the bottom can be of poor holding for an anchor so boats "tie in" i.e. take mooring ropes ashore and tie them to whatever you can find ... initially we just dropped anchor in Telefon (there isn't one here) Bay as there is good room to swing, however the forecast came through for this gale so yesterday arvo we spent a couple of hours ferrying back and forwards to shore in the dinghy setting up shore lines and currently we are tied to two huge boulders ... wrapped around each boulder is a 10mm thick galvanised cable and to each cable is connected about 90 metres (nearly a football field in length) of 20mm thick rope out to the stern of the boat. Our anchor is still deployed as well as about 40 metres of chain ... and all that is not extreme for anchoring down here! The whole island is a volcanic deposit of cinders, ash and rock spewed up from the depths of the earth over the years ... down low it is completely black and featureless ... we have commented on it's similarity to what we think a "moonscape" would be like ... up higher the ridges are ice and snow covered. Last night it snowed quite heavily with the boat getting a good dusting of snow.

Our final approach to the island was a test for all on board as the wind increased and the temperature dropped. In the end we were struggling along in headwinds and squalls of up to 40 knots and very, very cold in an eerie twilight that is neither day nor night probing our way into new waters trying to find an anchorage!! ... one doesn't have time to think about one's credit card debt!! Not yet have we seen an iceberg. South west of us about 60 miles lay the northern entrance of the Gerlache Straits where we want to get to, to really get amongst the ice, the bergs and the incredible scenery that we have all seen so many pictures and documentaries of. Names like Paradise Harbour, Lemaire Channel, Port Lockroy, etc. Unfortunately our progress toward there is suspended until this gale passes as we would need to bash directly into the teeth of it and there is no need to do that so we are snugged up playing the waiting game. We all agree that being cabin bound, tied to the shore whilst snowing and blowing a gale and freezing your arse off is all part of the experience ... some people are easily pleased aren't they?

Have fun,

Tony