Ant 1 Bram

The night before the embarking in Punta Arenas, we met with a few crewmembers for dinner and some Chilean wine. The group building continuedquickly after dinner and the first sailing course on board.The names of the 21 sails - like dekzwabber, aap, spanker and vlieger -and their corresponding lines - sheets, buntlines, clewlines, braces,halyards and downhauls - caused some confusion. The climbing in the mastand the yards to set and furl the sails were fun and exciting.The first two days passing the Magellan and Beagle Channels were inquiet water and we had good weather. Perfect for sailing courses, safetytrainings and knot practicing. We also got lectures about wildlife -pinguïns and other sea birds - and photography.In Puerto Williams we landed for the first time by zodiacs and made ahike on a mountain. We went straight through the Patagonian mountainsand had great views on Terra del Fuego. For some people the hikedownhill was a little bit "que pasa".We were lucky enough to land on Cape Horn as well and visited thealbatros monument and the lighthouse. From there, it was Drake passage:four days passing the southern ocean to Antarctica. The first three dayswe had a "Drake lake": very calm waters and sometimes too little wind tosail and we needed the motor. We enjoyed beautiful sunrises and sunsetsand climbs in the masts. Sailing 24 hours a day means watches andstearing in turns in three different teams. Seeing the ocean and thewildlife around the clock. Not to forget the peeling potatoes and applesduties. The resulting meals - and apple pie - were definitely worth it!In the meantime we are surprised with breakfasts, lunches and dinnerswith always a surprising and different element.On Saturday evening we arrived in Antarctica and set anker in a quietbay. Beautiful, otherworldly rocks and pinguïns greeted us. The nextmorning we took the zodiacs to one island to see three different pinguïnspecies and elephant seals.