Calming winds

12th February 2018 CALMING WINDS AND EASING SEA CONDITIONS ON OURARRIVAL DAY TO SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDSThe decreasing speed attained during last night and early morning,reaching just about 5kn, didn’t allow an early arrival to the Antarcticislands to attempt our first landfall already in the afternoon. Ifpossible, we will try to set foot in Barrientos Island in the evening.On the other hand, the calmer sea conditions and fair 15kn breeze let ushave a pleasant last night and quiet sailing day. A welcome change overthe fairly rough seas we experienced on the Drake Passage crossing.Since yesterday afternoon almost all our canvas is spread to the wind,with the exception of the Gaff Top sail and the still damaged ForeTopmast Staysail, and just a few adjustments to the braces werenecessary during the morning to keep our Southerly course towards theEnglish Strait. This passage lies between Greenwich and Robert Islands,in the South Shetland archipelago. Its name dates back to at least 1822,established during the early sealing and whaling times in Antarctica.We made use of the day to keep going with the guides lecture program,plus having a couple of meetings with our photography and video team.Arnoud shared with all of us some interesting points relating toAntarctica and climate change and explaining why those regions are ofspecial interest for this subject. An idea and good challenge for thephotographers on board is to try to illustrate all this in videos orpictures. From early morning excitement fills the Europa. Feeling the coldertemperatures, together with an increasing number of seabirds flyingaround, a few Hourglass dolphins bowriding our ship and sporadic sightsof penguins porpoising here and there, it seems we can all sense theproximity of Antarctic land. All powered up by the evolutions of thecrew on deck organizing everything for our imminent arrival. The rubberboats we use to bring us ashore are prepared and fueled up, safety linesand nets removed and during the afternoon, getting closer to land, allsails have to be clewed up and furled. First Royals, Top Gallants, OuterJib, Middle and Upper staysails come up while the first bergy bits arespotted by the lookouts.Sailing half a mile from the so named Potmess Rocks, we leave thecharacteristic and conspicuous flat-topped Table Island and theWatchkeeper on our starboard side, barely visible hidden behind a mistyveil. Soon the impressive rocky shores of Fort Williams come into view,topped by a navigational beacon, while the swell breaks upon PassageRock, so named since the early 18-hundreds when the first sealers cameto this area because it serves as a guide to vessels passing through thestrait.Soon groups of Gentoo penguins swim close to the ship as the first rocksand shallows surrounding the English Strait become visible amongst thelow clouds and foggy weather. We make the last approach to our anchorageunder Top Sails, Spanker, Lower Staysails and Inner Jib, but soonengines are turned on and all sails are dropped or clewed up, starting ahectic afternoon of furling all our canvas. In the meantime the anchordrops and the crew, with the help of some of us get everything ready togo ashore after dinner. All in the drizzle and fog that from time totime let us have a glimpse of the spectacular surroundings, crowned withdark basaltic pillars and cliffs, broken here and there by sandybeaches, home for countless Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins.At that point, seawatches for the voyage crew end. From now on, until wewill face the Drake Passage northbound towards Ushuaia at the end of ourAntarctic adventures, we will be in daywatch, using the daytime to goashore or conduct photo-workshops.Still with some daylight and relatively good conditions to do a landing,a short briefing right after an early evening meal preceeds the start ofthe Antarctic activities off the ship.Soon we were all ready to go ashore at Barrientos Island. This beautifulvegetated island belongs to the Aitcho archipelago, a group of islandslocated in the English Strait. Even though the area had been used byearly sealers and whalers on the 19th Century, it was not until 1935that it was charted and baptized after the Admiralty Hydrographic Office(HO), thus its name.A short zodiac ride drove us ashore at the so-called Whalebone beach. Afew curious Chinstrap penguins and a myriad of Gentoos receive us totheir homeland. Many youngsters of the latter species roam all over, asthey tend to leave the nest where they were born as soon as they canactually walk around. From then on the chicks wait at the shoreline fortheir parents to come back from their foraging trips to feed them. Oncethey spot their progenitors, a frenetic chase takes over, while the busyparent just can run away, stop for a second, feed the chicks anddisappear where the teenagers can’t go yet until they grow thedefinitive waterproof adult plumage, back to sea.In contrast, Chinstrap chicks stick much more around the rookeries wherethey hatched, waiting to be fed by their parents.Despite the receding daylight and the freezing temperatures we allgreatly enjoyed our first close encounter with the Antarctic wildlife.Quite surprising for many of us to have the chance to experience such anamount of charismatic Antarctic fauna all over the landingsite, in everystep we make. The dark basaltic rocks and the green meadows formed byslopes covered by the annual growing algae Prasiola crispa, frame thepenguin rookeries, while Europa sits at anchor in the background of thescene.Like that we spend an enjoyable evening ashore, before embarking theship and spending our first calm night on a steady ship, after the lastdays riding the wild Drake Passage.