Antarctica always gives you more, every crossing is a new adventure
Joy Sailors!!
We start the return
Life takes many turns, every day one and today it is time to return to Ushuaia. We have about 650 miles ahead, the weather is not favorable, but it does not seem aggressive either, we will touch “trucker roll” and when we arrive 100 miles before Hornos, we will have good wind …
The important thing is that we have already set sail, that everyone is well and I think very happy, Antarctica always gives you more than you expect. We have had everything, whales, a wedding, yes, a wedding, today we are celebrating birthdays … Before yesterday we managed to record a very large leopard seal, this was magical I tell you …
The Leopard Seal
We were navigating through a channel called Le Mare, but on the Antarctic Peninsula, it is a very narrow channel, about 500 meters wide and about 400 meters deep, full of ice, mountains on both sides loaded with ice and snow to their limit of resistance. Suddenly a Leopard Seal, these seals are only from this area, they are at the top of the food chain and they are carnivores… They have a neck unlike the rest of seals and a very, very large mouth, it almost has a bit of a prehistoric appearance …
Well we saw it on the ice and seeing the face of Rafa, Gador and Rubén of illusion to go with her, I decided to stop the boat, lower the chinchorro, wait for them to prepare to go to the water, wake up Leo … Like 30 minutes of preparation and all this time the Leopard Seal exhibiting itself before us and as if waiting to be filmed and so it was…
From the chinchorro they threw themselves into the water while Leo waited for them in him and indicated where the seal was, she played hide and seek but went from embarrassing to brave and that was the time to get out of the water, a leopard seal is not a joke.
You can’t imagine how happy the 3 of them were after looking for the Leopard Seal for a week!!
In my years navigating these areas I have learned that when an opportunity or moment presents itself, you have to take advantage of it… we didn’t see any more Leopards…
Collaborating with scientific projects
Well, yes! Antarctica always gives you more and it’s always different, it’s just incredible…
In this expedition we have also collaborated with the Argentine government in a research project taking water samples in different areas of Antarctica. I love doing this and I hope that the Spanish CESIC or the polar committee are encouraged, I will always be available for any scientific project that is proposed to us …
The Ukrainian Base
Yesterday we were at the Vernadsky base, a Ukrainian base that was ceded to Ukraine by the British. Very close to it, there is another small base, museum, English where until recently, was the only bar in Antarctica, as do not wake up, next year we set up one of Alegría Marineros and we petamos … heh, heh
At the Ukrainian base we were given the keys to visit the museum, the navigation to Vernadsky was very slow due to the amount of ice in the area. Almost 20 miles through ice with very intense areas, they had small ice debris and the freest ones had icebergs like buildings…
My sincere thanks
I wanted to thank you and encourage you to continue doing it, you are telling me inviting some beers From the website of alegriamarineros.com and the truth is that it is very nice to receive selfless support in this way, for me it is like a recognition of what I try to transmit … Thank you very much, always help.
It is not easy for me to endure this whole project alone, put yourself in my place and I’m sure you understand… Once again, thank you!
Joy Sailors!!
My dream is our dream and I want to be your tool to realize it…
Do not forget that we still have opportunities this year, Ventisqueros and Canales Fueguinos, let’s live it!
