Ecology and trips to Antarctica living on a sailboat
Again and there are already 5 that we arrived in Antarctica
It really is like arriving on another planet, the effort, the distance, the illusion of all the crew makes it create a kind of magic and intrigue.
The navigation is a bit hard, we had winds of 50 knots and waves of about 6 meters, thank goodness we only lasted in this situation 36 scarce hours, from there everything seems little … heh, heh
The mythical Cape Horn
We could not take the picture passing Cape Horn because we did not have the body for “Lanterns” but we spent it, if we passed it and jumping for joy and devotion …
The area of Cape Horn is usually quite hard and for something it has so much fame. Due to the change of depth so abrupt goes from almost 4000 meters to less than 100 at once, in addition to the current from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in addition to the wind accelerates a lot in that area, it is not uncommon to have winds of more than 50 knots, all the books and recommendations on the area recommend that you leave space between Cape Horn and your boat, I advise leaving at least 15 miles.
The next 100 miles are usually also hard, you have to take this area seriously I pass you a fact, formerly of every 10 ships that passed through ovens 1 sank and of them there was already a good sieve in the strait of Le Maire, one of the most complicated in the world.
Having said that, it is not so much, the weather today is like life insurance and gives you time to prepare or take refuge before crossing the mythical Cape Horn (35 knots in Hornos is not the same as anywhere else)
The rest of the navigation is being relatively comfortable with winds from the north and also warm right now we will be about 10 miles from the archipelago of Melchior and it is no colder than in winter of the Mediterranean, when it is cold, which lately it seems that that is the rare thing … The world is changing and we don’t seem to be doing much to prevent it…
Ecology and travel to Antarctica
On this issue of respect for the environment, I wanted to tell you a reflection… of which I am also guilty… we were doing the departure papers from Puerto Williams and we were commenting on the consumption of a cruise ship that we had in front of the Captaincy of medium size, making random calculations we had an operator nearby who happened to work with them giving them service … well I tell you, that ship carries 400 people, 200 passengers and 200 crew, cargo per trip 410 tons of fuel this makes about 1000 liters of fuel per person to make a round trip to Antarctica from a week to 10 days. This year more than 100 thousand people have visited Antarctica, imagine the amount of oil consumed only in fuel. Besides the lot of stuff that is consumed and this is a small industry in the world, imagine cruise ships/planes/transport ships/automobiles etc.
A boat like ours going to sail and motor all the time (there are times that only sail is used …) consumes about 1500 liters divided between 15 people which seems a lot to me but the difference seems incredible … This is the price you pay for comfort… We are definitely charging the world!!
There is no one to stop this, I feel guilty but of course you have to do things, you have to live at least try to consume as few resources as possible … how easy to say it is difficult to do …
I apologize if anyone bothered you with this comment but I think so WE ARE PREDATORS OF THE PLANET and the worst thing is that we know it and we do practically nothing to avoid or change it. I would not be surprised if they send us in a short time the 7 plagues again or the universal flood … Well here you have a boat at your disposal…
In the next few hours
As I said we must be about 120 miles from the Melchior I tell you the plan, we will cross the Melchior by its equator or rather Greenwich meridian so that they are soaking up Antarctic landscape. We have already started to see whales, icebergs not yet, then we will continue south to the Strait of Neumayer, about 10 miles, if there is not much ice and from there we will seek refuge in Port Lockroy where we will have to wait 24 hours for a front that brings up to 40 knots of wind, what an advantage is to have good weather.
The crew is in a very good mood, last night they were dancing and laughing a lot, the truth is that they are a very nice and polite group …
I pass the position so you can take a walk through the Google earth
S 64.07465
W 63.06.391
Heading 170
Speed 7 knots
Water temperature 4 degrees (it’s hot)
Wind 10 knots
Wind direction 20 degrees
Very little visibility, like a mile
Outdoor temperature 8 degrees
Indoor temperature heat
Very good crew condition
Captain’s condition, he is finally rested…
Well I’m going outside to see again this beautiful and incredible continent …
My dream is your dream, we have to get together and come and dream together…
A hug
