South Georgia
04/03/07
This morning brought poor visibility, icebergs and soft rain. Slowly South
Georgia became visible through the mist. The sea was full of seals and penguins.
As the sun came out it cast a rainbow over the peaks. The water colour turned
into a beautiful light aqua and Mick took off his shirt, stood on the bow
punching the air with his fists and shouted ‘this is South Georgia!’
It turned into a stunning day and everyone was in good spirits. The wind died
down to around 10 knots and so we proceeded under engine. Our first attempts
at contacting the base station were met with no response. As we sailed along
the north coast of the island we passed the most spectacular views of bays,
mountains and glaciers. We arrived into King Edward Point which is a British
run base and tied up at the jetty. We cleared in and were given a briefing
on the island, areas to stay clear of and how to treat the wildlife. The boat
was cleaned down and we all enjoyed a shower. A delicious meal was made for
dinner which we enjoyed with some bottles of wine and music.
05/03/07
This morning the early risers of the crew got up and went for a walk around
the base, visiting King Penguins, Fur Seal and Elephants Seal pups which are
huge. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. The walk then meandered off
road and up the hill, along the river all the way to the top and along the
ridge and down to Grytviken the abandoned whaling station. The views were
breath taking. After a look around Grytviken the crew walked back along the
road beneath the ridge that connects to King Edward Point. It is lined with
Fur Seal pups. On return the boat was moved across from King Edward Point
to the jetty at Grytviken. Here the headsail was taken down in order to do
repairs and the main halyard was also repaired. Some of the crew visited the
museum and Shackelton’s grave. We also invited anyone who was interested
from the base to come down and join us for a drink and music. Ema (South Georgia
Government), Steve (BAS), Ainslie (Post Office) and Neil (Museum) arrived
down to the boat. They were good company and we enjoyed a great evening of
live music and chat.
06/03/07
Today the crew were late to rise and a little slow due to the previous night’s
festivities. There was a big clean up followed by a big breakfast. Afterwards
everyone visited the museum, had a good look around and spent plenty of money
on souvenirs in the shop. We then went over to visit the post office and Ainslie
invited us for tea. We all descended on Shackleton Villa, drank lots of tea
and ate all their biscuits. Ainslie made us crumpets but they were devoured
faster than she can produce them and everybody began to feel very at home
on the very comfortable sofas, a luxury we had not had in ages and a surprisingly
pleasant experience after living on a boat at sea. After returning to the
boat and a late dinner we went back over to the shed at King Edward Point
where we had been invited to a party for a BAS staff member who is leaving
the following day. It snowed quite heavily during the night.
07/03/07
It’s another beautiful morning but the weather soon turned and light
snow turned into quite heavy snow. The cruise ship’ Hanseatic’
entered the bay and before long the skipper and first mate of Celtic Spirit
were invited aboard by its captain Ulf Wolter. It turned out that the ship’s
captain was a keen sailor and soon it was his turn to be shown around Celtic
Spirit. We joked with his passengers that the captains were going to swap
positions. In the afternoon the weather cleared and most of the crew went
for a walk up along the river and through the valley behind the church, stopping
to have a look inside before continuing. It was an easy walk along a path
that came out on top of a ridge which looks down into the next bay. The views
from here are spectacular, two lakes in the valley below, sea and peaks all
around. At this point some of the crew turned back while others continued
on down into the valley where they came across a hut. Here they stopped for
a cup of coffee, biscuits and a rest. Only one crew member made it to the
shore which was full of rather aggressive Fur Seal pups. Our day was rounded
off by an invitation to dinner in Shackleton Villa. It was a fantastic meal
with starters, main course and dessert. We drank wine, beer and baileys coffee.
We were really very spoilt. We will find it hard to leave this special place
with its very hospitable inhabitants.
08/03/07
This morning we were all up early and everyone worked hard to prepare the
boat for the forward journey. Last bits of shopping, sending postcards and
saying goodbyes to the friends they had made in the short time of our stay,
occupied the morning. Two of the crew who had joined us to Antarctica, Denis
and Vera were due to be arriving aboard the cruise ship Polar Star in the
afternoon so we waited for them to in order to say a brief hello. The cruise
liner was delayed and so it was after 1530 before we saw the boat making its
way into the bay. We ended up waving wildly to them and them to us from the
deck. Our skipper had been lucky enough to speak to Denis earlier by VHF radio.
After that it was back out to sea. We continued to wave sad goodbyes to South
Georgia until land could no longer be seen.
“South
Georgia was to be our last stop in Antarctica thus closing the book on this
epic voyage for Celtic Spirit and her crew. It was a voyage that took nearly
two years in the planning and preparation and was to take us from the Arctic
to Antarctica a distance of more than 16000 miles covered for the most part
in the last twelve months.
From the cold seas of the northern hemisphere through the tropics of Cancer
and Capricorn and into the cold seas of the southern hemisphere we were to
meet dozens of fascinating sailors and other people from all parts of the
world many of whom are now friends we will continue to be in contact with
into the future. We have experienced some of the most beautiful and spectacular
parts the world has to offer and also visited exotic islands and charismatic
cities on route.
The crew have experienced some of the most hostile and threatening seas of
the world while enjoying the magic of trade wind sailing through tropical
waters.
For all of us on board Celtic Spirit this has been a voyage of a lifetime.
For many it has been a life changing experience and for all of us to have
shared this incredible voyage it has forever bound us together as we earned
our place in King Neptune’s Court.”
Michael Holland, Skipper, March 07
Puerto
Williams, the Southern Ocean
Antarctica
Ushuaia
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Ushuaia, Argentina
Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cape Verde to Salvador, Brazil
Canaries to Cape Verde
Portugal to Canaries
