Travel By Sea
Antarctica
10–19 March 2024 · Round trip from Ushuaia, Argentina
A ten-day expedition voyage on the Ocean Endeavour, round trip from Ushuaia: out the Beagle Channel, across the Drake Passage twice, and four days on the Antarctic Peninsula, with the sea-kayaking program. Continental landings at Portal Point and Neko Harbour, the historic base at Port Lockroy, and a run through the Lemaire Channel. The farthest south was Petermann Island, at 65°10′S.
The Ocean Endeavour, Intrepid’s expedition ship
- 10 days
- ~1,490 nm
- 65°10′S
- 7 landings
- Drake Passage ×2
The chart
A chart of the route. Each stop on it is a button that reads out its day and note, and the same stops are listed day by day after it.
Day by day
-
Wind from the WNW, 8–23 kn, gusts 35, force 3–6 Waves 0.4–0.9 m, slight,open water nearby
- Ushuaia, Argentina Embarked the Ocean Endeavour ~16:00 local; sailed out the Beagle Channel that evening.
-
The highest wave was 40 feet tall, about 12 m; the heights below are the average of the biggest third.
Wind from the W, 4–40 kn, gusts 51, force 2–8 Waves 1.3–6.3 m, high; swell from the WSW, 9 s
- Beagle Channel → Drake Passage Leaving the Beagle Channel and heading south into the Drake.
- Drake Passage Full sea day crossing the Drake.
-
Wind from the E, 2–22 kn, gusts 30, force 1–6 Waves 0.3–1.7 m, moderate; swell from the WNW, 8 s,open water nearby
- Charlotte Bay First morning in Antarctica. ~250 photos this day (biggest of the trip).
- Portal Point First continental landing, Danco Coast.
-
Wind from the ENE, 10–20 kn, gusts 26, force 3–5 Waves 0.5 m, smooth,open water nearby
- Port Lockroy (Goudier Island / Jougla Point) Historic British base / 'Penguin Post Office'.
- Damoy Point / Dorian Bay Afternoon landing on Wiencke Island.
-
Wind from the ESE, 6–22 kn, gusts 29, force 2–6 Waves 0.4–1.5 m, moderate; swell from the NNW, 8 s,open water nearby
- Pléneau Island South of the Lemaire Channel; iceberg alley.
- Petermann Island Southernmost point of the trip: 65°10′S.
- Lemaire Channel Evening transit north through the Lemaire.
-
Wind from the ENE, 2–17 kn, gusts 24, force 1–5 Waves 0.3 m, smooth,open water nearby
- Danco Island Errera Channel; gentoo colony up the ridge.
- Errera Channel Midday cruising (~56 photos in 10 min).
- Neko Harbour Continental landing in Andvord Bay; last landing of the trip.
-
Wind from the ENE, 6–21 kn, gusts 29, force 2–5 Waves 0.8–2.7 m, rough; swell from the W, 9 s
- Drake Passage (return) No geotagged photos (position approximate).
- Drake Passage / Cape Horn approach No geotagged photos (position approximate).
-
Wind from the W, 1–9 kn, gusts 13, force 1–3 Waves 0.1–2.0 m, moderate; swell from the SSW, 6 s,open water nearby
- Ushuaia, Argentina Disembarked morning of March 19.
Key to the chart
- Traced from photos
- Estimated, no photo for a long stretch
- A photo’s GPS fix
- The ship
- Port
- Landing
- Zodiac or kayak
- Transit
- At sea
The dates, the ship and the port come from booking emails, and the track from about 830 geotagged photos. The photos run out for a day and more at a time on the Drake Passage, and for the whole way home, so those crossings follow the usual shipping lanes and are dashed. Where a straight line between two photos would cross land, the route goes round by sea, as the boat did, and a photo taken ashore marks where the boat lay off.
Each day’s wind and sea are the models’, read for every hour on the water where the boat was then: the wind from ECMWF’s IFS, the waves from Météo-France’s MFWAM, through Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Where a day says open water nearby, the boat lay at anchor or went ashore, in water calmer than the model’s, or was in a channel the wave model has as land, and the waves are the nearest open water’s, within 30 km; where the route is dashed, so is where they were read. A ferry’s crossing is read along the ferry. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information; doi.org/10.48670/moi-00017.