"[…] And the prow sheared through the night into the dawn."
— Homer, The Odyssey

Shackleton Traverse 22’. Lots of latitude at a high latitude.
You don’t find outings like this at your exclusive high class travel agents. Thrilling, unique, physical and highly recommended but not for the feint hearted. […]

Shackleton Traverse 22’. After the traverse.
Because of the remoteness of the island, the only way to attempt and accomplish such an ambitious adventure is to have a capable vessel in support – and the old adage of “shjps are only as good as the men (now persons) who sail in them,” never holds more true. […]

Shackleton Traverse 22’. Almost pick up time.
Aside from the traces of the odd industrial fascination humans have, there is a lot of peace here. Deep pureness and silence. […]

Shackleton Traverse 22’. Set off.
The last hurdle of an obstacle course faces us at 0700 tomorrow morning. We are anchored alongside the Vincent Islands in King Haakon Bay. […]

Shackleton Traverse 22’. King Haakon Bay
After two days cowering from the wind in Undine Harbour, it was exhilarating to head back out to sea, hoist the mainsail and beat south to King Haakon Bay. […]

Creativity in continuous motion
A long passage across the South Atlantic is life in continuous motion. Even when our bodies are adapted, everything is physically moving. […]

Navigator’s collective
Almanacs, pencils, paper charts, dividers. Sextants, planets, stars, the Sun. For the last two weeks, these have been the most used words and navigation equipment on board. […]

Land ho ! (Gough Island)
After a couple of days of theoretical classes in Puerto Williams, the long-awaited moment arrived to take all that knowledge out of the classroom and put it into practice at sea.
Ahead, weeks in the open sea […]

Casa de Botes and the Bristish Imperial Expedition
The gods were on our side. In the tiny cove we found some sort of spot to anchor and a big piece of ice aground where we could lasso a line to keep the boat safe during the night. Almost everyone went to bed, and while we were eating chocolate and enjoying a bottle of Chilean Pinot noir, Skip left a book open on the empty saloon table: Tomorrow morning, anyone with a certain interest in local history should read this.

Crew
Aboard the Vinson of Antarctica, there were three crew members looking after us scientists for over a month. I would like to tell you a little bit about each of them, in the hopes that it reveals to you why getting to know the crew was something I felt most strongly about writing down. […]

Shackleton’s views
If you are sailing towards South Georgia, Elephant Island by your starboard side, you don’t need to be a proper Shackleton’s aficionado to think and reflect about the James Caird trip. We were sailing the same passage these brave men did in the tiny and awfully wet lifeboat, but in an embarrassing full comfort […]

Penguins Expedition (IV): Penguin Quest
Sometimes our work feels like a real-life video game. We brave challenges, dodge obstacles and are constantly tested in our pursuit of science. Each site, each day brings new trials. If you succeed, you will discover the secrets of the universe and reach new stages in your career as a scientist. Are you ready for the challenge?

Penguins Expedition (III): Salvaging penguin eggs for research
We are on this expedition primarily to sample penguin species for genetic and dietary studies, but we have also requested and been granted permission to salvage samples. […]

Penguins Expedition (II): Fur seals gauntlet
We are a team of penguin researchers, but here in South Georgia each morning starts with a different type of wildlife encounter… every day on our way to visit the penguin colonies we must pass through the fur seal gauntlet. […]

Joubin Islands. Uncharted territory
Some days ago I understood what Skip once mentioned; “there is still pioneering territory in the polar regions”. That is what we felt heading towards the Joubin Archipelago, neighbouring the Anvers Island southwestern tip. […]

Penguins Expedition (I)
The Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands are experiencing some of the most dramatic environmental changes on Earth. In combination with commercial fishing of their prey, this is placing enormous pressure on penguins in the region. This project will contribute to understanding the likely impacts of climate change on penguins. […]
Bienvenidos! Arturo y Tito
[…] We headed into the Paso Mackinley in a lovely, sunny, and extraordinarily calm afternoon. Chilean Navy ships passing by talking to us on the radio to congratulate the trainees for their trip. As soon as we could see the village through the binoculars, we spotted the optimists and the other boats sailing towards us. The rest is history, many emotions, and ship horns blowing long and strong.

El Mate
My companions on watch appear. It is still hard for words to come out, the body is waking up. I bring the thermos’ flask and mate close to a light to see how water falls. A new day begins aboard the Vinson. […]

Back to Q Flag origins.
[…] In any case, these are confusing times. We entered the Falklands, Manue and José hoisted the yellow flag, this time probably with its origins connotation. We are in quarantine. May we be released very soon.

Pyramiden
A morning walk through a ghost city in the Arctic.