[...] South Georgia is famous for these katabatic ‘williwaws’ but these were the worst I had experienced here in thirty-five years. Our tent seemed to take the worst hammering, bending and contorting with each blast until poles snapped and spindrift started to pour through holes in the ripped fabric. [...]

[...] Even the huge icebergs littering the bay had arranged themselves to leave a clear passage of clear water – perfect for a quick Zodiac ride to the beach.  It took three ferries to get everything ashore. [...]

[...] Although the island is only 170km long, the good thing is we have no-where near exhausted its potential for these adventures.  South Georgia, this denizen of the Southern Ocean can be very difficult, unpredictable at best, most often humbling.

Our yard period in Cape Town comes to an end and it is time to sail Vinson of Antarctica back to the Falklands for the start of an exciting season.

[…] This afternoon we spotted the volcanic mountain of Tristian da Cuhna. It turns out, Celestial Navigation really works!

The students are discovering that celestial navigation, and more widely sailing across an ocean, hones patience and observation like little else. […]

Early on an expedition, weeks seem to be longer than land life ones. It’s been just two days since we left Puerto Williams, but the succession of events, fishing, hiking, barbeques on the beach, and beautiful scenery after the other one, could well seem that time here is set to pass much slower.

Five lap tops are opened and lit up on the salon table. Furrowed, no nonsense brows focus on their crib sheets. They are not to be interrupted with frivolities like what’s for dinner. Our researchers, have come to the end of our principle objective, the survey of 30 wandering albatross nesting sites on South Georgia […]

[…] It was blowing right out of the bay, a steady 30 knots, gusting 40 and Dion, who knows every single beach, rocky landing and the rest when asked what he thought about having a go said “It should be alright, between williwaws.” […]

Due to the pristine nature of Annenkov, we are led to believe we could be the last humans to set foot ashore there for the near to mid-term future. [..]

A reliable, comfortable vessel and our dedicated Vinson crew of Chris, Mariana, Justino and Tor was the secret to our success in pulling off this project against some heavily stacked odds from the wind gods Boreas and Notus. […]

[…] Facing formidable logistical challenges, requiring meticulous preparation over many months, and finding ourselves at the mercy of higher powers, the realization dawned that every small piece of information we glean from this extraordinary environment will be unparalleled, truly unprecedented, and immensely valuable.

Scrambling up the cliff meant it was finally happening, I was finally landing on Zavodovski Island. Home to the world’s largest Chinstrap and Macaroni penguin colony […]

[…] In the strongest gust being bombarded by gravel and pebbles the only option was to cease what you were doing and lie with your back to the wind till the gust past (we later discovered the winds at this time were gusting around 60kts). […]

[…] The Island is much more divers than anyone would have expected. Zavodovski Island is alive and it has a functional ecology with species interacting and making a life even in the harshest conditions on this planet.

The weather over the past five days has been challenging. One low pressure system after the other is sweeping over the South Sandwich Islands with very short breaks in between […]

[…] By noon we had both Bombard Commando dinghies ready to go - one in the water to drop of the scientist and their gear, the other ready to go on the foredeck as a back up in case of an emergency. […]

Unfortunately by the time we arrived, the wind and forecast had changed to a South Westerly which opened up Ferguson Bay to the winds and swell. So anchoring here was out of the option. Sailing back up North did not look good either with a huge storm sweeping over South Georgia and the northern of the South Sandwich Islands […]

Once nighttime fell we switched on the radar to detect bigger bergs and the ice light on the bow to spot smaller bits in time to alter course and avoid impact. (…)

The South Sandwich Islands are the most remote and inhospitable part of the UK Overseas Territories, which means they’re also the most data-deficient […]