Antarctica Expedition of s/v Tamara

For more than thirty years, the Arctic and Antarctic have been of great interest to Mark. From the time of university studies in the Rocky Mountains, to legal work in the Alaska Bush, to a twenty-year career owning and operating fishing vessels in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, these high latitude regions have been foremost in interest.

As experience operating commercial boats in Alaska accumulated, cruising TAMARA in the Canadian Arctic and Antarctica became a realistic possibility. Twenty years of professional experience in high latitudes was obviously relevant. But the first big hurdle would prove to require the previous legal experience more than the any of the maritime skills.

The Antarctic Treaty requires signatory nations (46) to regulate access by its nationals. In addition the treaty Consultative Powers (28) meet annually to set policy. The greatest impact upon the Antarctic environment in recent years has been the burgeoning cruise ship industry, and some Consultative Powers have been becoming increasingly concerned. However we were to discover that our own government has, to a great extent, delegated much of its management authority to the cruise ship industry trade organization, IAATO.

As a consequence, we found it necessary to convince not only the EPA, NSF and State Department, but IAATO as well, that twenty-five years of maritime experience in Alaska and the Arctic was relevant to Antarctica, that we possessed the requisite skills, and that TAMARA was suited to the task. In the end, IAATO opposed our application, but cooler heads at the federal agencies prevailed. However the site guidelines adopted by the cruise ship organization, but so far rejected by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative parties, was made a condition of our permit.

In the past six years there have been but two private US yachts granted the required permit by our government, TAMARA and ONORA. Many thanks here to Justin Foley for providing considerable written material and advice on his families cruise in ONORA. In addition our friend of many years, Ted Linnert, who works in the Denver EPA office, was of invaluable assistance as we navigated through the labyrinthine agency process.

In the end we filed nearly two hundred pages of documentation to the EPA, NSF and State Department, and were finally granted authorization to sail TAMARA to Antarctica as a certified American “expedition”. Other US yachts have made the voyage, particularly in recent years, but all but two have gone without formal permission. In their defense, we must say that the process was so daunting that only Mark’s unusual combination of maritime experience and legal training, combined with dogged persistence made the process possible. We were committed to the process, as we believe that Antarctica deserves protection. However some national bases report visits of two cruise ships per day throughout the summer season, and we fear that the power of the industry may now exceed the will of the regulators.

For voyages to the Antarctic, the sailor’s greatest concern is the crossing of the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn. The Drake Passage and Cape Horn are not to be treated casually. It’s considered to be affected by the consistently worse maritime weather in the world. One great difference in the past few years, however, has been advanced weather forecast models. Automated computer GRIB files, which can be received onboard via Iridium telephone or HF radio with a special modem. As a consequence, it is now far easier to plan the four and a half day crossing, as the model is very reliable for three days. Of course that still leaves one exposed to the luck of the draw for day four!

Southbound, a gale on the last day is not as threatening as one on the final day of the northern return. Cape Horn’s effect on winds, and the shallow continental shelf north of the Antarctic convergence can build a dangerous sea setting from the west (on the beam as one attempts to sail north) in a very short time, and by then there is little the sailor can do but turn and run with the wind, most likely ending up in the Falkland Islands as did countless ships in the age of sail. The hulks of many of them still remain in the Falklands, a testament to the power of Cape Horn and the Drake Passage. We had recently returned from the Falklands, and though we enjoyed that cruise very much, didn’t wish to return so soon.

Early season ice charts and on site reports indicated that this season would be a more normal ice year. After several seasons of less than historic ice coverage, ice coverage this year would prove to be more like the historic norm, or, by recent standards, heavy. Indeed the cruise ship EXPLORER had been lost early in the season, reportedly due to collision with ice, although some observers suggested that the object might have been one of the many uncharted rocks. Our concern was that some of the few small boat anchorages might be obstructed. In the event, all were clear on our arrival, though some were reported to have cleared only a week or so before.

TAMARA would be departing heavier than she’d ever been before. The Antarctic Treaty provisions demand that all vessels be absolutely self sufficient, not relying on any scientific base for support of any sort. Of course cruising at high latitude one would want to be self-sufficient treaty or no. So we’d loaded a considerable amount of extra fuel, provisions for four times the intended stay, 600 meters of heavy line for securing the yacht ashore, a second inflatable dingy (Leopard seals have been known to puncture inflatable boats), every spare part the budget allowed, six cameras, four anchors, propane cooking gas for several months, and in this age, four computers.

Southbound, the crossing of the Drake was blessed. Having the luxury of time, we remained in Puerto Williams, Chile feasting for Christmas with sailing friends (private as well as charter yacht operators we’ve come to know in the past year), while watching the daily GRIB files on the computer. When conditions were right we departed quickly. An unusual period of northerly winds greeted us and contrary to any reasonable expectation we found ourselves having to pole out TAMARA’S 150% Genoa for part of the crossing! Running downwind in the Drake could mean fetching up in the Falklands but for us it yielded increasing southern latitude.

Our landfall in Antarctica was intended to have been the extinct volcano that has served as a harbor for whalers, sealers and explorers for one hundred fifty years, Deception Island. Anticipating the prevailing strong westerly winds, our track lead us to a waypoint to the west of Deception, where we had intended to turn southeast and make for the harbor formed by the caldera of the old volcano. But on our arrival the usual westerly wind again failed to materialize. Instead we were greeted by a very strong southeasterly, directly opposed to our route, but favorable for a reach further south to our intended second anchorage, Mikkelson Harbor on Trinity Island.

In strong wind, a building sea, snow, sleet and rain we turned south once again. Normally such a change of plan would pose no problem for TAMARA, but perhaps induced by the heavier weather (the failure later turned out to have been a loose connection of the electronic flux gate compass to the central processor), the autopilot chose this time to protest, forcing us to hand steer in very unpleasant conditions, outside the warmth and shelter of the aluminum dodger. Twelve hours in such conditions, an hour on the helm at a stint, and we finally came to anchor at 0300.

For the next month we cruised the Antarctic Peninsula and the islands immediately to the west. TAMARA was secured in some anchorages for several days at a time, in others for a day or two. Fine Antarctic summer weather, twenty-four hour light, and settled conditions were common, though there were days of snow, rain and high winds that reminded us that we were more than six hundred miles south of the South American continent.

Our return northbound across the Drake Passage was more typical of the region. After waiting several days in the Melchior Islands for suitable weather to depart, we set out knowing that the final approach to Cape Horn on the fourth day may find us confronting on of the common westerly gales. In the event, we had strong west winds for day two and day four, but never exceeding gale force, and generally a little less. However with such wind and seas directly on the beam, the conditions were less than comfortable. Cooking was impossible, but we had planned for that and prepared sandwiches and other meals ready to eat. We arrived safely back in Puerto Williams five weeks after having left there the day after Christmas.

In the final analysis, the cruise proceeded as we had planned and better than we had expected. We returned to Puerto Williams with thirty percent of our fuel remaining, water tanks still half full, and sufficient provisions aboard for another couple of months, albeit now short on fresh produce. Equipment failures were confined to the brief autopilot work stoppage, a leaking toilet pump, and an older, but high quality Danish “Sailor” VHF radio. An additional VHF aboard, as well as three handheld VHFs, made that simply an inconvenience.

The MVP awards for best equipment have to go to Mark’s Gor-Tex covered, Thinsulite insulated snowmobile suit, which proved nearly as watertight as fancy foul weather gear but infinitely warmer, Nancy’s new Nikon D-40 camera, a gift from her brother Dave, finally the automotive type fan forced hot water heater installed at the base of the companionway that provided wonderful warmth below as well as in the dodger while motoring.

Thanks are due to our friends Chris and Anne Law of Cape Breton Nova Scotia who sent us a little known, but quite useful guide written by noted Chilean Antarctic marine pilot Arturo de la Barrera Warner. Communication services was provided by Wolfgang, who runs the daily Patagonia Cruiser’s Net. Located in central Chile, we were generally able to communicate easily with him by HF radio. Additionally, Bob and Janet in Stanley, Falkland Islands provided important back-up communications. Known to mariners as “Falkland Bob”, Bob maintains a powerful Ham and marine band radio station in his home, complete with on-line computer. Bob provided weather updates as we needed them, and was able to receive our daily position reports by radio e-mail. And extra thanks to Stewart and Jess, master and mate aboard the class of the Antarctic charter yachts, the seventy foot PELAGIC AUSTRALIS, for much sound advice and for the gift of a huge joint of Falkland beef and coveted cheddar cheese. Most cheeses available in South America are soft and somewhat devoid of flavor, but the Falkland cheddar was every bit as good as a five year old New York white.

We got to every location we had hoped to, and didn’t hit anything except the ice we needed to push out of our way through. Above all, we came away with a great number of Nancy’s photographs. The biggest disappointment would have to be said to be the astonishing number of ships cruising this relatively confined area. Some days we would encounter three or more cruise ships in what not long ago was the most inaccessible marine environment on earth. But we got there and back by our own devices, had a great time, and for this we are thankful.