What a last day of 2016! We woke up in Paradise Harbour with towering mountains and giant glaciers surrounding the yacht. With the sun high in the sky already, we lifted the anchor and motored towards our next anchorage – the infamous Port Lockroy and Penguin Post Office! Fede and I took turns helming for 4-5 hours as Bee Bee and Katherine rugged up on the bow watching the largest icebergs we’ve seen float by.
Helming Ocean Tramp in a place like Antarctica is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. There is a harsh contrast between the inviting beauty of the spectacular scenery and the threatening power of the freezing water beneath the boat. I will never forget the feeling of helming 35 tonnes of aluminum around icebergs or through narrow passages, and looking starboard and seeing a whale’s tail or penguins’ porpoising as we slide silently by.
As we motored into the channel that led to Port Lockroy, Bee Bee pointed out a long, lean, reptilian-looking seal stretched out on a small iceberg ahead – a LEOPARD SEAL!!! We slowed the motor and drifted by as he observed us, he yawned and showed us a mouthful of sharp, penguin-killing teeth. After we were done he may likely be the most photographed seal in history…
We continued on to Port Lockroy and was greeted by frozen sea ice within the anchorage. We brainstormed and radioed another yacht who had rammed their way into the sea ice – creating their own snug berth in the sea ice. We followed their lead and got a run up – CRUNCH – we rode up onto the ice and crushed it with our own weight. We reversed and rammed the sea ice a few more times until the hull was snug in the ice, after which we dropped the anchor to make sure we didn’t drift out if the ice around us gave way. Gosh I love anchoring in Antarctica – you have to get inventive.
We launched the kayaks and zodiac, and went for a cruise around the nearby islands and icebergs, with an ulterior motive of collecting 10,000 year old ice for gin and tonics – after all, it was New Years Eve! The girls on the zodiac (Heike, Laura, Wendy, Meryl and I) got an assortment of ice chunks and made a rap music video ‘Ladies of the Tramp’. Ahhhhhhhhhh, hunting and gathering at its finest. So. Much. Fun.
We started off the evening with a huge dinner followed by the movie Happy Feet – only a couple of us had seen it! Such a disgrace. It’s pretty much a classic! We indulged in a bottle of Katherine’s family wine before making our way through Adam’s and Fede’s kindly donated wine. We then prepared for the highlight of the evening… Adam’s rap that he had been working on since our first days on Ocean Tramp. Ohhhhhhh my gosh what a way to bring in 2017! We laughed so much we almost cried as Adam and Laura rapped about the crew of 11 and our time on Ocean Tramp.
We were soon dancing around the saloon, doing interpretive dance of our trip (the ‘whale’, the ‘penguin’, ‘releasing the krill’, ‘looking out with the noccies’, the ‘drone’, etc), and running around the deck like monkeys. I bowed out at 2am but I soon heard screams from the stern of the boat as the remaining crew jumped into the freezing sea around the boat.
An unforgettable New Year, and an incredible way to bring in 2017. Happy New Year everyone!
