On a trail of Emperor

On Dec 28th we had to cover only 10 miles to reach Vernadsky station from the anchorage point, but those last 10 miles can take a lot of time and effort, as there is a lot of ice, and boats have to move slow, even retrace the path back to find another route through the ice.
The previous group on Ocean Tramp couldn’t make it all the way through because of the ice conditions, but situation got a bit better for us, although the bigger ship Hans Hansen that started on the same day decided not to go all the way and had to turn around just two days before us. First few miles were not too bad, a lot of seals on ice and some penguins, then we reached a stretch covered with very dense ice and we had to slow down.
Last couple of miles took a lot of time and constant ice watch, but being able to see the Vernadsky station in a distance was encouraging.

Vernadsky station is a very significant landmark – it’s the first station on the route that operates the whole year, it’s used to be British, but was transferred to Ukraine in 1996, this is the furthest place South the tour boats can go, and many cannot reach it due to ice conditions.

So it was a lot of motivation to go for and we made it! The first small sail boat in the season!

The station looked very different from the other stations we’ve seen – it’s painted with a bright green color vs dark brown or dark red the other station had, many things are done with humor, but the main surprise it has a very nice real looking bar!
The story of this bar is very interesting, one season, when the station was still British, the carpenters were supposed to build a hut, but they spent all materials on building a bar!, the story tells they got fired when people in charge learned what they built, but now the station has a great bar! and I’d say that carpenter should have gotten a recognition instead of being fired, but oh well, I’m not in charge.

Our visit was arranged for 9 pm and we were very fortunate it happened on Saturday, as this is the day for the official bar time! – there is a lot of discipline and routine on the station, and everyone is busy doing important work, so the bar has strict hours of operation.

There was still time before 9 pm and we made a walk to the Wordie house – a historic hut designated as a heritage sight. It was somewhat similar to the museum ay Port Lockroy, but we could do a self tour, and it felt more authentic.

After a nice dinner on the boat we headed to the Vernadsky station. The station has a very friendly welcoming personnel – 12 people that stay the year round, and this was the first season they had two women (doctor and biologist) as a part of the crew.
After a great tour, which probably more informative and less formal, as we could switch to Russian / Ukranian, we headed to the bar for welcome drinks where we spent some time talking about various things, and it was hard to leave such a unique interesting place and its residents.

We had to head back the next day, but before we left, we had a very important task to finish! While at the station the guys asked if we saw an Emperor penguin by the Wordie House.
We were shocked and excited to hear it, as the Emperor penguins are hard to find, their primary habitat is much further south and very few people are lucky to see them.
But unusual things happen, and the guys at the station told us, they saw the Emperor penguin near the station for few days, and last time they saw it was by that historic hut, so we had to take on that opportunity.

The weather was beautiful and the walk to the hut was spectacular, but, Mother Nature doesn’t run on schedule, and there was no Emperor penguin in sight :(, which was sad, but actually a nice reminder not to take things for granted – we were very fortunate to experience many special moments, and saw a lot of wildlife, but we shouldn’t have a feeling that it all comes easy and prearranged for us to see, we have to appreciate what we have and be grateful for the opportunity.

That was a significant moment to turn around and start our long journey back heading to the King George island.
We had to go the same way through the thick ice, and it wasn’t an easy task, but the crew did a great job getting us through the ice labyrinth, while we could enjoy the esthetic of the magnificent ice creations.

Soon after we passed the most intense ice section, we had a landing at Peterman Island, where we had a chance to observe penguins while enjoying sharp mountain peaks on the background and beautiful icebergs near the shore.
Everyone considered that one of the best landing spots thus far, but we had to keep going.

The area near the entrance of the Lemaire channel greeted us with spectacular enormous fine art icebergs. Calm waters complemented the beauty with great reflections.
We spent some time enjoying that area as it was hard to leave.

That was an amazing encore for already great day, and we celebrated it with another spectacular dinner followed by drink time.
Everyone was happy, but tired and ready for a bed time, but we had one more surprise – the Wedll seal was about to perform its lullaby for us – a pretty loud interesting sound, still being researched on what it represents, and we could hear from our cabins while falling asleep.

In the night the wind picked up, and it’s possible we have to stay in this scenic spot by Pleneau inland before wind changes or dies down, but we still have some extra days, so no worries about possible delay.

– Anna Galaeva
Photo Anna Galaeva