Celebrating Bransfield

Ocean Tramp – Lori

We overnighted at Port Lockroy again, lovely and perfectly calm, sheltered bay by the penguins (when the wind  blows…eau de penguin guano LOL). This time, the museum is open, and we get a chance to go in. Michael has only ever been there with a cruise ship crowd, so we were super lucky to have the whole place (it is just a hut!) to our small group. We got to send postcards that will be stamped Port Lockroy, and get our passports stamped in the Antarctica! They’ve restored this base to what it would have been back then, they’ve done a nice job of it. All the proceeds go toward supporting charitable foundations in the Antarctic.

So sweet…it is almost (to the day!) the 200th anniversary of the Bransfield discovery of the Antarctica. Bransfield being a fellow Irishman, Cork and Kerry came together in the bodies of Niall and Lucy, who made a little celebratory video of themselves with the Bransfield Tartan, in front of the Port Lockroy Base A station.

Back to the boat to begin the return leg of our journey. (Snap; just as I said it would, this trip that we all anticipated for so long goes so fast. This is one of our long legs at sea, and we are aiming to get that part over with sooner, so we still have a little time to explore when we get closer to King George Island and the airport for our return to real life. Just as well; after we get on the water, we lose the beautiful sunshine of Port Lockroy, and now back to our regularly scheduled grey, cold Antarctic summer weather!

Just in the same way that photographers eat, drink and sleep photography, our crew eat, drink and sleep science and the ocean life. As cool as it is to be down here, and photograph the scenery and the wildlife, it is equally as fascinating to quietly eavesdrop on the crew as they share their combined knowledge base amongst themselves. Yes, of course they have fun, but as with many who share a passion for a common thing, conversation usually returns to the ocean world.

And now, the remaining crew members:
Caesar Schinas was pretty much born and raised at sea. His mother who home-schooled him and his sister while they sailed the world, actually published a book about raising kids on a boat (along with being a water colour artist). His father actually built the boats they sailed on. They continue to sail the world, and he evidently took well to the family business. He is our technology expert (okay, he is a lovely, enthusiastic nerd!). On land, he owns a small print-on-demand publishing company. At sea, you’ll also find him periodically working his drone photography skills. Niall MacAllister owns a sailing school in Cork, Ireland. At one point, he had 50 boats in various sizes, employing 24 staff. He now has one larger boat, upon which people live for a 5-day intensive certification program to earn their sailing licenses. He is, himself, a yacht master, on top of also being a marine biologist. His field of expertise are the marine animals, with whales, dolphins and seabirds being of special interest. This is Niall’s first time in the Antarctic, which he says has been a goal of his for 25 years. He wanted to wait until his sons were old enough so that he wouldn’t leave his wife to look after two boys for 5 months on her own! Good man. It is always so lovely to see him just as excited as the rest of us when we spot some interesting local wildlife.