Whales, icebergs and watches

(If you need to contact us email darrel@spiritofsydney.co or
office@outdoor.co.nz)

Thursday 4 January (latitude 61.10 south, temp 11C wind 6 knots! Boat
speed under sail…3.4 knots???!!!)

We have been motor sailing across the Drake Lake for 72 hours in what
has been one of the very few spells of calm in the last two months.
Currently we have 6-10 knots of breeze and with full sails set the boat
is very stable and comfortable apart from the noise and occasional fumes
of the engine. Now sailing slowly to conserve diesel after 72 hours of
motoring.
There is a large iceberg to starboard to remind us of the importance of
maintaining a good lookout. But looking out has served us well with
Darrel spotting a pod of rarely seen Arnoux's beaked whales. In the
almost dead calm we drifted as the pod inspected us for about 10
minutes. Lots of photos and videos, but no clear shots of the beaks as
these emerge first.
The Beagle Channel was a rich source of wildlife as we spotted a
Humpback whale, Dusky and Peels dolphins and an assortment of
albatrosses, petrels and swimming penguins amongst other things.
Most of us, the voyage crew, were introduced to the Spirit of Sydney and
the crew of Darrel and Leo on New Year's Eve when we attended the yacht
club party. Do not imagine anything too swish is meant by the term
"Yacht Club". With plastic chairs and rough tables, it was home to
members appearing to be mostly itinerant yachties, voyage crew like us
and seasoned Antarctic sailors. A wood fired BBQ was the centre of the
kitchen and everyone contributed their steak and chorizo sausages with
Jeannie and Mike whipping up a couple of salads in Spirit's galley.
Dinner and twilight arrived about 11pm and we were all in high spirits
of anticipation for the trip ahead, but quick to retire after 12 in
expectation of a busy day ahead.
Arriving aboard Spirit at 8am the next day we quickly had our gear
stowed, only to be delayed by the boat tied up to us. The owner was
nowhere to be found and eventually, we just moved it ourselves, no small
feat as there was a stiff breeze and it was over 60 ft long. We set off
at 11am on New Year's Day.
The trip down the Beagle is always filled with much anticipation and
excitement, but we gradually settled into our watch keeping routine of
three watches of three hours. This means we are on watch for three
hours then off for six. Every hour one fresh person comes on watch and
this way we each get to spend time with most on board.
Sleep was initially a bit of a challenge. We were all still a bit jet
lagged at the start and New Year's Eve followed by an early start didn't
help. However, we are now settled into the watch routine and are
accustomed to the motion of the boat. There was a spell when we
wallowed in a moderate confused swell with no wind to keep the boat
steady that I found uncomfortable and a few breakfasts were lost that
day. I'm now comfortable writing this and crawling into the forepeak to
get vegetables.
We seem to have a crew of cooks and Spirit is well provisioned, so I
expect future blogs will have many references to food. The only
cookbook I have found is "Fit for a FID", written in 1956 for Antarctic
conditions it has excellent recipes for seal, shag, penguin eggs and
tinned meat. Not sure it is very relevant for us.
We crossed the 60th parallel sometime in the night and are now in the
Antarctic Treaty zone, meaning we aren't allowed to chuck anything
overboard from here on. This morning brought our first sight of icebergs
from the southern continent. We estimate that we will be drawing into
our first harbour at Deception Island sometime late tomorrow, wind and
diesel permitting.