OCEAN TRAMP- A Happy Birthday in Antarctica!

Fiona Solon

19.12.10 Booth Island day 1

As our incredibly apt crew navigated through 11 kilometres of growlers, bergy bits and full-on icebergs in the Lemaire Channel, we had Booth Island on our starboard. Little did we know that this island would become our home
for the following two nights.

The furthest south we got to was 65 degrees and 7 minutes. With the Antarctic Circle a mere degree-ish below us, our lady vessel has taken us closer to the end of the Earth than most humans will ever dare to go *exuberant clapping!

So, once clear of the Lemaire we swung around and put lines in at Charcot Point in Francois Bay (on the other side of Booth Island). This was a beautiful spot with a Gentoo rookery right at our doorstep. I was overjoyed when Helen asked me if I’d like to be her sampling assistant so while Gaya, Jacqueline, David, Bassem and Damien did a short hike up to the cairn built in the early 1900s to mark the point, I sat still and quietly beside Helen as she captured ecstatic displays and other Gentoo vocalizations with her awesome furry microphone. I made highly technical notes for her such as “stranger danger” when the penguins stole pebbles from each other. Then there was a moment that I’ll never forget… a cacophony of sounds consisting of: penguins vocalizing, a whale blow, a glacier cracking and then, a penguin pooping. It was THE BEST.

Caesar gave us our dinner quote that evening:
20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do
than the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Mark Twain

19.12.11 Booth Island day 2

A hearty breakfast of eggytoast gave everyone the energy to do exactly what they wanted to: Caesar and Helen took the hydrophone out on the rib (rigid inflatable boat aka zodiac) while David, Gaya and Jacqueline went out on the
kayaks and I stayed in the saloon and read a book with my coffee in 100% fleece comfort. Lucy made us a delicious soup with soda bread for lunch and then Damien asked, “well, who wants to go up the hill?”. The hill is a snow
covered mountain and is past the penguin colony due south. Jacqueline, David, Gaya and I got ready and followed him up about 700 metres. Awesome views, minke whales surfacing to blow in the bay and the odd skua along the
way – never a dull moment!

While we were up “the hill”, Bassem and Caesar took out a kayak while Helen and Niall recorded underwater vocalizations from gentoo & chinstrap penguins, minke whales and other environmental sounds from the rib.

When we all gathered back at the Ocean Tramp, we loaded up the rib with… TENTS AND SLEEPING BAGS! Tonight we would camp on the Lost Continent (replete with an IAATO approved latrine – thank you, Niall). Bassem took a
time lapse video of us setting up the tents, which I’m sure will be hilarious. We returned to the boat for a good feed of pasta and were sure to brush our teeth and use the head a billion times before we put on our many
layers to get our camp-on. Niall supplied our dinner quote:

Learn from the misfortune of others rather than your own misfortunes.
-Aesop

Caesar, without skipping a beat, said, “is that why you don’t want to come camping?” Haha – so quick!

When we were walking from the rib to our tents we spied two Adélie penguins at the end of the point. Bassem was in heaven and I wished that my friend Kirsty could see through my eyes. I went straight to bed as I was eager to
get snug. Gaya, Helen, David, Jacqueline, Bassem and Caesar hiked up to the cairn to try to see the sunset but katabatic winds and low cloud/fog wouldn’t allow it. I fell asleep to the sounds of their laughter while I MacGyver’d
my buff into a combination sleep mask-nose warmer. It was perfect.

19.12.12 Booth Island day 3

Woke up next to Jacqueline in a tent on Antarctica; a great start to my birthday!

We packed up the camping gear and left Booth Island. Motoring back through the Gerlache Straight, Bassem and Caesar spent the majority of the day preparing dinner for the pizza party. As the rest of us suspected from the
smells coming from the galley, everything was delicious. Topped with a celebratory glass of wine or beer, we regaled one another with storytelling and other fish tales anchored at Argentina’s Brown Base.

Thank you to Helen for our dinner quote:
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars or sailed to an
uncharted land or opened a new haven to the human spirit.
-Helen Keller

Let it be known that our Helen truly believed that the weather would clear up to witness the sunset last night.

Post script
Just after finishing this blog post a birthday cake with candles and lovely card were brought in to the saloon while my shipmates sang me happy birthday. Awwww!

Blog – Fiona Solon
Photo – Damian Foxall