• Remote Weddell Sea Explorer
    Welcome to Gould Bay ... Filchner Ice Shelf behind us — Antarctica.
    Sailing along the Filchner Ice Shelf — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Pancake ice gleaming in the morning sun in Gould Bay — Antarctica.Pancake ice gleaming in the morning sun in Gould Bay — Antarctica.Pancake ice in Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Berkner Island with a large tabular iceberg in front of it ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.It might look like an ice shelf, but under all that ice in the background is an island — Antarctica.Recon helicopter off to check things out ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Gould Bay — Antarctica.Bergy bit slowly being trapped in pancake ice ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.A berg ... above and below the water ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.Blue-green ice ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.Recon helicopter flying back from Berkner Island ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.Sea smoke ... Gould Bay — Antarctica.

    RWSE Day 17: Gould Bay

    February 27, Weddell Sea ⋅ ☀️ 16 °F

    “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” ~~ T.S. Eliot ~~ (from the Daily Program)

    Berkner or Bust indeed!

    Another historic moment! One that will astound Tennessee’s buddies from Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions … we have proved them wrong after all by reaching Berkner Island by ship … the only passenger expedition vessel to do so!

    We woke up at 6:30a to find Ortelius sailing along an ice shelf. Simply going by our destination and the direction from which we were heading to Gould Bay, I’d have to say that it was the Filchner Ice Shelf. I understand the transit from Vahsel Bay to Gould Bay overnight was a challenging one … wind blowing up to 70 knots; rough sea conditions making it difficult to distinguish ice from white water. But our excellent bridge team had succeeded in bringing us safely to today’s destination.

    I was getting ready for the day when Mui returned from his morning trip up to the lounge for coffee. He was excited. He’d seen liquid gold! Or at least what Sara described as such … pancake ice floating on the water … painted gold by what passes for sunrise hereabouts though the sun never really sets entirely this time of the year.

    Although it wasn’t as cold as yesterday — someone said it was only -13C (8.6F) — we very much needed to bundle up to go out on the bridge deck after breakfast. Like yesterday, the side in the sun was warm enough to stand around as long as we were not getting too much wind. The other side … absolutely freezing … felt horrible on exposed skin. No surprise, we were in close proximity to ice in all its different forms … including ice crystals floating in the air.

    By 11:06a, we were in position in Gould Bay … at 77.45’S … a bit further north than we were yesterday, but farther west into the Waddell Sea. Ortelius would be staying here all day.

    At about that point the recon helicopter returned to the ship … heli ops were on! But our turn wasn’t going to come for a while yet, so we stayed out on the bridge deck, enjoying the landscape all around us.    Read more