The expedition cat sick like a dog during the Drake Passage crossing to Antarctic Peninsula last year.
One of the current expedition team-members enjoying quiet waters and BBQ in the sun on Australis' deck, before leaving the Chilean coast. "It might be a few days before we re-contact as the crossing is often a little bumpy...,” wrote Duncan in his latest dispatch.
The team will trek, climb and ski on Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. The big deal is the travel itself on board of Australis, a 75’ sailing ship.
Glacier trekking, wildlife watching and skiing will be the highlits once the team reach land at Antarctica. All pictures sent live over Contact 3.0 courtesy of Duncan Chessell (click to enlarge).
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DCXP Everest veteran sailing to Antarctic Peninsula – Ready for some bumping?
Posted: Nov 04, 2005 11:40 am EST
Duncan Chessell is off with a group of seven members to sail to Antarctica. The guys will trek, climb and ski the Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. The real deal though is getting there - on board of Australis, a 75’ cruiser, across the Beagle Channel and the Drake Passage.
Early season trip
I addition to Duncan, the crew consists of Doctor David Tingay, Mountain guide Tarn Pilkington, Skipper Roger Wallis and his son Ben Wallis as crew. Joining this line up are 7 climbers from around the globe.
This is Duncan, Ben and Roger's second trip to the area this year, the last was in February. This time, the guys are sailing much earlier in the season and might encounter different sea conditions and larger areas of pack ice. “It promises to be an interesting trip,” said Duncan.
Team-members from Australia, New Zealand and America gathered at the harbor in Ushuaia, Argentina. The ship sailed off last Sunday across the Beagle Channel east ward to Puerta Williams - a naval township of Chile.
Sun and BBQ – for now
“The locals were all out and about for Halloween so the town was far more lively than normal. The sun was shining and we were treated to a great BBQ for dinner which at times looked more like a small fire than a cooking experiment. We have our Zappi permit to drive past Cape Horn and can now leave for Antarctica. Let see how the weather pans out but we are underway, it might be a few days before we re-contact as the crossing is often a little bumpy...,” reported Duncan on Monday.
On the last sail, passengers had some tough moments across the Drake Passage and Duncan didn’t leave his cabin for three days due to sea-sickness.
As on his previous expeditions – check out Everest last spring – Duncan will be sending live images, texts and video over Contact 3.0.
The sail goes across the Beagle Channel and around Cape Horn through the Drake Passage to Antarctic Peninsula. The team will disembark at Deception Island before heading out to Livingston Island, and Hannah Point. They will visit the South Shetlands, the Antarctic peninsula and, ice permitting, venture into the Weddell sea.
Duncan Chessell, 34, summited Everest in 2001. This spring, he returned to the peak from the North side and soon emerged as the "king of dispatches" on Everest, with live positions, altitude tracking, several videos from the mountain and the season's first images and video from Everest summit.
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