The LeMaire Channel and Booth Island, Antarctica
I could write today's Expedition Report by simply sitting in the mudroom of the National Geographic Explorer and recording the remarks of our guests as they returned to the ship. My favorite: "Penguins, kayaks, a barbecue and beer on an ice floe in Antarctica; what can they possibly think of next?"
To backtrack (we've been doing that since leaving the Antarctic Circle yesterday morning) ... dense sea ice banished our thoughts of using the inside passage to come north from the Circle. No problem. We'll just push aside some ice to reach cleaner water, and so we did. In the morning, we rounded Booth Island from the west for a somewhat unusual entry into the narrow and famously scenic LeMaire Channel, passing the lovely Una guarding its northern entrance. Booth Island was on the starboard side, the Antarctic Continent on the port side. The water was glassy smooth, reflecting the steep snow and ice-covered slopes on either side of us. All hands were on deck for the passage.
The bridge officers guided our ship to anchor in a protected cove south of Booth Island. All of our fleet of Zodiacs and yellow boats were soon in the water as we seized every opportunity. In 1904, the ship Française, under Commandant Jean Baptiste Charcot, over-wintered in a small harbor on Booth Island. It is now called Port Charcot. We climbed the slope to gaze down at the very spot where the ship and men passed the icy months of winter. Now, penguins own the slopes - mostly gentoos (unlike in Charcot's time over 100 years ago), but with a few pairs of Adélie and chinstrap penguins as well. When our turn came to kayak, we paddled around massive blue and white icebergs caught on the shallow shoals that surround Booth Island. Afterwards, from the kayak platform or from shore, our Zodiacs returned not directly to the ship but to a flat, solid floe of sea ice. There we found, wonder of wonders, our galley staff with a barbecue making grilled lomito sandwiches served with choice of beverage. Standing on an ice flow in Antarctica, in bright sunlight, eating fresh barbecue!
What could they think of next? How about the Polar Plunge, reprise? Some had been just a bit disappointed that our dip into the Polar Sea at Deception Island had been marred by an Antarctic blizzard and a lack of warm water. (WHAT hot spring??!) With the kayak platform moored just outside the ship's tender entrance, hardy plungers took advantage of the second opportunity, this without even a hint of geothermal warmth. The water temperature stood at 0° C. The plunge squeezed the endorphins into general circulation and we emerged from our dip in giddy exhilaration.
Still, we were not done. Over dinner, our ship moved southward in the Penola Strait, and then returned for an evening passage of the LeMaire, this one in a different light. I am struck by the contrast between my photographs of the two passages: the morning almost monochromatic, like the art of Elliot Porter or Ansel Adams; the evening rich in color as the golden glow of the slowly fading light to the south merged into the deep blue of the Antarctic summer sky. It was a treat for us to share the moment with our team of National Geographic Society and Lindblad Expeditions photo experts, as well as our fellow guests on this incredible voyage to Antarctica.
