31st December - Le Maire Channel to Port Lockroy.

Time: 07:01 64 degrees 59.30' South/63 degrees 46.43' West, Air Temperature 3oC, Water Temperature 1.1 oC, Wind North force 6, overcast and snow showers.

Once again we were unable to go down the Le Maire channel due to it being clogged with ice.

We slowly made our way up the Neumayer Channel to Port Lockroy and the Gentoo Penguin colony. The winds eased and we managed to get all passengers ashore. While we were at Port Lockroy the glacier opposite us calved ice into the sea and the crack of the ice breaking off the glacier was loud enough to be clearly heard across the bay. We spent New Years Eve in the bay at Port Lockroy and the setting was just unbelievable - calm water, peaks rising steeply to over 3,000 feet, including "the seven sisters" and glaciers all around.

A Gentoo Penguin investigates one of our life jackets.

Many Gentoo chicks have hatched since our last visit.

The Adelie Penguin, a scarce visitor to the penguin colonies we visit.

David Harrowfield, the Expedition Historian who I have already introduced had the following to say about the places we visited today. The Lemaire Channel - Steep sided cliffs and glaciers are a feature of this spectacular body of water which is about 11km long. It was discovered by the German expedition under Dallman (1873-74) and was traversed in December 1898 by the Belgian expedition (1897-99) led by Adrian de Gerlache and named by him for, Charles Lemaire, a Belgian explorer of the Congo. The channel separates Booth Island from the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Port Lockroy was named by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot after its discovery in 1903 by the French Antarctic expedition. The British ‘Base A’ was established in February 1944 as part of ‘Operation Tabarin’, a WW2 naval operation to establish a firm British presence in Antarctica and to watch for enemy shipping which might seek to control the Drake Passage. Port Lockroy was occupied continually until January 1962 and research included surveying; geology; meteorology; botany and ionospherics. The buildings have been restored and are cared for by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
Jougla Point (where we landed) lies on the west side of Wiencke Island and was discovered and named by Charcot who considered it to be a peninsula. I am unable to ascertain who Jougla was without checking Charcot’s book. Perhaps it was a person named Jougla Gentoo?

The view from the bow of the Marco Polo this evening.

I miss my family and wish they were here or I there and I want to thank them for making this dream come true for me. Thanks also to Chris and Annie Wilson, without whom I would not be here and thanks to everyone who has followed my blog and send me texts and comments. Happy New Year!!

Formal night for New Years Eve on the Marco Polo. Happy New Year to you all!