bosshard.net

16.2.03 0600 to 0910
We enjoyed the charter flight by Aerolineas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia with some 140 other passengers and staff on the Cruise. The new terminal in Ushuaia with a finger dock and other modern facilities as well as brand new parking and access roads reminded us of the financial difficulties of Argentina, and the horrendous external debt they must service. But at least, in this particular case, those investments went in the right direction as tourism at present is the only stable foreign exchange income that is growing at all.

1600 boarding the MS BREMEN which arrived form Antarctica this very morning. Ours will be the 6th and last cruise of the 2002/2003 summer season; after arriving in Buenos Aires, the BREMEN will steam north to Brazil and then a further several thousand kilometers up the Amazon river to Iquitos.

MS BREMEN in the Port of Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world, 16.2.03	MS BREMEN off the coast at Cape Hoorn, 17.2.03	On the bridge near Cape Hoorn, with cruise director Gabriele Engler.

We are led by a charming Filipino hostess Delia to our cabin 702 on the top deck on the port side of the 111 m long white ship. A bottle of champagne is waiting, and a plate of delicious appetizers is brought soon after we arrive. Of course, our 2 large suitcases are already on board, having been left at the Caesar Park for pick up at 10 pm on the 15th.

This ship, which will be home away from home for the coming 2 weeks, is not a true cruise ship though she is quite comfortable. Her size is much smaller than what we normally see, with some 82 cabins (all outside) for a total of 164 passengers. On this cruise, we are about 120 passengers, the oldest being our neighbor, whose 93rd birthday comes next month. The BREMEN is an explorer type vessel and has the highest ice class rating; she is carrying a dozen Zodiacs to take passengers on the many shore landings, always wet landings in the Antarctic region. You immediately notice that she must have been built in Japan (actually in Kobe) because the locks open in the wrong way for Europeans or Americans.

Of course, there is a sauna, a small sea water swimming pool with a constant temperature of 27 degrees C, a fitness room, a hair salon, a boutique, a small hospital and a helicopter landing pad on deck 8 just above us.

The crew is mainly Filipino (bosun, sailors, hostesses-maids, kitchen personnel, handymen-helper at landing, and machinists), the majority of the officers are German with one exception: the executive officer is a Swiss lady from Pfaeffikon on Lake Zurich. The lecturers are from Eastern Europe and Germany; we have a German geologist living in Buenos Aires, 2 biologists, and one scientist specializing in glaciology, etc.

The executive chef is ‘Skinny’ Willy (Leitgeb) from a Tyrolean valley. ‘Fat’ Willy (Bosshard) met him the first day and wondered loudly what the food was going to be like with a chef so skinny, adding at the same time that of course if he was a lucky bugger who could eat anything without fear of putting on weight, then that was a fine recommendation for his skill.

The skipper is a 34 year old German from Hamburg; we were guests at his table on the day of the Captain’s Welcome. It would seem that captains are no longer in their sixties as I had pictured them from some motion pictures or soaps.

On 22.2.2001 , steaming in the South Atlantic towards Rio de Janeiro, the BREMEN was hit by a 30-35 m high ‘freak wave’ that smashed into the 2 cm thick Panzer glass. It did not actually break but was pushed into the Bridge by the many hundred tons of water. This led to a short circuit and a complete shutdown of all the navigation and control instruments on the bridge and also the heavy diesel engines. The alarm bells work from a battery that might be exhausted any time. To avoid this, the Chief Engineer Fisch ran up from deck 3 to deck 7 where the main fuse is located. The ship was on emergency electricity supplied by auxiliary power generator 1; it was not enough to also supply the power needed to start up the 6600 h.p. diesel engine. Fisch knows that only the reassembly of unit 2 (conveniently taken apart for a major overhaul) would give him sufficient power to start up the stopped main engine. He gives the orders and a 6 man crew starts to put the parts of the 150 kg block together in 70 degrees C heat, and coping with the rolling and heaving of the ship. The team is led by 3rd engineer Isabelo Turiano and mechanic Rolando Duyao. With their Filipino colleagues they make the impossible come true, and after 30 minutes, the auxiliary unit is fit again. The 2 diesels together supply enough power to get the air pressure to 13 BAR and increasing. The Chief Engineer starts the main diesel, and first the left side begins working, placing the BREMEN back into the wind. The successful mechanics have tears in their eyes, not only sweat. Mr. Turiano now works on the HANSEATIC, Mr. Duyao on a container ship. I just hope the passengers and the Management of Hapag Lloyd showed their gratitude to those involved in saving their lives and their BREMEN.

Monday 17.2.03

We weighed anchor at 0100 after having greeted the BREMEN’s larger sister ship the HANSEATIC mooring a short way apart. It was a slow trip down the Beagle channel towards Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. There we had our first Zodiac landing, with boots, water proof pants and an extra large parka that had taken a lot of time and negotiations to obtain. The weather was good, no winds and we had smooth sailing for a fine sleep.

To reach the top of the cliffs and the defunct lighthouse, there were many steep steps and they were quite slippery too. The little chapel was well kept and peaceful and in the small museum the Chilean occupants sold postcards and stamps.

Soon it was back to the BREMEN for the long trip south, some 40 hours for some 450 miles. Top speed is1 15 knots but she sails best at between 10 and 12 knots. We took course for Livingstone Island in the South Shetland Group.

Tuesday, 18.2.03

The full day spent at sea, steaming south. There were a number of interesting lectures by the accompanying specialists, on everything touching this region, be it geological, biological, the vegetation, glaciology, weather, exploration, you name it.

Wednesday, 19.2.03

We arrived at Livingstone Island around 0600. The first group left the BREMEN at 0730 in their Zodiacs, landing on a shallow beach of black sand. There, we saw the testimony of long bygone eras when the climate was mild and the Antarctic continent was not yet separated from Australia, say 70 million years back. You could see fossilized ferns and also petrified wood and even a pine cone. Next to these geological marvels were many Gentoo penguins, the young still with part of their plumage but clearly all in the process of molting (in German: mausern).

There were a couple of huge brown feathered southern giant petrels (Riesensturmvoegel) sitting at Hannah Point, they can have wing spans of up to 2 m and are comparable to the African vulture. However, contrary to their counterparts, they often kill other birds or even weak and sick penguins for food. We also saw 2 brown skuas attacking and killing a young penguin and then ripping it apart. After they had filled up, they left him there and soon a number of other penguins came investigating. It looked in a way as if they were paying their colleague their last respects. Skuas are also known to menace humans with their terrifying dive bombing attacks.

During lunchtime, we sailed toward Deception Island, which actually is the large caldera of a long extinct volcano. The entrance called Devil’s Bellows is about 250 m wide and leads into the crater lake of some 10×14 km, called Port Foster. Most passengers took to the Zodiacs to explore Telephone Bay (name of a sunken ship). Whilst we had a warm sun shining on us until the very entrance of Port Foster, fog set in as we passed through the entrance (named Cathedral Crags) and visibility became very poor so that the climb to the 300 m high rim of the crater did not bring about the wonderful view one normally can enjoy from there. All this took place in less than an hour and it shows how quickly weather conditions can and do change around here.

After the majority of the troop returned to ship, around 1500 the cruise director called for the 60 or so intrepid passengers to assemble, fully dressed but with swimming gear underneath, to board 6 Zodiacs to return to another spot to swim in the sometimes scalding water that comes from a geothermal source on the sea’s bottom, similar to the ones in New Zealand. These hardy people enjoyed themselves quite a bit and even swam into the ice cold waters (just around 2 degrees C, but after they returned to the BREMEN, I overheard a guy say that he had been freezing his balls off on the return trip by Zodiac.

The third landing of the day was late in the afternoon, to see the whaling station no longer in use. Built by the Norwegians at Whalers’ Bay in 1906, it was destroyed in 1927 by volcanic eruptions. It was rebuilt, but during the War, a British Commando dynamited the place to prevent the construction of a German Marine Base.

Cape Hoorn Memorial showing an albatross, with ‘red’ penguins	2 Magellan Geese on a coastal peak at Cape Hoorn, the male is white, the female brownish	Cape Hoorn Albatross Monument taken from a bit further away
Lecturers at Hanna Point checking conditions, with some whale bones, 19.2.03	Fossilized ferns, wood, even a pine cone were found at Hanna Point which proves that in earlier periods of the earth’s formation, the Antarctic was warm and even tropical	A huge whale vertebra, indicating that the mammal must have measured some 30 m, probably a blue whale, on Neko Island, 21.2.03
Young penguins in the process of moulting on Hanna Point, 19.2.03.	2 Young chinstrap penguin (Eselpinguin)	Your’s truly after the first wet landing at Hanna Point
Group of red penguins crossing over to another beach at Hanna Point	Antarctic fur seal at the shore near Hanna Point	On deck of Bremen, towards Deception Island, 19.2.03
Antarctic Fur Seal on Deception Island	Digging a pool at Pendulum Cove, 19.2.03. There is hot water beneath the sand	Various ‘red’ penguins taking a hot bath at Pendulum Cove
Pensive Prof. Weber after the bath at Pendulum Cove	Abandoned oil storage equipment from the whaling days at Whalers’ Bay, 19.2.03	On the way to the Crater Lake at Telephone Bay, 19.2.03
Crater Lake at Telephone Bay

Fore more pictures, please go to Trips – Antarctic Exploration February 2003, Part II + III.

Continuation of Part I

Zodiac in ice at Paradise Bay, water temperature -2C, 20.2.03	Adele Penguins on ice about to jump into the icy waters	A zodiac in front of a glacier. At summer’s end, the rocks became visible

Thursday, 20.2.03

During the night, the BREMEN headed further south to Paradise Bay, some 150 sea miles away. That place is just a few miles off the Antarctic Peninsula, nearly 65 degrees South and 63 degrees West.

We set out in the first Zodiac at 0740 with Heinz Kloeser at the controls of the Zodiac. He is a Marine biologist and has lived in Antarctica on several occasions and even has numerous dives to his credit. He drove us along the towering rocks, which really are the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula, explaining about the various mosses and minerals as well showing us several colonies of blue eyed cormorants. He is also the type of person who likes to show himself in the best light. He constantly reminds us not to stand up except when the boat is idling and then only one by one, and he is especially insistent that no one sits with his feet on even the least little bit of the last floor plate of the Zodiac, where he says he needs to stand to manipulate the outboard diesel. He is self praising and pedantic, but then he is also an excellent and daring Zodiac pilot, as well as a fountain of knowledge in matters of birds and plants.

Further down along the coastline were many larger mountains and numerous glaciers with incredibly blue ice crevasses, and a gaping entrance cave. Unfortunately we did not see any of these 50 m high ice walls crash into the sea: that would have been a spectacle, but not really dangerous as our skipper kept a good distance and he was a skillful navigator. Rain fell and it was very cold, especially for those who took lots of photographs.

When we saw some Zodiacs concentrating near a flat iceberg some distance away, we sped there too and saw a gracious sea leopard defending his ‘berg’ but always coming up again to show us that it was his territory.

On the way back, we landed at Almirante Brown, a now defunct Argentine Expedition settlement with a towering peak, where a number of passengers went to have a slide down on a plastic sheet. We were cold and wet and just wanted to be driven back to the BREMEN, something that meant an unnecessary 30 minute wait because of a very inflexible expedition leader.

It was intended to sail further down through the Lemaire Channel to Petermann’s Island, 6 sea miles south of it, which would have been our southernmost point on this cruise at 65 degrees 07′ S, 64 degrees 08′ W at the edge of high Antarctica. Unfortunately, this narrow and wild Channel is only 220 m wide at its narrowest, and right at this point the winds had pushed into position a glacier sufficiently large to threaten our passage! The BREMEN is too long to make a full turn if the space were found too narrow to pass through, so for safety’s sake it was decided to abandon the idea to negotiate this Channel, which is named after a Belgian explorer.

On our slow cruise, we saw glaciers everywhere, each rock seems to have its own, and of course there are the really big ones hanging down from the higher mountain tops. Now in late summer, there is easy access to the peninsula but in less than a month, pack ice will cover a huge area and later it will be frozen solid till next spring which comes in October; and the passage will again be open for ships from mid November.

We returned a bit north into Andvord Bay where we stayed the night, going back and forth in big circles. It was to be the best night for sleep for the large majority of the passengers as there was very little wave activity in this rather well protected Channel.

Friday, 21.2.03

Before we even had breakfast, several killer whales were sighted from the bridge. They were observing a pod of humpback whales feeding on abundant amounts of krill. Most likely, later during the day the orcas, as they are also called, will mount an attack on one of the smaller humpbacks, finally killing one only to eat the tongue; the rest they leave for others to scavenge. Nothing will be lost in the food chain!

We started an early cruise by Zodiac into Neko Harbor where we again saw numbers of Gentoo penguins. As I was watching some activity between two nearby small ice floes, I could observe a young penguin chase his parent down the stony hill, toppling once or twice in the process, but eventually both stopped and the small one finally got some regurgitated food; but then came his brother or sister and claimed some more. There was nothing left and I guess one of the two will not make it to adulthood as it is quite late in the season.

Some of the rocks have their surface polished like marble from the millions of penguin feet having trodden across it over the millennia.

There are always some small white birds around the penguins. They are a kind of sanitation or garbage troop cleaning up, and also sometimes scaring them from behind so that they drop their food and the birds get the spoils. They are called Snowy Sheathbill or Weissgesicht Scheidenschnabel in German.

In the water, activity was made by a Leopard seal that was obviously attracted by some penguins swimming nearby in the icy waters. As long as we were there, however, there was no attack or kill.

In the afternoon, we steamed again a bit south through the Neumayer Channel, and stopped in a great snowstorm at Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island (UK). We chose to stay in our warm cabin; the small bay is full of ice floes and the water is so cold, probably -2 or even -3, that snow stays on top and forms a kind of sludge. This place was discovered in 1904 by Frenchman Jean Charcot (not the person after whom a debilitating bone disease is named) during his expedition from 1903-05. Norwegian whalers used the quiet bay as a secure anchoring place between 1911 and 1931. Well, no sooner had most boats departed for a landing, did the winds increase, and all boats were called back by radio and also by the ship’s horn. On the railing of our balcony, there are nearly 5 cm of new snow, also on the 2 deck chairs and the little table. There were 3 grey whales swimming in the channel, leaving tell tale ‘oil slicks’ for us, the easier for us to follow their path.

Saturday, 22.2.03

Start to today’s cruise again with Dr. Kloeser. Exactly the same procedures and comments as the first time. We first visited an area which leads into a channel that the Bremen staff discovered late last year and which had not been known before. We could not pass because it was low tide and our Zodiac with 11 people too heavy, but we were near some very interesting iceberg formations, one looking like a miniature Matterhorn.

Then we visited the presently unattended but operational Argentinean station on Melchior Island; the country just has not got the money for this kind of experiment at this time.

We saw a number of fur seals resting on rocks smoothly polished from glaciers. They either hobbled away or slid gracefully into the sea. One huge crab eater seal languished lazily on the flattened part of an iceberg, stretching from time to time but probably wondering why 5 or 6 boats with strange occupants looking like large red penguins came to gaze at him.Then we passed through some very agitated waters and narrow channels. I detected an iceberg that was actually rolling over, and after a while rolling right back again. This one clearly had not the same mass of ice under the part over the waterline as all glaciers have (according to Dr. Kloeser) but when I pointed it out to him, he simply shrugged his shoulders. Later I got confirmation: once glaciers have run aground they will no longer have 5 to 9 parts more mass under the waterline than visible above it.

It is 1545 and still there has been no announcement regarding our next cruise or landing. It is dark and foggy and sleet has started to fall. Even if they should decide to do something, we will not bother to go. Or will we?

Well, Uschi decided to go after all. She got dressed in all the gear in less then 5 minutes, for myself, I need at least double that: undershirt, long johns, jeans, then water proof pants, size 48 rubber boots (in these, I need an under sole with aluminum lining and frotte bathroom slippers with very heavy woolen socks so that my feet do not feel like being in a large hole), then a parka, life vest over it, a hat and gloves.

Sunday, 23.2.03

Landing at the Brazilian Farraz Station on King George Island was cancelled due to a bad weather forecast. The captain preferred to gain that half day and thereby really outran the brewing storm.

Monday, 24.2.03

At sea. We were followed by great numbers of albatrosses.

‘Little Matternorn’ in Paradise Bay	Ice masses off Paradise Bay	2 Gentoo penguins in front of two huge huge iceberg
Palace of the ice king	Anton Baechli and yours’ truly at the deserted Argentinean Station Almirante Brown	Penguins on Neko Island with a background of ice floats and icebergs, 21.2.03
Your’s truly on Neko Island with some Adele penguins	2 young Adele penguins on Neko Island fighting or kissing, 21.2.03	4 penguins preparing to jump into the icy water
Dwarf whale in the waters off Neko Island	Some more penguins on Neko entirely on land	Penguins foot prints in Port Lockerby, 21.2.03
Zodiac off Port Lockerby in a snow storm, waiting to take passengers back to the Bremen	In the 19th century, sailers gave these two peaks the name of “Una’s tits” after a well known waitreess in a nearby pub /td>	Entance to Lemaire Channel, 21.2.03. 2 days earlier, an iceberg blocked our passage
Zodiacs in the icy waters around Melchior Island, 22.2.03	Our Zodiac in the same waters	Small portion of huge table iceberg 30-40 m high, thus the bulk of some 300 meters is below water
Antarctic fur seal	Narrow channel between cliffs, strong water current well manoeuvred by Dr. Kloeser	Exploration leader Wolski greeting the first Zodiac at Hydrurga Rocks, 22.2.03
Penguin standing on smoothly polished rocks from billions of penguin feet in front of very pointed iceberg	Red penguins waiting for their Zodiac with some ral ones in the background	Weddell seal resting on his iceberg, oggling with suspicion our Zodiac approaching
Zodiac in the midst of a multidtude of ice floats

Continuation of Part II

About 700 king penguins make their home on Volunteer Point, on sandy and grassy land, never with ice, 26.2.03	The fat king penguin in the left foreground has an egg resting on his feet, covered by his belly to keep it warm	Mirror image of a king penguin on the hard sand of the beach

Tuesday, 25.2.03

Landing at Volunteer Point on West Falkland Island. We were in the first boat at 0615 with the sun just rising above the cloudy sea horizon. There was a good swell and we were told that with the breakers rather strong on the shore 600 m away, we would have to bring in the Zodiac driving backwards. The Filipino motormen are generally very good navigators but today our luck ran out. A huge wave lifted the boat and all on the left side of the Zodiac were catapulted into the boat with the wave following and filling it half full with water. Naturally, we were wet as if we had fallen into the sea and the walk of about 1.2 km to see the King Penguins was rather difficult for me especially as we had then to walk the same distance back with the oversized boots I had described further above. I had taken off the stiff water proof pants; they served no purpose in this case as the sea water entered from the top, but it was easier to walk. Despite all this, we were rewarded with a noisy and wonderful group of some 700 King Penguins huddled together and staring at us as much as they stared at them. We found the green grassy surroundings quite strange for these penguins as we had become used to see them on rocks and snow and ice.

The biggest penguins are the Emperor Penguins but these colonies are located closer to the south pole and can only be seen by hardy explorers walking for days on end. Actually, these penguins have to walk on ice for 200 miles after the breeding period to find open water for food and bring their weight up again to normal levels before the winter sets in again.

We then returned to the BREMEN around 9 am and had breakfast, and on the ship went to Port Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, looking rather like Charlestown in Nevis. We were having an early lunch 100 m away from the Anglican Church when the Captain announced that due to sharply increasing winds, he had to leave the not so safe anchorage and return to sea. This led to a confrontation between some former East German passengers, who bitterly complained how it could be that a similar vessel was moored at the convenient private pier, where one can step on and out without getting wet? Apparently, that vessel had been given preference over us.

This argument went back and forth, with the Captain being pushed into a corner as the representative of Hapag Lloyd, the latter being described as cheap and uncaring. It is certain that, under normal circumstances, we could have taken our Zodiacs for the less than 100 meter ride to the official pier.

Out here the sea is agitated but the weather sunny, and it would see to me that the swell and the height of the waves are diminishing. Perhaps we can make another Zodiac attempt tomorrow? Some passengers want to send their postcards from there as they have similar nice stamps like St. Kitts & Nevis. And I would go and find an internet cafe. The chef mentioned he ordered fresh salads and fruit there and these supplies were delivered with the Government tender coming for the landing fees.

Wednesday, 26.2.03

As the dispute continued, I had proposed that Hapag Lloyd should show those passengers interested copies of the messages which was done. Actually, we were confirmed in April 2001 for the mooring pier but later dropped in favor of the ship that needed it more urgently as they took on new passengers here in Port Stanley.

I started feeling kind of sick on Sunday, and I took some motion sickness tablets but I soon realized it was something else because I perspired profusely and was cold at the same time. So 2 days of little food, lots of good old Camomile tea and Aspirin brought me back to nearly fine.

We made 2 more landings on two of West Falkland’s private islands, at each spot the BREMEN was paying the US$ 20 landing fee (this was included in our package price). Most of these islands have very little ground water and they save whatever rainwater falls in cisterns, in the same way many Nevisian still do to this day.

During the cruise nearby Port Stanley and on the way to Argentina, we saw many different species of small and large sea birds. We also spotted 3 sei whales, a rarity in these coastal waters. They are normally only seen on open oceans closer to the equator. We also encountered also a large number of different dolphin species that played in the waves off the bow.

Thursday, 27.2.03

At sea

Friday, 28.2.03

We had a great day in Puerto Madryn, a costal town of 75000 and the capital of the whale watching industry here. I attended to about 400 emails (!) whilst Uschi went on an 8 hour bus trip – at the last checking, her bottom is still OK as apparently the bus was a newer one and the roads had much improved since the eighties.

A leisurely sailing back to the Rio de la Plata and Buenos Aires Harbor in excellent whether was very relaxing although we felt a lot of pressure to attend all the many excellent lectures. The food was also abundant and good.

Saturday, 1.3.03

To end the story on a funny note: the ones who tried to start a mutiny after Port Stanley were seen sitting as the guests at the captain’s table for the final dinner which goes a long way to prove that the meek will hardly ever inherit the world! The Bosshards had been invited to the First Captain’s Dinner on Day 2 but then, we are no mutineers after all.

Sunday, 2.3.03

At sea

Monday, 03.03.03

End of a beautiful trip, with a half day city sightseeing tour and a fine Argentine beef lunch with really home made fries. The check-out from the BREMEN went without a hassle and when we said good bye to our many new acquaintances at curbside of the Hereford restaurant in Puerto Madero, an old warehousing area superbly made over to house refined specialty stores and fine restaurants of all kinds, we all felt a bit sad that it was all over.

Cabagge like yellow flower in the arid sand above the beach	3 kings penguins striding on the beach, one looking like being the boss	5 king penguins walking on the beach, their long shadows thrown in fornt of them
3 king penguins in the pose of actors or singers. They can become nearly 1 m tall.	A large group of red penguins returning to their Zodiacs waiting on the far side of the wide bay	Red penguin making a snapshot of 2 king penguins in the foreground
A skua, a large sea gull, is a fearless dive bomber to hunt for fish and even week penguins and to scare away even much larger competitors	Gate made of 2 whale bones on New Island, 26.2.03	Black-browed albatrosses on New Island
Rugged coastline on New Island	Black-browed albatrosses on New Island	West Point Island, privately owned. To visit, passengers paid US$ 20 a head, making it a tidy sum of $2500 for the owner
Magellan penguins. The stone in the foreground looks like a seal with upturned head	Port Stanley on East Falkland, capital of the group with less than 2000 inhabitants	Fur seals sunning themselves on a sandy beach near Puerto Madryn, Valdez Peninsula, 28.2.03
Patagonian fox on Valdez Peninsula	Patagonian coast line near at Valdez Peninsula, with elephant seals, also site of the great whale watches in April each year	Emperor Penguin Chick
Emperor Penguin Colony – these majestic birds can become 1.2 m tall	Emperor Penguin adult with chick	2 Emperor Penguins (ca. 1.2 m tall) with their chick

The above 4 slides of Emperror Penguins are courtesy of Donald Bradshaw of Heather Hill, Stoney Cross, near Lynhurst, England.
They were aken on a expedtion to Antarctica in search of the Emperors (with a Russian Icebreaker sporting 2 helicopters) in November 1994