“Shackleton has been a hero of mine
ever since I was young, and there I was,
retracing parts of his journey a century later.
Our ship dropped anchor in the harbor at
King Haakon Bay. Shackleton had landed
there in a 22-foot wooden lifeboat and then
hiked for 36 hours across the frozen island
in search of help. He found the Stromness
whaling station and was able to organize a
rescue mission for his men (more on that
later). He returned to South Georgia in
1921 hoping to make the first successful
land-crossing of Antarctica, which stretches
for about 1800 miles, but he suffered a
heart attack before he could accomplish
his mission.”
“We visited his grave in Grytviken.
Shackleton loved whiskey and women, so
I poured a shot of whiskey on his grave.
That night we had a party on the ship in
his honor. It was a fitting tribute to my
hero. I kept thinking how amazing his
accomplishments were, given what he
had to work with and the overwhelming
obstacles he faced along the way.”
“From there we went to South Orkney
Island. Again, the scenery was stunning
and penguins were everywhere. During the
trip we saw king penguins, gentoos, adelies,
chinstraps, rockhoppers and my personal
favorite, the macaronis. The macaroni
penguin got its name from English
explorers in the 1800s because of its crest
of bright yellow feathers. In those days, a
person who adopted a flamboyant fashion
style was referred to as a ‘macaroni,’ as in
the lyrics from Yankee Doodle.”
“We also stopped at the South Shetland
Islands, a group of about 20 islands that are
essentially uninhabited except for personnel
at research stations and field camps. Despite
extremely rough conditions we managed
to anchor off the coast of Elephant Island.
It was there that Shackleton had left the
majority of his crew to wait, in makeshift
shelters, while he and five other men
embarked on their treacherous journey to
South Georgia Island where they got help
and then returned to rescue their crew.”
Antarctica at Last
“At last, we arrived at Antarctica, continent
#7 in my personal travels. Diving along
the Antarctic Peninsula was incredible. We
snorkeled with fur seal pups and penguins
and dove with leopard seals, surrounded by
icebergs, in 30-degree waters.”
“As we back-rolled from the zodiacs, we
broke through a thin crust of ice into the
water. Like sculpture, the ocean’s endless
waves carve wonderful shapes, tunnels and
overhangs in the icebergs. Looking up from
40 feet below the surface, we could see
sunlight streaming through the water and
ice crystals on the surface. I’ve never seen so
many shades of blue and white.”
Southward
Bound
“The next day we travelled to the South
Sandwich Islands. Their jagged peaks rose
impressively from beneath the ocean. Few vis-
itors venture out to these islands. The winds
are strong, the ocean can be extremely rough
and there’s almost no place to land safely.”
“We anchored off Saunders Island, an
active volcanic island that has erupted off
and on for more than a decade, and took
our zodiacs ashore. Between the glaciers and
the black sand beaches, it was breathtaking.
Along with more penguins, there were fur
seals and elephant seals.”
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
MAY/JUNE 2016
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