The Millers in Antarctica, 2009

Antarctica » Antarctica
February 12th 2009

Published: February 12th 2009

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Sailboarder_98

Falklands & Antarctic Pinisula

We had winds to 100 mph south of the Falklands

The Adventure

On January 8 we boarded Holland America's 61,000 tonne Amsterdam and made an overnight sail to Montevideo where we visited the city centre. Two days later we were at Port Stanley in the Falklands where visited a Gentoo penquin rookery...over very bumpy trails. Joan made friends with one. The wind was about 50 mph, but it was a pleasant warm day and it was thrilling to see a huge number of these birds together in their natural environment.

Two days later we circled Elephant Island famous for the place where 22 of Shackleton's men survived for 99 days while he set out in a small boat to South Georgia...800 miles away! From there we spent two days visiting the Archipelago. The mountains, ice sheets, icebergs, glaciers, penquins, whales and birds provided vistas overwhelming in their immensity and beauty.

The mountains were so close you felt as though they could be touched. We had salubrious weather with temperatures in the 0° to 5°C range. We reached 65°S latitude.

From the Antarctic Peninsula we sailed past Cape Horn then up the Beagle Channel where we visited more bays and mountains. In one of the bays we sailed

Joan in Montevideo

near a huge glacier called the Amalia Glacier. We did a tour to the islands in Ushuaia Harbour, home to countless penquins, elephant lions and cormorants.

From Ushuaia we made stops at Punta Arenas, Argentina and Puerto Montt, Chile where the fine weather and exquisite sights continued to delight us. On our 16th day of sailing we disembarked in Valpraiso and flew back to Toronto from Santiago, Chile. We sailed a total of 4952 nautical miles and had a superb time.