After Deception Island, we thought we'd recalibrated. That we understood Antarctica isn't a place you can anticipate. But no amount of Attenborough documentaries or YouTube rabbit holes can prepare you for what it actually feels like to be here. It's not just different. It's like living on a different planet.
But it's not just the place. It's who we're here with and how we're exploring. It's just the ten of us out here on a small yacht. Experiencing a place that relatively few get to see, in a way that even fewer do.
Exploring the world on a small boat vs a cruise ship always opens up a whole other side to a place. But that feeling is intensified here.
Over the next few days, a paddle through icebergs turns into a standoff with 1,000 pounds of muscle and teeth, we find our best motivation for climbing to the top is a rapid descent, and a barbecue invitation comes from a place three countries say belongs to them. Which happens to be on top of five inches of penguin poop. Because apparently that is prized territory down here.
Every time we say "it can't get any wilder than this." Antarctica kept proving us wrong.
Curiosity Crew
The brave souls who support our madness and were crazy enough to say yes to living on a small boat like a scrappy bunch of kids at summer camp.
- Steve Morrison - @dragonfly.495
- Tougy Morrison (Steve's daughter) - @tougymorrison
- Douglas Gilchrist - @skiriderdoug
- Mike Harrington - @mvgallivant
- Jason (J-Dog) Knight - @binarybana
S/V Icebird Crew
Our trusty Icebird Expedition captains and chef.
- Alex (chef) Tolchev - @alex_tolchev
- Alex (Sasha) Trushevsky - @atrushevsky
- Catherine Hew - @icebirdexpeditions_
