Petermann Island and Damoy Point
Thick pack ice, in which tightly-packed floes left little room for maneuver, made our day’s program both problematic and dramatic. After breakfast we were starting to force a way into the ice as we passed prominent landmark mountains and approached the Lemaire Channel. Known as “Kodak Alley,” this is one of the most stunningly scenic places on the Antarctic Peninsula. Steep cliffs and glaciers rear for thousands of feet on each side of the mile-wide, 7-mile long gap between the mainland and Booth Island. The sun came out to make this a spectacular passage. Coming out of the southern end, Endeavour stopped at Petermann Island, the wintering place nearly 100 years ago of a French expedition under Jean Charcot. The Zodiacs had to thread their way between the floes to get us to the shore. We were welcomed there by Ron Naveen of Oceanites and his team, who explained how they are monitoring populations of penguins and other seabirds.
We had to cut short our stay because the ice started moving in and Endeavour returned through the Lemaire Channel and took us to Damoy Point. The weather remained good enough through the afternoon for another session with the kayaks. The interest ashore was a British hut where a small group was staying. Some had been climbing mountains, but Tim Hall was exploring the area with a motorized paraglider. He attempted to demonstrate this marvelous contraption but unfortunately the wind was too strong for take-off. However, he and his companions came aboard in the evening to tell us about their adventures.
Thick pack ice, in which tightly-packed floes left little room for maneuver, made our day’s program both problematic and dramatic. After breakfast we were starting to force a way into the ice as we passed prominent landmark mountains and approached the Lemaire Channel. Known as “Kodak Alley,” this is one of the most stunningly scenic places on the Antarctic Peninsula. Steep cliffs and glaciers rear for thousands of feet on each side of the mile-wide, 7-mile long gap between the mainland and Booth Island. The sun came out to make this a spectacular passage. Coming out of the southern end, Endeavour stopped at Petermann Island, the wintering place nearly 100 years ago of a French expedition under Jean Charcot. The Zodiacs had to thread their way between the floes to get us to the shore. We were welcomed there by Ron Naveen of Oceanites and his team, who explained how they are monitoring populations of penguins and other seabirds.
We had to cut short our stay because the ice started moving in and Endeavour returned through the Lemaire Channel and took us to Damoy Point. The weather remained good enough through the afternoon for another session with the kayaks. The interest ashore was a British hut where a small group was staying. Some had been climbing mountains, but Tim Hall was exploring the area with a motorized paraglider. He attempted to demonstrate this marvelous contraption but unfortunately the wind was too strong for take-off. However, he and his companions came aboard in the evening to tell us about their adventures.
