03.04.2017 - End of 2016/17 Season Round Up

The Antarctic season has come to a close. Pelagic Australis and crew are currently on a two week Falkland Islands tour with clients and divers, part reconnaissance for next season. Pelagic has been put to bed in Stanley for the winter.

Due to the debacle in Chile with not being able to charter there for at least the short term, we have shifted the March/April cruises to the Falklands. The end of season delivery to Cape Town with the RYA programme that begins on April 22nd also begins in the Falklands. That trip is well subscribed, but we still have a place for one more!

In February I was south with Pelagic Australis along with my all time best clients from Lugano.

Ski mountaineers, this was their 6th time on board and it seems they can never get enough of these high latitude sailing to climb expeditions.

Indeed, they are coming back yet again in September for a ski traverse on South Georgia. See skipper Dave Roberts UAV footage below and you will see why.

Pelagic Australis in Antarctica - Drone footage highlights 2016/2017 season from aj pelagic on Vimeo.

Salvage of Beached 10M Yacht 

And luckily for this Belgian sailor, after crossing the Drake Passage we managed to pull this 10m yacht off an isolated beach in Bahia Aguirre on the Argentine coast. He had been marooned for a week. We towed him 70 miles into Ushuaia.

The problem

Digging out the keel at low tide

Afloat again

Thawing Out 

Straight after the February cruise I flew to Miami to thaw out during an International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) Exec meeting in preparation for the AGM in Edinburgh on May 2nd. Tourism growth in the Antarctic is firmly on the agenda of IAATO and within the Antarctic Treaty forum so don’t put off you trip south too much longer!

In mid March, pushing further into tropical locations I sailed on Rosehearty, a 56m Perini Navi super yacht in the St Barths Bucket Regatta. We won our class of course.! Click on this link to see Richard Smith’s spectacular UAV footage:  https://vimeo.com/210071120

2017/18 Season Opportunities 

The 2017/2018 season is filling up fast. Most of the longer trips are fully subscribed and I am in talks for 2018/2019. Demand seems better than ever. Here is what is available going forward:

South Georgia October 14th to November 11th 2017.   2 places. See details here>>

Antarctica December 1st to 21st 2017. 5 places. See details here>>

Falklands Cruise March 24th to April 7th 2018. All places open. See details here >>

Falklands Cruise April 14th to April 28th 2018. All places open. See details here>>

Delivery to Cape Town, RYA Programme May 5th to June 15th. All places open

We will be featuring a report with pictures and video on the Falklands experience in the next Newsletter in a few weeks. Wait for it!

Cheers, Skip