YEP ANTARCTICA

Download the scientific report

Young Explorers Team

• Carlien Wolmarans 17, South Africa
• Nora Haselbach 19, Switzerland
• Alexandr Le Dily 17, France
• Henry Stanislaw 19, USA
• Maria Puig Ribas 16, Spain
• Vincent Butty 19, Switzerland

YEP 1 ANTARCTICA Expedition Video Gallery

Day-by-day diary:

The Antarctica Expedition marked the official launch of the Pangaea Young Explorer’s Programme the 18th of October 2008!
All the Young Explorer’s grouped in Ushuaia, Argentina with Mike Horn and his team on the 16th of October 2008.
A press conference was held on the 17th at the Albatross Hotel in Ushuaia, to announce the official start of the PANGAEA expedition planned for the next four years. Each of the Young Explorers also had the opportunity to introduce themselves during the press conference, and to say what it meant for them to be there. Big interest was shown from the Argentinean press and the expedition partners also had the opportunity to invite their local representatives which joined Mike onboard PANGAEA for a day of sailing.

Everything was prepared for the official start, and once all the Young Explorers, Mike, his team and the PANGAEA crew were onboard, the mooring lines were freed on the 18th of October 20:00 local time.

From Ushuaia, PANGAEA sailed down south crossing the Drake Passage towards Trinity Island, which was reached after 2 ½ days of sailing, covering a distance of over 600 nautical miles. The weather was kind with light winds of 5 -10 knots south to the Antarctica.

Arrival at Trinity Island around 12pm on the 21st.

After searching for a safe anchorage in the bay for 4 hours, the team found itself sitting high and dry, as the tide had dropped, leaving them in just 2 metres of water on a rock shelf. As the tides in Antarctica only change once in 24 hours the team could only get off by the next morning. Mike was not very concerned about this situation, as PANGAEA is designed with two bottom skegs which enable her to sit up straight when not afloat. The team made good use of the afternoon to visit one of the mini islands within the bay which was home to a colony of Penguins. By the next morning as the tide came in, the crew could get PANGAEA afloat once more and move her to deeper water.

The 22nd was mostly spent on the Island with the Young Explorers doing snow and ice measurements with Professor Roswitha Stolz from the University of Munich, as well as studying the behaviour of the local penguins on the colony. In the evening, it was planned for the Young Explorers to get out onto Trinity Island and camp outside after hiking up a snow ridge to the top of a small peak. Unfortunately the weather turned bad quickly (as it usually does in Antarctica) and this excursion was cancelled. The expedition team spent the night in the safe shelter of PANGAEA and sat out the storm until the next morning.

On the morning of the 23rd, PANGAEA lifted anchor and headed for Charcot Bay. The weather was sunny with blue skies and temperatures of around -5 degrees. With calm seas in the bay of Charcot, PANGAEA could get very close to the Peninsula. The expedition team with the inflatable boat crossed to the shore and, accompanied by three experienced mountain guides, the Young Explorers hiked up a snow peak which was then named PANGAEA Peak! This was a very special moment for the Young Explorers who had named their first summit (the map did not indicate it had been named yet).
On the summit, more snow samples were taken and the Young Explorers collected more research data. Once back on the boat, the team navigated slowly in the pack ice until they reached another spot on the shores of the peninsula which was easy accessible. The team then hiked up another snow ridge with their Petzl headlamps being the only source of light, where they set up camp for the night (all together in a large Coleman base camp dome tent). Before going to bed they enjoyed noodles in a warm, windless night under a clear starlit sky - very rare for Antarctic conditions!
The morning of the 24th saw the team pack up camp and head back down to the bay were PANGAEA and its crew were waiting to set sail for Deception Island (about a 6 hour sail from Charcot Bay). Arrival on Deception Island was around 4pm and the boat anchored in Whalers Bay before the Young Explorers used an inflatable boat to visit an old whaling station, set up by the Norwegians in the early 1900’s. Because of the volcanic activity on the Island, there are hot springs at certain spots along the shoreline of Whalers Bay. The team dug into the volcanic beach and soon had a warm natural pool with water of around 40 degrees centigrade. It was an amazing experience for the team to learn and be able to bathe into a hot water pool when the outside temperature was close to zero!

That night was spent aboard the PANGAEA anchored in Whalers Bay. The next morning most of the expedition party wanted to experience the hot natural baths - so all returned to the beach for another session of hot spring bathing.
Mike lifted anchor around 6pm that afternoon and set sail towards King George Island, which was around 7 hours away at a distance of approximately 70 nautical miles. PANGAEA reached King George Island around 1 am on the morning of the 26th and dropped anchor in Arden Cove. King George Island is home to the Chilean FREI research station and the Russian Bellinghausen station. The Team enjoyed a calm night onboard PANGAEA and after breakfast in the morning the Young Explorers headed off to visit the biggest penguin colony of the South Shetland Islands.
On returning to PANGAEA all enjoyed lunch before the Young Explorers prepared to leave for a flight back to Ushuaia – the starting point for this once-in-a-lifetime 10 day adventure. Air transport was a 1944 DC3 Dakota – perfectly restored to its original state of glory and an amazing site to see. As the rest of the expedition party waved them goodbye, all knew that although the experience had flashed passed in the blink of an eye, it would forever remain in the mind and heart of each Young Explorer.

Once at home, the Young Explorers’ real work starts. They need to spread the message as Ambassadors about our planet and the PANGAEA mission. Mike Horn and his team will be in constant contact with them to follow up on the satellite projects they will engage in and to assure sustainability of their efforts.

Young Explorers have their say

(actual diaries / comments from the YE’s)

YEP 1 ANTARCTIC Expedition 1