Antarctica - Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsula

Australia's ABC announced today that a gigantic iceberg measuring 78 km long by 39 km wide and 400 meters thick has broken from the tongue of the Mertz Glacier in Antarctica. The calving was due to another berg of similar size colliding with it.

The report stated that this event was not related to global warming but that there could be long term effects from these two giant bodies of ice if they remain where they are. They may have an effect on ocean currents and temperature.

ABC News on-line states: "With an area of more than 2,500 square kilometres, the iceberg is bigger than the Australian Capital Territory [or Luxemburg], and holds enough fresh water to supply all of the earth's human needs for a year."
That is one big berg!

Pic: Relatively small iceberg photoed at a distance of several miles in the Southern Ocean.

There are still places in this world where you stand in awe.
Where there is an aura of solemnity.
The Beagle Channel is one of them - and it is something you don't expect when you just around the corner from Cape Horn.
Apart from its stark beauty, what struck me about it was its solemn stillness.
Glaciers and ice make little sound.
New-fold mountains sleep, their great stubbled chins pointed skywards while above them condors the size of worker bees wheel in effortless in silent circles.
A thousand streams and waterfalls glisten as they slip relentlessly over honed rock faces only to disappear in the wooded banks below.
Penguins and occasional whales grace the water, while on the scattered rocky outcrops, seals wallow unperturbed while on tiny islands innumerable cormorants hold out their flaccid wings to dry.
Beneath the crystal waters, tall weeds wave their golden fronds as the small boat passes above them leaving barely a ripple on the surface.

The Beagle Channel stretches 120 miles long and two miles wide, and Charles Darwin likened it to the valley of Scotland's Lockness.
In his words:
"The lofty mountains rise to a height of 3,000 and 4,000 feet%u2026covered by a wide mantle of perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters through the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many parts, magnificent glaciers extend from the mountainside to the water's edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of there glaciers and the dead white of the upper expanse of snow." (The Voyage of the HMS Beagle).

The Channel is probably unchanged since the time HMS 'Beagle' made its first passage in the 1830s and it will be that same scene which will greet the replica ship when she sails south in a few years time.

Thanks to Peter Grath, I have just learned of the Beagle Project Pembrokeshire,
Zoologist, Peter, and David Lort-Phillips director of the Darwin Centre for Biology and Medicine in Wales are co-founders of the project to build a replica of the Beagle.
2009 - the project seems to have been becalmed.
To find out more go to http://www.beagleproject.com

Size is deceptive.
Shapes are incredible.
The blue colouration designates the age of the ice.

One quarter of this novel is set in the Antarctic Peninsula region.
FLOATING GOLD, published May 2010, has received excellent reviews by age-of-sail enthusiasts.
Here are some excerpts:

FLOATING GOLD is a wonderful blend of classic Georgian naval fiction, a mystery/thriller and a grand treasure hunt. A rousing tale, well told. It's a well-paced and vividly drawn tale of adventure in the high latitudes and on the high seas. Highly recommended.
http://www.oldsaltblog.com

When you have read as many naval fiction novels as I have, the first challenge a new author and book has to meet is - do the story and characters seem fresh? This is a challenge Floating Gold achieves from cover to cover in a pacy narrative which held my attention.
Would I like to read more of Captain Quintrell, Lieutenant Parry, Acting Carpenter Will Ethridge and their adventures? I certainly would.
A book I recommend.
http://www.historicnavalfiction.com

FLOATING GOLD is a nautical thriller that involves a well-plotted treasure hunt. Other nautical heroes too have been chasing treasures on the high seas and in exotic locations, most often Spanish galleons loaded with gold, but none of them - to my knowledge - have ever been chasing a treasure like the one that is featured in this book.
It is an innovative and entertaining tale, rich on detail about England and life at sea, and a tale that is very well told.
FLOATING GOLD is an excellent nautical fiction debut by Margaret Muir. I hope she continues to write about Quintrell - a character that I feel has a lot of potential.
If you like historical fiction, salty sea tales or clever adventures, FLOATING GOLD is a book you should get hold of - it is very entertaining, well written and intelligently plotted! http://www.navyfiction.com

To order a copy go to Hale Books (UK) or The Book Depository (world-wide postage free). Lending copies are also available from your local library.

Charles Darwin and Fitzroy navigated the channel in HMS "Beagle" and named it.
It runs betweent he island of Tierra del Fuego and the myriads of islands scattered in the sea.
The criss-crossing channels in the area are like a maze and even today this is a hazardous place for shipping.

This is an Otway Sound Penquin out from Punta Arenas.
The penguins I caught on film on riding on icebergs were on the movie camera - sorry folks.

Europa is a square rigged ship run by Victory Cruises.
She sails out of Usuaia on Tierra del Fuego and she is on my wish list.
Would love to sail on her.

Photo from www.victorycruises.com

If you are lucky you will see a group of penguins taking a ride on one of the islands of ice.

I've never seen a rainbow which just skimmed the water.

It's a chunk chopped out of the rim of the volcano - or as one author said - like a battleship had fired a hundred broadsides into its armament.

The entrance to Deception island - an active volcano - is only about 500 yards agross.
Somewhere not far below the water is Raven Rock - a jagged rock which can and has toen the bottom out of unsuspecting ships.

As the ice melts form the bergs it takes on the most remarkable shapes and appearances. This one looked at first looked like a turtle then a lizard.
It's magic!

You don't have to look far for growlers!

Unidentified yacht at Anchor in Deception Island close to the Antarctic Circle.
No that is not a black and white photo though it looks like it.
And those are not clouds in the background.
That's snow on black volcanic ash inside the caldera.
Eerie!

The mountains are razor tipped and inhospitable.
Yet beautiful beyond description!

The first time I visited South America was during my trip to Antarctica.
The ship called in at Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan, and at Ushuaia - Tierra Del Fuego - the most southern city in the world.
Here I learned a little about the history, about the Indians and the conditions.
That visit inspired me to write a story set in Patagonia.

Find out more about THE CONDOR'S FEATHER - a dramatic adventure story - go to the LINK list of novels.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is now also available in a LARGE PRINT edition (June 2010).
To order go to:
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