Hi all,

Position: 62-41S 060-50W
COG: at anchor Elephant Point
SOG: 0.0KN

ETA Hannah Point, South Shetland Islands: 14 MAR 2023 PM

Another day of glorious Drake sailing. Broad reach, sunny skies, still a big swell.

All in all, the Drake has been incredibly friendly, apart from the bumpy bit at the start and with exactly three days between exit Beagle Channel and entry into the Bransfield Strait, it was quite a fast one for us with 7.3kn average as the crow flies.

Yesterday was the day for bio security preparations and pre-landing IAATO lectures. The cleaning of clothes, gear and backpacks already started the night before and went on for the next 30 hours. All cleaned gear was personally checked by the EL and guides.

On the second day of the crossing, we changed the schedule to start at Elephant Point, so the entry point into the Bransfield Strait was between Smith Island and Snow Island. Smith Island, impressive as it is, was completely covered in clouds, with a nice lenticular one above its summit.

We started to reduce sails at moonrise and the silhouettes of the furling crew were visible in the moonlight. At 24:00 we slowly continued under topsails to come at anchor at Elephant Point after sunrise. Spirits are high and everyone has just stepped ashore for the first landing.

Eric