Saturday 21 February 2015

NORTHBOUND:

Our morning consisted of fog, following winds and slight swells.


During this break in our landings we had two sets of lectures, one on whales and the long-ranging sea birds and a second set on the race to the pole and glaciers, snow and ice.



Our afternoon landing was at Prospect Point. There were many large pieces of floating ice along the shoreline but eventually we found a small landing spot. From the beach we could climb up on the glacier and from there we could walk to the site of the British “Base J”. All that remains of the base are the foundation columns. The summary of the base’s life and purpose is recorded on the small signboard attached to one of the pillars. The base was built in 1957 and closed in 1959, during this time the scientists conducted topographic and geologic surveys. As the result of a 1994 comprehensive evaluation of all the British bases, this base did not make the cut and the buildings were removed in 2004.