Akzo Nobel's Inspire Antarctic Expedition 2008

I left Roanoke, VA a week ago and ended up in Buenos Aires, which was beautiful weather. From there I went to Ushuaia, the world’s most southernly city and the weather was nice as well. From Ushuaia, we spent 2 days crossing the Drake Passage and the weather was exceptionally good as well. We spent the evening in Maxwell Bay last night and the weather was not bad either. But today, yes today, we met her!!!!

It is difficult to explain using temperatures because they do not tell the whole story. The best way to describe it is to think about climbing into your freezer in your house. Next, turn a fan on and make sure it is CONSTANTLY blowing 30-40 knots (about 35-45 mph). Finally, drop snow and sleet into the fan so it flies into your face and body at that speed. Now stay in it most of the day so you can get a real sense of Mother Nature here in Antarctica today. I must admit, that before today, I questioned the weather here and the horror stories of the Drake Passage. No more questioning!

Due to the bad weather, the first zodiac was delayed heading toward land. Finally, it left. I was the 2nd to last person on the 2nd zodiac to leave. It was a long, wet ride over. The wind was blowing causing the waves to whitecap along the way. Upon landing, there was a 20 minute walk up to the E-Base and E-Home. This wasn’t a normal walk. There was one of 3 things you would step on with each step. It would be a patch of ice, a 4” to 20” pocket of snow or a crunchy combination of ice, rock and mud. It is hard enough when you have to deal with just walking in elements like this but now you have to mentally think your way through each step and it really becomes hard work.

Upon arriving at the top, we learned that the conditions were too dangerous to bring any more people over and they suspended it. Now the work came! We had to take loads of the E-Base teams gear down. These folks have been living there for 18 days so they had some heavy gear. When the wind is against your back, it aides you walking along. When it is in your face, it takes much more energy to trudge ahead. So after 2 trips, I was tired. Upon returning, we were able to visit the E-base and E-home. In the E-Base, we learned how the solar panels and solar tubes performed. Additionally, I stood right in the spot where Robert did the LIVE video conference from to us last Monday. From there, we went in to the E-Home. To see the room where 7 people slept was quite interesting. It was very obvious that this was not an easy 2.5 weeks they had spent there.

Robert was concerned that nobody else would be able to make it over so he asked us to help take the loads of heavy equipment from the E-Base to Russian base. On the first trip, 4 of us were carrying a load of charcoal on an extremely heavy door. About a third of the way down to the base, we hit an area where we all started to sink. We immediately dropped the load and worked our way out of this mud, which I was in about 2/3rd of the way up to my knees. When we were all safely out, the mud slid down the hill like a mud avalanche. We were able to get the equipment out and take it down to the base. After another trip carrying a load, I was tired. Several of us skipped the 2 hour hike to see what ended up being 1 Elephant Seal, couple of other seals and some penguins on the beach and so I stayed in E-Base to visit and talk to people, as well as be outside in these conditions mentally thinking about where in the world I actually was (it was easy to do with conditions today).

After making my way down to the beach, I was able to see my 1st penguin up close and personal. After that, we loaded onto zodiacs for the ride back to the ship. Almost there and we hit a huge waves that soaked us all. WOW – is that water cold (33°F to be exact).

After a nice dinner, Robert gave part 1 of his presentation. This man has the ability to engage a group of people in a way that is a huge inspiration. It was an incredible end of an incredible day – I must say that I am glad we finally met her!!!!!

Time to crash, rumor has it we will be in Iceberg Alley in the morning…………

A wake-up call alerts everyone just before sunrise that all hands on deck as we are about to enter iceberg alley. An extremely windy, cold morning proved just the right opportunity to test our Canada Goose jackets. Robert was on the top deck and greeting everyone and explaining where we were. The images we saw were breath-taking. It is hard to explain but they seemed too perfect, as if someone had taken these massive icebergs and placed them perfectly in this area. We were able to get up close and personal with these as these icebergs went straight down in the water. We also learned that at some point in the middle of the night, we passed the area where the ship, Explorer, had hit a growler (underwater iceberg) and sank.

After breakfast, the morning was full of activities involving Leadership on the Edge programs. The program was interrupted to let us go outside and view the incredible sights. We passed the whole way through the Antarctic Sound, having to break through several patches of ice to get there. We got to the Weddell Sea and turned back around and went back through to get the Brown Bluff. We went on-shore at Brown Bluff and had a group meeting. Robert made a speech so everyone knew how special a moment this truly was. He said, “we are one of a group of about 150,000 people that have stepped foot on the continent of Antarctica. A big, single soccer game can hold 120,000 people so think how few people have really been here.” After Robert’s speech, there was a silence among the group as reality set in where we are. After a hike up the mountain to take group photographs, we headed back to the ship.

I had the privilege of having dinner with Robert and we discussed many things including Akzo Nobel and the expedition as well. I must admit that it was a truly memorable dinner to have with him while he is in HIS environment. After dinner, we heard Robert give Part 2 of his presentation. The group was captivated, even more than last night. We have another night of traveling, this time on the Bransfield Strait.

Early night to bed, as I will join Robert on the ship’s bow before sunrise…………….

Yesterday I went for a camping together with half of the team. We left the boat after the dinner with many layers of clothes, huge boots, sleeping bags and tents. We feared the cold but were lucky to have a wonderful evening on a beautiful glacier. My sleeping bag kept me warm the whole night and I woke up in the morning with the new feeling of sleeping on the ice in Antarctica, something not many people have done so far.

This was the first time I was camping on snow and ice and it was a really magnificent experience. The shower and breakfast after we came back to the boat was also highly appreciated.

What a surreal day! Our second landing on the Antarctic continent is at Charcot Bay. A beautiful bay where we climb up a small hill. Beautiful sunshine, blue sky, a see without any waves and an incredible view all around. Sitting on the ridge we have another session annex workshop as part of our program “Leadership on the Edge”…And this edge is to be taken litterally this time. In the middle of this workshop, all of a sudden a cracking noise. Is it an avalanche? No, it is the breaking of an iceberg….the iceberg which is close to our ship and has at least twice the size of our ship! What a spectacular view! It never became dangerous for us or for the ship, except for some strong waves, but the event really gave all of us chicken skin. After class, back to the Zodiacs. Not in a normal way, however, but gliding down the snowy hill on our backs, backpack to the front, and off we went, about 50 meters downwards. What a thrill. Then in the afternoon, back on the ship, on our way to the camping site for tonight, we were pleasantly surprised with the presence of a pod of Orca’s, the killer whales. Even for the crew this was an usual happening, as they as well hurried out to the deck with their camarea’s to “catch” these creatures. We are lucky and blessed with the weather and the wildlife that we get to see. Let’s hope it will stay like this for another week. But, for tonight, camping night for half the team, a snowstorm is expcted….