HMS Endurance Kayak Team Blog

5th February
Had a 9 hour 40 minutes flight to Ascension which was a little bumpy but nothing too much to worry about. On the plane are Mark Jameson, Matt Twistleton, Steve Paris-Hunter and Coach, Mike Devlin.

After a not uncommon delay at Ascension Island we finally arrived at HMS Endurance’s Falklands berth, Mare harbour at 04:00 hrs. We’re in the company of the ships new joiners, BBC South crew Sally Taylor and cameraman Kevin, and a number of BAS (British Antarctic Survey) people. By the time we had found our rooms and shifted the considerable amount of kit we had, we decided we may as well stay up and start prepping the boats. Most of the day consisted of sourcing new nuts and bolts for the boats to improve on some of our designs that had not been previously trialled. The team managed to meet up on mass for the first time at 17:00 once everyone had completed their various ships duties. The 2nd hurdle of the expedition, the current ship’s MET gossip for the day, James Ross Island is iced in and impassable…

7th February
It’s now 19:30 and the boats are almost done, the compasses are in place and so are most of our adaptations except the last of Mike Devlin’s cunning safety devices. Most of the team have now adorned their boats with the logos of the charities we are raising money for and those of our expedition sponsors. We have been trying to get more ice distribution data and come up with a plan for dealing with what might be some very difficult conditions.

As with any large expedition we are at the mercy of outside influences. At the moment we are at the mercy of Endurance’s plans. We might need to fit in our move to Base camp with the needs of the BAS and BBC teams for minimal impact. Looking forward to hitting the waves tomorrow..

8th February
It is 17:30 and we have just returned from our first outing as a team, a short paddle to Berthas Beach. Though the distance was short it still provided its own challenges due to steady 35kt winds with gusts to 45 or 50kts. It was great for us to get out on the water even though we had to leave behind Mike, Mark and Steve as they were finishing outstanding work. The paddle out was exhilarating with some surfing down breaking waves though keeping the kayak in a straight line proved difficult for us all at times as the waves would often try to broach the kayaks making them unstable.

After spending some time on Berthas beach we returned to the ship, this time paddling into the wind. This situation provided its own challenges but ultimately it was very rewarding to get back to the ship. Our group motivation is high as we have lots of adrenaline between us! After all the hours of planning and talking, we had finally got together and paddled together. Words cannot express the simple pleasure of being afloat on the sea in a kayak…

As we work up to increasing our daily mileage, our plan is to now paddle to Stanley before the ship sails to the Antarctic.

11th February
First day of our extended paddle before we leave with Endurance for Antarctica. The weather was great. Winds were light and the sun was out all afternoon.

Arrived at Port Fitszroy at 18:01. It took us a little short of 6 hours and we covered about 17 miles.

Everybody fed by 20:00 and all are well.

12th February
Its 19:24 local in position 51 46.94S 058 11.41W, adjacent to Tussock Island East Falklands, with gale force winds continuing to blow from the north. We have not gone far today but the distance we have gone has been a struggle. After a slow start to the day, rising at 0630 we carried our kayaks a ¾ of a mile to the northern side of Fitzroy settlement. After several trips we had transferred all of our kit back into our kayaks. We paddled approximately 1 mile to the east before starting our crossing to Bluff Cove. By this point it was obvious that the paddling would not be as easy as the previous day especially as we rounded Tussock Island to be confronted by the full force of then northerly winds. As we started to cross it was obvious that only paddling at 100% would we make any head way. However with our slow progress it would take in excess of 2 hours to complete the crossing. We therefore decided to turn back and head for some shelter. At this point Mark (BV) capsized and due to the kelp was unable to roll. We therefore had a swimmer! We quickly recovered BV to his boat. However, made for the nearest shore where we landed and made a shelter using the kayaks. After a quick weather check with the ship we decided that we would stay put and wait for the winds to drop. We made camp for the night and settled down with some food and a dry warm sleeping bag.

What a day! Not much distance covered but plenty of good and not so good experiences. Everyone learnt a lot and now with BV's front hatch fixed using a dry bag we are looking forward to pressing on to Stanley tomorrow. Everything seems just fine.