Antarctic Adventure Expeditions on a Tall Ship
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Antarctic Expeditions on a Tall Ship
Classic Sailing offer the unique opportunity to visit the Antarctic Peninsula on a tall ship where you are the guest crew setting the sails and steering the ship. This active adventure keeps you warm working on deck so you see more wildlife, and the teamwork required to sail a square rigger in the Southern Ocean brings the whole ships company closer together than on a large expedition ship.
You become part of a very small group of adventurers and wildlife enthusiasts able to explore this pristine wilderness in a style akin to the great polar explorers.
No experience is needed to travel with us and people from all walks of life sign up for the adventure. Three masted barque Europa has made Antarctica, South Georgia and the Southern Ocean her regular sailing ground every Southern Hemisphere Summer for many years and all her professional crew are well used to introducing novice sailors to this amazing wildlife sanctuary. The summer climate is cold but dry.
NEW Season Bark Europa Antarctic Voyage Dates 2012-2013
There are a few places left on the epic 5500 mile Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and South Georgia expedition this winter March - April 2012. The voyage explores the more remote eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula and then the follows Shackleton's heroic 800 mile crossing in an open boat to find rescue amongst the whalers of South Georgia.
The 2012-13 dates are NOW OPEN FOR BOOKING. Europa's Antarctic Sailing and Wildlife Expeditions attract a lot of interest amongst seasonal travellers, experienced sailors and eagle eyed sailing novices looking for real adventure. As soon as the dates places fill up very quickly.
NEW DESTINATION Chilean Fjords & Antarctica
The first voyage next Antarctic Season will start in Punta Arenas in Chile, rather than Ushuaia. This creates an opportunity to explore a bit of the Chilean Fjords and the Magellan Straits before heading accross the Drakes Passage. If you are combining the voyage with travels in South America then this places you closer to Torres del Paine Mountains and the impressive Fitzroy ranges.
22 Day Antarctic Peninsula Expeditions
"The Antarctic Peninsula is truly a vast unspoilt wilderness, teaming in curious wildlife, dazzling glaciers and snowfields, vertical cliffs and ice capped mountains where humans still have yet to tread."
There are many islands with towering rocky pinnacles too steep to catch snow, wide straits where Bark Europa can set square sails for a blast in the frequent strong winds and flat seas, and narrow channels between glaciers tumbling into the sea and mountain ranges dusted with the most tempting and unreachable powder snow in the world. Working outdoors as active crew on a 1912 three masted sailing ship – your body soon acclimatises to the summer temperatures, and you feel much closer to nature and gain a better understanding of the harsh but beautiful landscape.
Travel for 22 day acion packed voyages that start with albatrosses and petrels amongst the giant rollers of the Southern Ocean, crosses the Drakes Passage south of Cape Horn, passes giant icebergs and discovers whales almost on a daily basis. Once amongst the islands, fjords and wide straits along the edge of the Antarctic mainland the seas are free from ocean swell – sheltered by high mountains. the climate is one of the driest on earth and often crystal clear and sunny. Prepare to be ‘blown away’ by the wildlife. You will be escorted into every anchorage by fleets of penguins and acrobatic fur seals.
The voyage starts in Ushuaia, Argentina and Bark Europa’s professional crew will introduce you to the ship and do as much training as possible before you sail down the sheltered Beagle Channel with impressive views of the snow capped Andes mountains snow. Once you are out of the lee of Tierra del Fuego coastline the ship enters the Drakes Passage – that notorious 480 mile stretch of sea between Cape Horn and the mountain ranges of the Antarctica Peninsula - where the uninterrupted Westerlies can create some of the most impressive waves in the world but between weather systems can often be eerily calm. One moment you may have all square sails set, and then your watch is called to help shorten sail in rapidly increasing squalls. The brave join the ships crew aloft to stow sails. The wiser may leave the climb until a sunnier day amongst the islands.
Plentiful Wildlife
What is guaranteed is that you will be accompanied by many types of albatross, cape petrels, white chinned petrels and tiny Wilson’s storm petrels – soaring low over the waves and circling the ship. Europa’s wildlife guide will help you identify these impressive birds of the Southern Ocean. The sea temperature dips as you cross the Antarctic Convergence Zone and the likelihood of seeing icebergs increases and lookout duty becomes both a joy and a worry. Fortunately between 59 and 61 degrees latitude south the summer nights are short and the adrenalin of looking for looming white bergs keeps most lookouts warmer ! As the seas around Antarctica are rich in krill sightings of Humpback Whales, Fin Whales, Sperm Whales, Orcas and Commaren’s Dolphins are all likely possibilities.>>Read more on the amazing wildlife, icebergs & Antarctic offshore islands
>>Step on the Antarctic Mainland - in the wake of the polar explorers
>>BUY "Cold: Sailing to Antarctica" - a photographic book of Bark Europa's adventures
52 Day Expedition Cape Horn to Cape of Good Hope
If you can spare 7 weeks on a sailing holiday to totally change your life then this Antarctic voyage has everything - even warm weather ocean sailing at the end. Sail from Ushuaia in Patagonia past Cape Horn and accross the stormy Drakes Passage. Explore the Antarctic Peninisula, South Sheltland and the less visited Weddell Sea before following in Shackletons wake from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Explore this mountainous island for 7-8 days before setting off for Tristan Da Cuhna and Cape Town.
Brochures to Print or Download
All our pages are print friendly but if you want a brochure to print and read in front of a roaring fire or e mail to a friend then these should help.
PDF Brochure Europa Antarctic Season & Vessel Details for 2012 (less than 1MB)
PDF Brochure Europa - Centennial Expedition Voyage 2011-12 Summary (less than 1 MB)
PDF Brochure Europa - 22 day expeditions to Antarctic Peninsula 2012 (less than 1 MB)
PDF Brochure Europa - 52 day Cape to Cape Expedition 2012 (less than 1 MB)
Other Cheaper Wildlife & Sailing Expeditions you might enjoy
Azores whale and dolphin watching on Bessie Ellen March & April 2012
8-11 day Arctic Sailing Expeditions in Spitsbergen on Barquentine Antigua 2012
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