Peter Kinsella's Antarctic Voyage Diary
Sunday 21st January 2001, Bluff, New Zealand ( 46° 35.8' S 168° 20.6' E )
We were welcomed aboard by Captain Peter Golikov and his crew. The Captain is recognised as the most experienced and respected Ice Breaker Captain in the world. We were extremely lucky to have him. Amongst other experiences, during the 80's (Cold War) he was Captain of the Kapitan Khlebnikov and was often requested by the Russian Navy to break ice in very remote places in the Arctic. This was to allow the Russian submarines returning from spying on the USA Navy ports to surface for communication and stores. The Kapitan Khlebnikov is one of the most powerful icebreakers in the world . An icebreaker is the only type of ship you don’t call "she", it’s referred to as "he".
We left "Bluff" New Zealand about 1pm and headed straight into a Southern Ocean Gale Force 8 storm with a 40 knot westerly blowing. The ship was "pitching" (rolling) up to 35/40 degrees both ways, so unfortunately this stopped us from having the "Captains Welcome Cocktails and Dinner" . It was not until a further 4 nights that we could have the party in safety and comfort. We were heading for our first stop at Auckland Island about 120 nautical miles south of Stewart island and were to arrive there about noon on Monday 22nd, however during the night whilst we were all sleeping (or trying to as we were sliding up and down the bunk) a passenger Mr Kidd) fell in his cabin and split his skull open. A couple of others had fallen after dinner, however they weren't as serious as this guy. So during the night the doctors advised the Expedition Leader (Verner Stambach) we couldn't continue further south since there would be no way of getting this guy off the ship to a hospital if his condition deteriorated. When you're in the Southern Ocean heading south you are completely relying on the resources on the ship. Nobody can get to you to help!!! So we turned around and returned to the calmer waters inside Stewart Island, so that a helicopter from the mainland (NZ) could came evacuate him and his wife. When we woke on Monday morning we thought we had the back of the rough trip behind us, however we found that we had lost 12 hours and in fact were only 2 hours out of NZ and were now not going to Auckland Island but would go to Campbell Island instead. This would help us pick up the time we lost. You get to understand after a while that everything can only be planned and success is entirely up to the weather, ice and many other spontaneous constraints.
The sea remained rough all through the day and the captain regularly changed course and speed to minimise the roll .