The Vinson of Antarctica wrapped up her deep south season on February 18th 2023 upon the completion of our science support role on Zavodovski Island in the South Sandwich Island chain.This slideshow is of Skip's second voyage to the South Sandwich, having been there on Pelagic Australis in January 2020. On that occasion we had a multi-faceted science and film team managing to land on four of these remote islands, all with difficult landings. The one we could not land on at all was Zavodovski, the most northern of the group and which is a veritable fortress with no viable beaches to land on and only one weakness in the fringing cliff face, identified by Jerome Poncet on Damien II, decades ago. On that occasion it was too rough to even contemplate a landing and Dr. Tom Hart from Oxford Univeristy managed to do four drone flights from the vessel, to census the entire colony of penguins – quite a feat! But more information was needed, hence a return this January 2023.

From the underside of the globe as we see it in our atlases, Inversion, is a 43 minute video of a 4 week expedition to Antarctica led by Everest mountaineer Stephen Venables on board Skip Novak's Pelagic Australis. Peaks climbed included 10,000 feet Mt Francais, Mount Scott and other ski randonnee forays in the awesome beauty of a snowbound Antarctic Peninsula. Extensive drone footage shows the challenges of navigating the ice pack and the beauty of the anchorages. The final part of the video covers the Chilean Navy's celebrations of 400th anniversary of the naming of Cape Horn.

Video slide show of the Pelagic Expeditions Alternative Shackleton Traverse of South Georgia led by Everest Mountaineer Stephen Venables and sailing to climb expert Skip Novak in September 2022. Photos are copyright and by kind permission of members of the team.

A unique adventure in August September 2014, led by Skip Novak and Stephen Venables, which sailed from Stanley FI to South Georgia on board Pelagic Australis to attempt the winter climbing of peaks in South Georgia. After being frustrated by weather in the Salvesen Range the team eventually summited the three Trident peaks before returning after nearly 4 weeks to the Falklands. This story brings a whole new meaning to the concept of "Frostbite" sailing! For more on this story see http://www.pelagic.co.uk/pagesnews/news_023.asp

Highlights of Pelagic Australis in Antarctica during 2016/17 Season