After 3 nights anchored in the Pitt Islands archipelago, we raise the anchor on Friday, January 19th to reach Armstrong Reef anchorage, 40 miles to the south. The sailing is done with the engine assisted by the genoa with reduced visibility forcing us to be extra vigilant to avoid icebergs. The island is rocky and relatively flat, without crevasses or glaciers, we stroll while slaloming between aggressive skua nests, giant petrels, and colonies of Adélie penguins. The young penguins grow quickly and it is amusing to observe their growth at each stop, their first sea bath will soon come and they will then need to be lucky not to serve as a meal for leopard seals.
We leave on Sunday for the Watkins Islands, 40 miles further south to wait for a good weather window to reach Marguerite Bay. On January 23rd, 140 miles separate us from Lagoon Island, the weather is favorable with a northwest wind at 15 knots and allows us to sail most of the way. We therefore cross the Antarctic Circle (66°33) under heavy snowflakes, almost 5 years after the Arctic Circle during our circumnavigation of Spitsbergen. The still permanent day at these latitudes facilitates navigation and it is therefore a real chance that we can reach Marguerite Bay in January, thanks to the mild ice conditions! During the night the wind weakens and the more numerous growlers force us to turn on the engine, we pass at 4 in the morning, under a timid sun, Avian Island, where Jérôme and Sally Poncet wintered in 1978 with their Damien II, then reach Lagoon Island anchorage for breakfast. The elephant seal colonies welcome us noisily, the adult males fiercely defending their harem against the attentions of others, an amusing sound spectacle!
We plan to stay about fifteen days in Marguerite Bay before slowly heading back up along the peninsula by taking the Gullet passage if it has cleared of ice.