We remain anchored between Florence Island and Hovegaard for a small week, well sheltered from the announced gust. The walks around are easy, and the nearby Pleneau site presents a diverse fauna that is now familiar to us. Nina and Diane are proud to recognize the different kinds of penguins, seabirds, and seals we encounter.
We then spend 3 nights in the middle of the Dannebrog archipelago and then the Vedel Islands. The beautiful days melt the ice and allow us to easily refill our freshwater supplies. The summer "plankton boom" has also made the seawater less clear in recent days.
Saturday, January 13, the weather is favorable for reaching the Ukrainian Vernadsky base via Petermann Island for lunch. We anchor for a few hours at Port Circoncision, the site of Commander Charcot's second wintering in 1909 with his ship the Pourquoi-Pas. The island is also notable for the coexistence of Gentoo and Adélie penguins. We arrive at Vernadsky in the late afternoon and meet the French sailboat Podorange, which we had crossed paths with in the Falklands. We are warmly invited to the station for the evening—it's Orthodox New Year! Vodka is flowing freely, and the girls are celebrating; the twelve occupants of the station haven't seen their families in almost 10 months...
The next day, the base's sauna is opened to us, and after about fifteen minutes at 110 degrees, we cool off under a magnificent blue sky by diving into a sea dotted with icebergs! We couldn't dream of anything better after more than a month in Antarctica.
The latest ice charts are favorable for our descent toward Marguerite Bay, our goal. Yesterday, we finally traveled the 30 miles separating us from the Pitt Islands archipelago by motor, where we plan to stay for a few days before taking the Grandidier Channel and getting closer to the Antarctic Circle!