Tag Archives: Antarctica

Granddaughter of Byrd Expedition’s Chief Engineer Joins ExploringCircle’s Cruise to Antarctica to Follow his Footsteps

Marjorie Adams plans to join ExploringCircle’s cruise to Antarctica so she can follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, Walter Kerr Queen, who served as Chief Engineer on one of Admiral Byrd's two ships that explored the frozen continent.
Marjorie Adams plans to join ExploringCircle’s cruise to Antarctica so she can follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, Walter Kerr Queen, who served as Chief Engineer on one of Admiral Byrd’s two ships that explored the frozen continent.

SEATTLE, WA – The lure of the Poles is legendary. Especially the South Pole. Consider Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s third expedition between 1914 and 1916 that left his ship, Endurance, crushed by ice and his men reduced to tossing about in lifeboats on a stormy sea. Consider Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, Jr., who visited the Arctic and Antarctica. Most recently Henry Worsley, a well-connected Brit on a solo land crossing of Antarctica died in this pursuit in January.

But in stark contrast to the arduous challenges and dangers of those early explorations, today’s expedition ships that probe the allure of Antarctica are appointed for cruise travelers and offer organized on-and off-ship activities.  And on one Antarctica cruise in 2016, a granddaughter of the Chief Engineer of the SS Jacob Ruppert, one of Byrd’s two ships from the 1933-1934 expedition, will visit the frozen continent. She will be traveling with Seattle-based environmental crusader ExploringCircle, a new company that combines a long adventure travel legacy with a strong sense of purpose.

“I feel that by doing this it can give my grandfather, Walter Kerr Queen, a voice,” says Marjorie Adams. “He was in the company of much better-known names. But he is the person who made sure this steamship’s engine didn’t break down.”

antarctica-explorcircle-QueenQueen had made his mark and money by designing improved expansion joints for industrial steam systems, a venture begun in his garage in Needham, MA. Eventually his work was known to Byrd who personally called upon Queen to accompany his second expedition to Antarctica. Queen, who was a Lieutenant Commander in the US Naval Reserve in World War I, was assigned to SS Jacob Ruppert, a steel vessel. The other, USS Bear, a wooden vessel, would over-winter. The premise was that if disaster struck, the wooden ship might not sink but most certainly the steel vessel would. Now available in paperback through Amazon is Discovery: The story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (Admiral Byrd Classics).

“The family story is that my grandfather wanted to travel as far north as he did south, after returning in 1934,” adds Adams. In 1937 her grandfather traveled on a Hudson Bay Company supply ship, SS Nascopie, into the eastern Arctic. She took a similar trip in 2009, traveling with a niece north to Elsmere Island.

“My niece and I were chatting about where we might like to go on vacation. My niece turned Grandpa’s words around: ‘I’d like to go as far south as I’ve been north.’”

So Adams and her niece are booked on Antarctica Peninsula: Last Discovered Continent, a 12-day adventure that begins and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina after coming and going through Drake Passage to reach the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula and the Antarctic Continent.

Guests tour the region through the icebergs by Zodiak and kayak and have the option also to camp. They are on M/V Sea Spirit, a classic luxury expedition ship that boasts spacious suites, two restaurants, an open-bridge policy and an elevator. The Sea Spirit’s stabilizer fins will help to make the crossing comfortable. This journey is available from November through February at a per person double rate starting at $5,995. For more information on this trip please see http://www.exploringcircle.com/antarctica-peninsula-1

With decades of experience leading Antarctica travel and helping adventurers realize their polar dreams, ExploringCircle specializes in helping clients arrange the Antarctica cruise that is the right fit for each client. Details on other cruises of this region are available at http://www.exploringcircle.com/antarctica-travel. Some of these cruises offer savings of up to $4,000 on select cabin bookings on specified itineraries.

Before they travel, Adams and her niece, as with all of ExploringCircle guests, will be invited to examine ExploringCircle’s six related environmental causes, choosing one to which to pledge their support. This conversation is vital to the company’s mission. By talking about, for example, plastic detritus in oceans, young and old alike while on a cruise can wrap their minds around threats to ocean waters and to marine and wildlife. ExploringCircle in turn Pays-it-Forward by donating up to five percent of client fee to the environmental cause chosen.

“We listen to our guests and use decades of experience to help them realize their travel dreams. In doing so, we fund hope,” says Kristy Royce, founder.  “Leave No Trace Behind is no longer enough.”

Founded in August 2015 but with a legacy that spans over two decades, ExploringCircle (http://www.exploringcircle.com/) is a new company with a diverse adventure travel history and a strong sense of purpose. ExploringCircle sends travelers on journeys of discovery and adventure and then donates up to 5 percent of the trip’s cost to organizations working to make Earth a better place. ExploringCircle combines the joy of travel with a social consciousness built upon three primary principles: To send people on amazing trips / To engage people around important environmental and social issues / To direct funds to groups actively working on those causes.

Water, the Elixir of Life, is ExploringCircle’s first Pay it Forward theme. Issues include clean water and sanitation, plastics in water, vanishing ice and sea level rise. These causes will lead ExploringCircle guests to Alaska, Amazon, Antarctica, Arctic, Baja, Galapagos Islands, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands, Peru and Central America.

For reservations and information visit www.exploringcircle.com, email [email protected] or call 800.201.8074. Follow ExploringCircle on Social Media:  www.facebook.com/ExploringCircle and www.pinterest.com/exploringcircle.

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Natural Habitat Adventures Introduces Charter Flights, Making Antarctica Sailing Expedition More Accessible

NatHab-Antarctica

BOULDER, CO– Natural Habitat Adventures, a leading nature travel company, has just introduced a new opportunity for guests to fly to and from the White Continent on its Antarctica Sailing Expedition—The Ultimate Polar Nature Adventure (http://www.nathab.com/expeditions/arctic-antarctica/antarctica-expedition/) on chartered flights, included in the program price.

“Choosing to fly both ways by chartered plane allows guests to save time,” said Ben Bressler, founder and president of Nat Hab. The option bypasses the voyage across Drake Passage, a journey that typically takes three days in seas that are notorious for frequent gales.

The new “fly both ways” itinerary will debut with the Dec. 12, 2016, departure from Punta Arenas, Chile. Two additional round-trip flight itineraries have been added for 2017. The 12- to 17-day adventure (depending on itinerary chosen) also offers departures that fly one way across Drake Passage and sail the reverse. Guests aboard all departures will explore the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the 75-foot polar expedition sailboat Australis.

Flights land at King George Island in the South Shetland group where guests will board the ice-strengthened sailing vessel to begin an exclusive polar nature adventure. Each departure accommodates just seven guests on this unique-to-Nat Hab vessel that offers a taste of how legendary expeditioners encountered Antarctica. The per-person rate is from $22,995. In addition to the expedition cruise and flight, pre- and post-voyage hotel accommodations are also included.

NatHab-Antarctica shipS/V Australis is a modern sailboat that’s a seasoned veteran of polar waters, with state-of-the-art navigation and safety equipment. A crow’s nest with ladder access offers 360-views and fantastic wildlife viewing. Guests are hosted by Nat Hab’s naturalist Expedition Leader and crew members, who provide hearty and tasty meals throughout the journey.

The nimble dimensions of the 75-foot Australis allow exploration of remote coves, narrow passages and isolated beaches that larger ships can’t access. And in contrast to the typical ship-based Antarctica voyages that generally spend four to seven days making shore excursions on the Antarctic Peninsula, this itinerary calls for eight to 12 shore adventures (depending on weather and sea conditions), several of which are exclusive to this vessel.

While some ships offer a single night’s camping on the ice at an additional cost, Nat Hab holds special permits from the National Science Foundation that allow its guests to spend up to six nights camping ashore (weather permitting, included in the voyage price) in remote locations frequented only by penguins and seals, rather than ship-based crowds. Guests also enjoy intimate kayak outings and extended hikes to view whales, seals, penguins, a multitude of seabirds and astounding icebergs at close range. The company employs the best and most up-to-date equipment available, including top-quality safety and survival gear, tents, kayaks and camping equipment.

NatHab-Antarctica3The skipper of the S/V Australis, Ben Wallis, has an impressive maritime resume. On or around boats since before he could walk, he sailed at age 16 in the prestigious Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sparking his interest in Southern Ocean sailing. In 1997 at age 18, he began crewing on yachts in Antarctica alongside his father, a seasoned skipper in polar waters. He worked his way up to skippering the S/V Australis, operating in both Arctic and Antarctic polar regions for approximately eight months each year. He holds multiple certifications for offshore safety and sea survival training and guides a crew that is also exceedingly experienced in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters.

For more information see http://www.nathab.com/expeditions/arctic-antarctica/antarctica-expedition/

For information on all of Nat Hab’s trips, descriptive itineraries, date availability and reservations, call 800.543.8917 or visit www.nathab.com. Click HERE to order a copy of the 2016 catalog.

Natural Habitat Adventures is a world leader in responsible adventure travel and nature-based ecotourism. Since its founding in 1985, the company has offered eco-conscious expeditions and wildlife-focused small-group tours to the planet’s most remarkable nature destinations. Inspired and created from years of scouring the planet for the singular and extraordinary, Nat Hab’s itineraries are artfully crafted experiences that are far from “typical.” Trips are guided by professional naturalist Expedition Leaders, and Nat Hab enjoys a longstanding reputation for hiring some of the world’s best guides. Conservation is at the forefront of everything NHA does, and its philosophy is simple: tourism must work with and benefit local communities, which will in turn find value in protecting natural resources and wildlife. NHA is proud to be the travel partner of World Wildlife Fund, sharing a mutual commitment to travel as a means of helping to protect the world’s wondrous natural places.

 

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