Shaima Hylas 63video
Shaima Antarctic Expedition 2026 - Summary Video
13 April 2026 · 18 min · 494 views
What this video covers
The Hylas 63 *Shaima* completed an Antarctic Peninsula expedition in January 2026, departing Ushuaia on January 6th with a crew of seven: owner, Mark Essel, his son Patrick, nephew Santos, first mate Guillaume, Malou, and ice pilot Radek.0:40 The 5,000-mile southbound delivery preceded the voyage; permitting and crew assembly took years.0:19 Crossing the Drake Passage took four days south and five days north; the crew encountered headwinds and 12–15 hours of strong winds each way, confirming that a low crosses the Drake roughly every three days, making a storm-free transit effectively impossible over a five-day crossing.14:09 Stops included Half Moon Bay and Yankee Harbor in the South Shetlands, Deception Island, Mickelson Bay, Enterprise Island, Gerlach Strait, the Lemaire Strait, and the Vernadsky Ukrainian base as the southernmost point reached.1:33 Port Lockroy brought two days of snowstorms and *Shaima* covered in snow.4:39 Wildlife highlights included hundreds of humpback whales, orcas, multiple penguin rookeries observed during chick-rearing season, and leopard seals aggressive enough to attack inflatables left in the water.10:17 The practical lesson from both Drake crossings: plan for at least one storm each way and treat the second low as unavoidable.5:49
Boats in this video
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