Deception Island
2026-03-07 - Reading time: 14 minutes
Deception Island is an active volcano, with a caldera that is accessible by boat. And happens to double as a good anchorage.
It was also used as a whale oil processing facility and later a research base.
But first we had to get there.
Ladybird's AeroRig
Ladybird (the boat we are on) has a unique mast/boom situation called an AeroRig. Here you can see part of the description of its benefits and how to use it.
Simply put, the head sail has a "front boom" which it attaches to and then the main and head sails rotate together. There are also no stays (wires attaching the top of the mast to the edges of the boat) so it can rotate in a much wider set of angles than normal sailing boats.
This makes it much easier to sail and is a really intriguing concept. So far we've a few hours of sailing and it seems to work very well with a few minor downsides. But this isn't a sailing blog so I won't go into them.
One cool thing is that the mast and both booms are made from carbon fiber to give it the strenghth it needs given it's height and un-supported nature.
Internet in Antarctica
Due to the magic of Starlink, we have good internet everywhere in Antarctica. These were some of the worst speeds I saw during the trip, but this was just the first test I did.
It's definitely a mixed bag having internet while doing a trip like this. It absolutely takes away from the "I'm in the middle of nowhere" mystique, but the practical benefits for weather forecasts, safety, travel coordination etc overcome that intangible in my mind.
Then there's all the other benefits of staying in touch with loved ones, entertainment, and some normalcy in otherwise very un-normal situations.
Dinner while underway
Here I wanted to capture what mealtimes were like on the boat. Everyone cozily nestled into the cockpit together, enjoying some of chef's amazing meals. Here was some kind of thick meat cutlets and large carrot pieces.
Arriving at Deception Island
We arrived sometime around midnight and grabbed some snapshots of the area around us.
Obligatory Selfie
Underway
A normal day traveling: someone on watch, while others read, study, or work on this blog.
View while underway
Mountains like this are everywhere all the time. Incredibly beautiful and too numerous to count. I don't think they come through great from the camera, but I tried to capture some of the truly awe inspiring ones in the photos and days to come.
First contact
We paused on the outside edge of Deception to get our first look at the penguins. Unfortunately, this colony had an outbreak of avian flu, so we weren't allowed to land or get too close, so we took the dingy over for some drive-bys.
We'll see a lot more penguins though, and much more close and personal, so I'm not going to share anymore here yet.
First contact 2
We can't fit everyone in the dingy at once, so here's round 2 of the dingy drive-by's.
Going ashore and sleeping seal
Later, we actually anchored inside the caldera (see the map at the top of this post) and then actually went ashore (no big penguin colonies with avian flu here).
There were several ruins from previous whaling activities and research bases present and you'll see some pictures of those later.
Admiring a sleeping seal. Probably a Fir or maybe a Weddel seal?
Tada!
Nikki being silly, I forget why she was posing. "Tada, here's the beach" I think.
Thar she blows
Mike showing some of the sad whale bones on display. Bad whalers, very bad whalers. Cath and I like to talk about how we'll be able to talk to whales someday with the power of AI.
I suspect the conversations will be difficult because of the lack of shared foundational conceptual structure, but that will make things more interesting rather than less.
Old boats
I think they they used these for carrying water from the shore to the larger whaling vessels.
Whale vertebrae
Happy Steve
Hiking up the first hill.
Crazy volcanic structures
Pictures along the edge
Tougy rocking her balaclava. We were all jealous of how she was able to pull off the look.
The MH Way
Mike is an experienced mountaineer and loved taking us towards whatever small bit of adventure we could find (but kept us out of the dangerous bits as well). Here with some very clever cropping I was able to make it look more dramatic.
The climbing crew
We lost a few going up to this second ridge, and my "appropriately sized day pack" came in handy as a tripod for the camera.
Views along the ridge
Looking back at some of the previous hills we had climbed.
Some different angles/viewpoints
To the snow line!
We decided to cut back across and up the larger ridge line to see how high we could make it. Tougy in particular was leading the way, and Chef was our safety/experienced mountaineering guide. Though at one point he mentioned that he had never made it this far and that we were all "virgins" together.
The ground cover turned into a fine gravel that had a really satisfying texture to walk across. It was like a sandy beach mountain, but with a crispy crust.
And finally off
As a nice cherry on top of a good hike, the clouds decided to part right as we finally made it down the mountain.
Tanks
Only slightly spoiling the view is the fact that these tanks were used to store whale oil many years ago.
"Making my way downtown..."
Big tanks
Some history if you want to read about it
My mug
We labeled mugs on the boat use across the entire trip. Jason Wynn (having the best handwriting) was put in charge of labeling and picked "Jason #1" for himself. So rather than being "Jason #2" I asked to adopt my new nickname that Steve had given me. Increasing the stickage factor.
One thing I learned this trip: apparently this "you get a nickname that sticks with you when you start new in field X" happens in long trail hiking. For example, when doing the Pacific Coastal Trail (PCT), you adopt a trail name that sticks with you for the whole trail.
