Team South dip the Bransfield Tartan in the Bransfield Strait

The story behind the Bransfield Tartan

The idea for this commemorative Tartan came about when Jim Wilson, chairman of the Remembering Edward Bransfield committee, gave a lecture on Edward Bransfield to a group travelling to the Antarctic peninsula while sailing on the Bransfield Strait.
One of those attending, Gael Mueller from California, is a keen weaver and came up with the idea of designing a tartan specifically to commemorate the achievements of Edward Bransfield and the 200th anniversary of him leading the first expedition to see and chart the Antarctic mainland.
When she returned home to California from the Antarctic she immediately started designing the tartan, incorporating the colours she saw on the Antarctic peninsula. Getting a tartan accepted by the Scottish Registry of Tartans is no easy task but Gael persisted and was successful.
She has already hand woven a small number of these scarfs and is currently in discussions with a weaving company here in Ireland and hopes to produce a limited run of these commemorative scarfs and is already thinking of doing a series on Irish polar explorers.

Learn more about Edward Bransfield : www.rememberingedwardbransfield.ie

Penguin Rescue, Humpback Bubble Netting and Night Sailing

Quixote given a brilliant catch up on 3 days of the adventures the team are having, by crew member David Rider.

After witnessing a Gentoo drop into a deep crevice and not reappear, a rescue team of Niall, Lucy, Helen and Bassem went gently ashore resdue the little guy.

Humpbacks have not been in short supply with Bubble Netting and krill fishing on the surface, giving plenty of fluke photo opportunities for the “Happy Whale Project“.

Head over to Quixote Expeditions read more on their blog here.

Penguins at Charcot by Damian Foxall

Wow Wow Wow

A personal note from Niall MacAllister from Day 1 arriving at the Melchior Islands in Antarctica …

“We arrived and wow wow wow. Just like something you would never see.”

“We are tucked up in a super little sheltered cove completely surrounded by snow and ice, its incredible and it makes me want to ski. We had a bit of tight maneuvering to get in as the entrance was blocked by huge ice bergs that were grounded – Damian is fairly handy with the wheel ! I took the guests for a zodiac ride and it was incredible to be among the ice bergs and watch glaciers calving.”

“We saw huge Weddle seals, Gentoo penguins and Chinstrap penguins -both in the water and up on the ice. Cameras went crazy and as always happens when you see something incredible, my camera battery ran out!”

Niall MacAllister 6 December 2020

Pictures will come in a couple of weeks 🙂

Commemorating Edward Bransfield Tarten Travels

Niall MacAllister, Team South First Mate and Jim Wilson,
chairman of the Remembering Edward Bransfield Committee

Niall MacAllister met up with Jim in his home in Cove last week to collect the “Remembering Edward Bransfield” hand woven scarf to bring to Antartica on Team South’s expedition this winter.

This is first scarf off the loom and extremely precious to Jim, so we are honored to bring on board Ocean Tramp.

The story of the creation of the weave is incredible and inspired by the personal experiences and inspired by the very colours of Antarctica.

You can read up on the fantastic story of weaver Gael Mueller HERE.