Adventurer To Sail To Antarctica Then Ski to Vinson

Adventurer To Sail To Antarctica Then Ski to Vinson

Photo of author
By: Kraig Becker
Updated:
3

cherbroug2
Now this is a really cool adventure story brought to us once again by ExWeb. It’s the tail of Tommy Eriksson from Sweden who has spent the past five years turning a 32-foot sailboat into his own personal icebreaker with the intent of sailing to Antarctica where he will eventually don skis and make his way to Mt. Vinson, which he’ll of course climb.

Eriksson set out from Sweden a few weeks back and is currently in Brest, France. His plan is to sail along the European coastline to the Cannery Islands at which point he’ll take a right and zip across the Atlantic to Brazil. Continuing down the South American coast, to Cape Horn, he’ll then take the Drake Passage to Antarctica itself.

Once on the continent, he’ll then kite-ski to Vinson, the tallest peak in Antarctica, and begin his climb. If everything goes according to schedule, he hopes to summit in January of next year.

Eriksson bought the 32-foot vessel, named the named Bölja III (or Wave III) several years back and began his conversion process, which included reinforcing the hull, installing bullet proof windows, and a fresh coat of paint. The ship was then christened as the SY Icebreaker before his departure. At the time, he didn’t even know how to sail, so part of the past five years has been spent learning that all important skill.

Now, Tommy has set out on quite an adventure, and it’ll be an epic journey before he even arrives in the Antarctic. This should be another fun expedition to follow.

Kraig Becker
Latest posts by Kraig Becker (see all)

3 thoughts on “Adventurer To Sail To Antarctica Then Ski to Vinson”

  1. I don’t know that I’d describe it as a “fun expedition”, but it’ll be fascinating to watch.

    Your post reminded me about David Lewis, a New Zealander, who was one of the great solo ocean-going yachtsman of the 20th century. In 1972/73 he sailed solo from Sydney to Antarctica, making landfall at the US Palmer Antarctic station, then onto Cape Town. Along the way he survived three capsizes in the Southern Ocean. He wrote an epic account of this voyage – Ice Bird.

Comments are closed.