The weekend began with a long-awaited test of the wind and kite-surf equipment out on the Beagle Channel.

Troy Henkels led our trio of expedition team members on his kite-board, followed by former Belgian windsurfing champion Dixie Dansercoer and lifelong windsurfing fanatic Pieterjan Kempynck. Dixie commented after the thrilling afternoon: “I have never windsurfed so far south before and I admit that the kick of this first day out on the water is intense. Still, we had a humbling learning experience. While the kite board seemed to skim effortlessly over the water’s surface, our windsurf keels kept catching the copious amounts of seaweed of the Beagle Channel - which would literally stop us in our path. The art of it all is to slalom between the not so apparent patches of seaweed tentacles.

Our biggest success of this first run was the equipment test of our drysuits, gloves, and other cold water surf material. We will have colder and harsher conditions in Antarctica, but so far so good. For the windsurfers, the gloves remain to be a clumsy affair, but we will continue to adapt and test before any attempt in Antarctica.” The In the Wake of the Belgica Expedition is proud to incorporate the surf element in its broad myriad of activities. The ability to explore the waters of our fragile planet, with only the power of the wind, enables our team to effectively promote its slogan, “Explore to Protect.”

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