Antarctica

[sorvju-f]

Well done Jukka.
You have done a great job with this thread, it is a must read for anyone going to Antartica.

Some great pics, like how you made the anenomes look very intresting, I will have to stop ignoring them when I dive at home from now on ;)

Thanks Ken

Thanks Ken!

By composition you can make rather common things to look nice in picture. We don't have them in Finland so they always get my attention.

Jukka

[brumpy]

Hi guys!

After the Antarctica trip i been to Egypt and Turky so i do not had allot of time to visit this fantastic forum!

And wow what a trip report! nice work

The pictures from Jukka and Jonathan are awesome and thanks to upload them so we all can enjoy this again!

My video you can find on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/underwatermovieman in 2 parts

And Piere if you like you can always come to get a copy here @ my house :-)

[sorvju-f]

Hi guys!

After the Antarctica trip i been to Egypt and Turky so i do not had allot of time to visit this fantastic forum!

And wow what a trip report! nice work

The pictures from Jukka and Jonathan are awesome and thanks to upload them so we all can enjoy this again!

My video you can find on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/underwatermovieman in 2 parts

And Piere if you like you can always come to get a copy here @ my house :-)


Nice to hear from you! Hope everything is OK with you...looks like you are not resting a lot:D

Jukka

[sorvju-f]

I got a report by mail from Michael from our unforgetable dive in Ushuaia. Micheal to me looks like artist of the words so here I have copied his words:

Diving with the Dukes of Hazard in South America

Plan your dive and dive your plan! This is a phrase that is familiar to scuba divers worldwide – EXCEPT in Argentina! In Argentina, at least on this particular day, one could be more accurate in using the phrase, “plan your dive, strap yourself in, don’t talk, sneak into a foreign national park, pray your boat is seaworthy, look over your shoulder, prepare an amphibious escape plan, keep the crew from adjusting your equipment, check that your air is turned on, keep one eye on your dive buddy and one on the crew, check your air again, remind the crew that you’ll need to be picked up in 45 minutes at THE SAME SPOT where you entered, turn your air on again, dive your plan and then get the hell out of there!”

Having just returned from scuba diving in the Antarctic and headed back to the northern hemisphere Jukka Sorvisto and I decided to take advantage of a two day layover in Ushuaia, Argentina and dive the Beagle Channel. Relatively speaking, what could be easier than doing a local boat dive in a protected waterway with just two divers? Considering we had just returned from an expedition to the polar region where we braved rough seas and zero temperature water, where on a daily basis 20 divers competed for weight belts and prime seating on three zodiacs, we thought that diving the Beagle Channel would provide a simple and relaxing experience.

We were absolutely wrong! Over the course of six hours I became convinced that we met the 21st Century version of the Three Stooges, had two brushes with death and broke several local laws. We also provided a brief tutorial on the history and development of tank valves all the while our dive operators ignored every boating and diving safety protocol known to any dive agency, harbor master or sane individual for that matter.

It all began on a Thursday morning. Jukka and I were determined to get into the water in Argentina to add yet another country to our global checklist of countries where we had dived. We were scheduled to fly Friday evening so the only opportunity to get into the water had to be that day or afternoon at the latest. Our hotel clerk called two dive operations. The first was unable to accommodate us and the second could take us out at 3:00pm. At this point I believed in the term “dive operation.”

At 3:01 I had my first doubts. After playing phone tag on our mobile phones for 25 minutes we were provided an address to meet – that address turned out to be a filling station. We arrived at the filing station and noticed a gentleman sitting in an SUV with scuba gear piled into the back of the vehicle. We made eye contact with the gentleman where then he opened the truck door and introduced himself in Spanish. He proceeded to open the SUV hatch triggering an aluminum tank to fall and crash to the pavement with a loud clang. He smiled at us with his lonely tooth and said in broken English “you dive, you dive?”

Jukka and I were determined to dive that day so we jumped into the SUV with our gear. I immediately became concerned beacsue the ocean was behind us and we were driving towards the mountains. I thought, “Oh ****” what did we just do? This guy was a complete stranger to us, we were in Argentina, there was a language barrier and we were driving not towards but away from the ocean. I imagined the 20 second report on CNN, “An American and Finish man disappeared in Argentina today. The two men were aboard a Russian boat returning from Antarctica when the two men decided to stop in Argentina to go scuba diving. The State Department is looking into it.” In other news…


Thirty minutes later we arrived in a neighborhood reminiscent of a slum that you may be accustomed to seeing in Central America with dogs and children runny aimlessly throughout the streets and yards. I grabbed my dive knife.

We arrived at a small home where I saw a zodiac in the yard. The zodiac was no more than 15 feet long and was only partially inflated. I thought this had to be a coincidence and our dive boat was being prepared at a marina. Our driver stopped the SUV, exited the vehicle and walked towards the zodiac. He reached into the zodiac and pulled out a rusty old tank with a j valve and smiled –
“you dive, you dive?” WTF?!

For the sake of ease in writing this entry I will refer to our dive guide as TW standing for toothless wonder.

Jukka and I tried to explain that we needed a DIN valve set up or at a minimum some DIN adaptors if we had to use a yoke set up. By the way where do you keep the tanks I asked? What do you know – silly me, there were no tanks.

So back into the car and into town we went. Perhaps there was a perfectly logical reasoning for this situation. I thought again, maybe in Argentina divers bring their own tanks to dive and also to save us time we bypassed the scuba shop to get to the marina more quickly. I was being too generous and when I returned from fantasy land I had to stop myself from saying, “hey TW, when people sign up for a dive trip it usually includes tanks and weights, and oh ya one more thing – A FRIGGIN BOAT!”

Thirty minutes later we were at a sporting goods store looking for tanks. Five guys were yelling at each other in Spanish and TW was looking for a compressor because every tank there appeared to be empty. TW emerged from a back closet and one of his buddies was carrying a small air compressor. I saw Jukka’s smile turning to disgust or perhaps it was fear as he gulped.

As the five guys were tried to figure out how to run the compressor Jukka and I concluded that we were only going to do one dive that afternoon. We rifled through 20 tanks with our gauges to find only two tanks filled with air. We grabbed the tanks and put them into the truck and finally we were off again - presumably to a marina.

In another 30 minutes and we were back at TW’s house. My god, back here again and this time he had two male friends to help us out. ****, I thought now Jukka and I are outnumbered! Perhaps we would be alright as there was no way five of us were getting into that zodiac. Wrong again!

The three guys dragged the zodiac onto the trailer and hitched the trailer to the SUV. Again we were on the road but this time speeding along a mountainside on what appeared to be a single lane road. Miraculously the road became two lanes courtesy of TW when another car approached from the opposite direction. TW simply accelerated, turned the wheel and presto we were on two wheels with plenty of room to spare. Jukka’s face turned white losing all expression and his grip on the seat belts turned his knuckles as white as his face. I wasn’t doing to well in the back seat either as I was wishing I had my dry suit pee valve attached and pointed out the window.



I saw a gate and checkpoint ahead – this better not be Chile I thought to myself. TW turns to Jukka and me and says, “don’t talk, don’t talk.” TW slowed the vehicle, came to a stop and began talking to the man at the gate. They exchanged a few phrases in Spanish as TW handed him some pesos. After the exchange TW pulled the vehicle away, smiled and raised four fingers and in a celebratory way says quarto pesos! Jukka smiles then says in his best English, “Thish iz a state park and would have cost ush fiftee pesos eef he knew we were not from Argentina.”

It was apparent that I had been dreaming for a positive outcome but it was clear now that there wasn’t going to be a dive shop nor was there going to be a marina. We were trapped with three hacks that needed some cash and had absolutely no clue what a certification card or liability waiver even looked liked.

We arrived at a clearing that provided access to the Beagle Channel. Clearly there was a doc but no ramp or entry that could be seen. Silly me, TW and the other two stooges were going to make their own ramp and make it in real time. Of course the stooges didn’t recall the phenomena of that thing that happens when a body of water meets the land. Yes, wet, soft, sand. Usually vehicles can get stuck in this stuff and the two vehicles traveling with us did just that.

Jukka and I had no clue where we were and if something happened to us we were never going to be seen again so we concluded let’s go diving! Jukka and I geared up while TW and the stooges tried to get their two vehicles of off the beach.

After watching the stooges make several attempts to get the vehicle off the beach I approached TW and asked for his keys. The boy from Boston knew how to get a vehicle out of snow and was sure as hell going to get the SUV off the beach so that we could dive and that is exactly what I did. I three the key back at TW and said lets go. The three of them laughed and got into the zodiac.

After Jukka and I boarded the zodiac we motored into the channel. Within minute the three stooges were at it again; each of them pointing to a different location and simultaneously shouting each trying to out shout the other, one with his shoe laces stuck under the gas tank, another holding onto his hat trying to see through the splashing waves and the third clinging to the bow as if his life depended on it.

Finally, Jukka stood up, pointed out into the channel and as if General Washington crossing the Delaware says, “Bring uz to the mighty Kelp forrescht, yes we want to see the Kelp forrescht.” Kelp forest it was!

At 7:30 the sun began to set as we reached our destination.

Jukka entered the water as I got my last piece of gear on. I checked my regulars and was ready to dive. I leaned forward to grab my mask and one of the guys reaches behind my head and began to turn the tank valve. I raised my voice in anger and disgust and yelled “Are you guys trying to kill us out here?” Get away from us! The idiot had turned my air off! I took off my BC rechecked my equipment, turned the air on again and asked all three stooges to stay away from our equipment.

As I was ready to enter the water I heard, “Mikel my shoot eez flooded, my shoot eez flooded but I will dooo theee dive. We musht dooo theee dive to see the mighty kelp forrescht. I have to see the kelp forrescht.”

So Jukka and I did the dive and it turned out to be quit good; fifty feet for 40 minutes, we photographed some nice macros and a navigated through a beautiful kelp forest!

And yes, when we ended our dive the stooges where off fishing in a cove clueless to the duty to watch for us. We whistled to get their attention and they steered the zodiac back towards us for the last time.

On the way back to shore Jukka reached into his dry bag, smiled and pulled out some beer and jokingly said, “Mikel these are deco beers.” We did not share with the crew.

Six hours after we had began preparing for our dive we arrived back in town. So at 9:00pm Jukka and I were happy to have survived this adventure. The group we were traveling with also enjoyed our adventure as we retold the story accompanied with a shot and a beer.

Michael and Jukka

[Neptune7]

Hi guys!

After the Antarctica trip i been to Egypt and Turky so i do not had allot of time to visit this fantastic forum!

And wow what a trip report! nice work

The pictures from Jukka and Jonathan are awesome and thanks to upload them so we all can enjoy this again!

My video you can find on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/underwatermovieman in 2 parts

And Piere if you like you can always come to get a copy here @ my house :-)

Hi Bruno,

Egypt and Turkey? Hum!
Tell us more about Turkey. Where? What? Who? or maybe you want me to go Belgium to see some footage but with all your travel (someone told me that you were heading to Lembeh in a month) it's hard to be there at the same moment. I should be in Paris early july. What about you?

Pierre

[scubagirl]

Great report, Michael! It's a good thing your adventure turned out all right in the end. Thanks for posting it Jukka!

I got a report by mail from Michael from our unforgetable dive in Ushuaia. Micheal to me looks like artist of the words so here I have copied his words:

Diving with the Dukes of Hazard in South America

Plan your dive and dive your plan! This is a phrase that is familiar to scuba divers worldwide – EXCEPT in Argentina! In Argentina, at least on this particular day, one could be more accurate in using the phrase, “plan your dive, strap yourself in, don’t talk, sneak into a foreign national park, pray your boat is seaworthy, look over your shoulder, prepare an amphibious escape plan, keep the crew from adjusting your equipment, check that your air is turned on, keep one eye on your dive buddy and one on the crew, check your air again, remind the crew that you’ll need to be picked up in 45 minutes at THE SAME SPOT where you entered, turn your air on again, dive your plan and then get the hell out of there!”

Having just returned from scuba diving in the Antarctic and headed back to the northern hemisphere Jukka Sorvisto and I decided to take advantage of a two day layover in Ushuaia, Argentina and dive the Beagle Channel. Relatively speaking, what could be easier than doing a local boat dive in a protected waterway with just two divers? Considering we had just returned from an expedition to the polar region where we braved rough seas and zero temperature water, where on a daily basis 20 divers competed for weight belts and prime seating on three zodiacs, we thought that diving the Beagle Channel would provide a simple and relaxing experience.

We were absolutely wrong! Over the course of six hours I became convinced that we met the 21st Century version of the Three Stooges, had two brushes with death and broke several local laws. We also provided a brief tutorial on the history and development of tank valves all the while our dive operators ignored every boating and diving safety protocol known to any dive agency, harbor master or sane individual for that matter.

It all began on a Thursday morning. Jukka and I were determined to get into the water in Argentina to add yet another country to our global checklist of countries where we had dived. We were scheduled to fly Friday evening so the only opportunity to get into the water had to be that day or afternoon at the latest. Our hotel clerk called two dive operations. The first was unable to accommodate us and the second could take us out at 3:00pm. At this point I believed in the term “dive operation.”

At 3:01 I had my first doubts. After playing phone tag on our mobile phones for 25 minutes we were provided an address to meet – that address turned out to be a filling station. We arrived at the filing station and noticed a gentleman sitting in an SUV with scuba gear piled into the back of the vehicle. We made eye contact with the gentleman where then he opened the truck door and introduced himself in Spanish. He proceeded to open the SUV hatch triggering an aluminum tank to fall and crash to the pavement with a loud clang. He smiled at us with his lonely tooth and said in broken English “you dive, you dive?”

Jukka and I were determined to dive that day so we jumped into the SUV with our gear. I immediately became concerned beacsue the ocean was behind us and we were driving towards the mountains. I thought, “Oh ****” what did we just do? This guy was a complete stranger to us, we were in Argentina, there was a language barrier and we were driving not towards but away from the ocean. I imagined the 20 second report on CNN, “An American and Finish man disappeared in Argentina today. The two men were aboard a Russian boat returning from Antarctica when the two men decided to stop in Argentina to go scuba diving. The State Department is looking into it.” In other news…


Thirty minutes later we arrived in a neighborhood reminiscent of a slum that you may be accustomed to seeing in Central America with dogs and children runny aimlessly throughout the streets and yards. I grabbed my dive knife.

We arrived at a small home where I saw a zodiac in the yard. The zodiac was no more than 15 feet long and was only partially inflated. I thought this had to be a coincidence and our dive boat was being prepared at a marina. Our driver stopped the SUV, exited the vehicle and walked towards the zodiac. He reached into the zodiac and pulled out a rusty old tank with a j valve and smiled –
“you dive, you dive?” WTF?!

For the sake of ease in writing this entry I will refer to our dive guide as TW standing for toothless wonder.

Jukka and I tried to explain that we needed a DIN valve set up or at a minimum some DIN adaptors if we had to use a yoke set up. By the way where do you keep the tanks I asked? What do you know – silly me, there were no tanks.

So back into the car and into town we went. Perhaps there was a perfectly logical reasoning for this situation. I thought again, maybe in Argentina divers bring their own tanks to dive and also to save us time we bypassed the scuba shop to get to the marina more quickly. I was being too generous and when I returned from fantasy land I had to stop myself from saying, “hey TW, when people sign up for a dive trip it usually includes tanks and weights, and oh ya one more thing – A FRIGGIN BOAT!”

Thirty minutes later we were at a sporting goods store looking for tanks. Five guys were yelling at each other in Spanish and TW was looking for a compressor because every tank there appeared to be empty. TW emerged from a back closet and one of his buddies was carrying a small air compressor. I saw Jukka’s smile turning to disgust or perhaps it was fear as he gulped.

As the five guys were tried to figure out how to run the compressor Jukka and I concluded that we were only going to do one dive that afternoon. We rifled through 20 tanks with our gauges to find only two tanks filled with air. We grabbed the tanks and put them into the truck and finally we were off again - presumably to a marina.

In another 30 minutes and we were back at TW’s house. My god, back here again and this time he had two male friends to help us out. ****, I thought now Jukka and I are outnumbered! Perhaps we would be alright as there was no way five of us were getting into that zodiac. Wrong again!

The three guys dragged the zodiac onto the trailer and hitched the trailer to the SUV. Again we were on the road but this time speeding along a mountainside on what appeared to be a single lane road. Miraculously the road became two lanes courtesy of TW when another car approached from the opposite direction. TW simply accelerated, turned the wheel and presto we were on two wheels with plenty of room to spare. Jukka’s face turned white losing all expression and his grip on the seat belts turned his knuckles as white as his face. I wasn’t doing to well in the back seat either as I was wishing I had my dry suit pee valve attached and pointed out the window.



I saw a gate and checkpoint ahead – this better not be Chile I thought to myself. TW turns to Jukka and me and says, “don’t talk, don’t talk.” TW slowed the vehicle, came to a stop and began talking to the man at the gate. They exchanged a few phrases in Spanish as TW handed him some pesos. After the exchange TW pulled the vehicle away, smiled and raised four fingers and in a celebratory way says quarto pesos! Jukka smiles then says in his best English, “Thish iz a state park and would have cost ush fiftee pesos eef he knew we were not from Argentina.”

It was apparent that I had been dreaming for a positive outcome but it was clear now that there wasn’t going to be a dive shop nor was there going to be a marina. We were trapped with three hacks that needed some cash and had absolutely no clue what a certification card or liability waiver even looked liked.

We arrived at a clearing that provided access to the Beagle Channel. Clearly there was a doc but no ramp or entry that could be seen. Silly me, TW and the other two stooges were going to make their own ramp and make it in real time. Of course the stooges didn’t recall the phenomena of that thing that happens when a body of water meets the land. Yes, wet, soft, sand. Usually vehicles can get stuck in this stuff and the two vehicles traveling with us did just that.

Jukka and I had no clue where we were and if something happened to us we were never going to be seen again so we concluded let’s go diving! Jukka and I geared up while TW and the stooges tried to get their two vehicles of off the beach.

After watching the stooges make several attempts to get the vehicle off the beach I approached TW and asked for his keys. The boy from Boston knew how to get a vehicle out of snow and was sure as hell going to get the SUV off the beach so that we could dive and that is exactly what I did. I three the key back at TW and said lets go. The three of them laughed and got into the zodiac.

After Jukka and I boarded the zodiac we motored into the channel. Within minute the three stooges were at it again; each of them pointing to a different location and simultaneously shouting each trying to out shout the other, one with his shoe laces stuck under the gas tank, another holding onto his hat trying to see through the splashing waves and the third clinging to the bow as if his life depended on it.

Finally, Jukka stood up, pointed out into the channel and as if General Washington crossing the Delaware says, “Bring uz to the mighty Kelp forrescht, yes we want to see the Kelp forrescht.” Kelp forest it was!

At 7:30 the sun began to set as we reached our destination.

Jukka entered the water as I got my last piece of gear on. I checked my regulars and was ready to dive. I leaned forward to grab my mask and one of the guys reaches behind my head and began to turn the tank valve. I raised my voice in anger and disgust and yelled “Are you guys trying to kill us out here?” Get away from us! The idiot had turned my air off! I took off my BC rechecked my equipment, turned the air on again and asked all three stooges to stay away from our equipment.

As I was ready to enter the water I heard, “Mikel my shoot eez flooded, my shoot eez flooded but I will dooo theee dive. We musht dooo theee dive to see the mighty kelp forrescht. I have to see the kelp forrescht.”

So Jukka and I did the dive and it turned out to be quit good; fifty feet for 40 minutes, we photographed some nice macros and a navigated through a beautiful kelp forest!

And yes, when we ended our dive the stooges where off fishing in a cove clueless to the duty to watch for us. We whistled to get their attention and they steered the zodiac back towards us for the last time.

On the way back to shore Jukka reached into his dry bag, smiled and pulled out some beer and jokingly said, “Mikel these are deco beers.” We did not share with the crew.

Six hours after we had began preparing for our dive we arrived back in town. So at 9:00pm Jukka and I were happy to have survived this adventure. The group we were traveling with also enjoyed our adventure as we retold the story accompanied with a shot and a beer.

Michael and Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

Hilarious!! I love it! :D

[Andrew]

That is one of the funniest things I have read in ages, thanks Jukka for posting it. I am just glad that it worked out OK!

Andrew

[Michael LaFayette]

Thanks for posting Yukka. I had trouble yesterday with my laptop so I'm glad we could get the story out. Looking forward to getting together for the reunion. Jonathan, thanks for the envelope!

[Kelly]

Michael & Jukka, great report & hilarious read!! Thanks for posting it! ;) :eek:

[solisti]

Have you guys ordered your "I survived Ushuaia" t-shirts yet? Well written story, I'm glad you survived! :eek:

[Jonathan Bird]

Looking forward to getting together for the reunion.

When is the reunion? I'll have the Blue World Antarctica segment done in a couple weeks. It's going to be a whole show.

Jonathan

[Michael LaFayette]

How about Saturday May 16? We can host cocktails and dinner and then we can do a Premier in our theatre. What do you think?

[Jonathan Bird]

It's my sister-in-law's big 40th on the 16th. I would be shot dead if I missed it. 17th?????? :D

[Jonathan Bird]

Well, I've been editing like a mad man on the Antarctica segment for Blue World. I was thinking that it would be 2 segments--a short segment on Ushuaia and a long one on Antarctica, but there is just too much stuff, so we are going to break with tradition and do a whole program on one trip (a segment on Ushuaia and the whole rest of the show on Antarctica--the equivalent of two segments.)

I had 13 tapes to go through and capture. That took a week. Then I spent about a week rough cutting the story based on the best shots and the flow of the trip. Then I wrote the script around what I edited. (This backwards editing technique is often handy when the story is more a function of the images and the thing was not shot to a pre-written script or storyboard.) I have just finished narrating, and so now I just need to do some sound work and put in some music. It's pretty good, actually!

I wanted to do some fancy graphics for this one. I usually use cylindrical projection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_cylindrical_projection) maps from NASA for my graphics, which is fine when you are talking about areas not near the poles. But as you probably know, these maps become very distorted at the poles, showing Antarctica as a strip across the bottom of the map, rather than a continent. That wouldn't work.

Since I couldn't find a good map of Antarctica, I decided to make my own 3D map by mapping a NASA cylindrical projection onto a sphere in a 3D modeling program, then animating it to create a neat 3D map. Since I'm no 3D modeler, it took me a couple days to figure it all out and get a good looking render in HD. I'm pretty happy with the result.

So my graphics, narration and editing are done. Just need another day or two for finishing touches and I'll have something to show at the Antarctica post-party. The rest of you will have to wait until season 2, or until you see me again!

[sorvju-f]

Well, I've been editing like a mad man on the Antarctica segment for Blue World. I was thinking that it would be 2 segments--a short segment on Ushuaia and a long one on Antarctica, but there is just too much stuff, so we are going to break with tradition and do a whole program on one trip (a segment on Ushuaia and the whole rest of the show on Antarctica--the equivalent of two segments.)

I had 13 tapes to go through and capture. That took a week. Then I spent about a week rough cutting the story based on the best shots and the flow of the trip. Then I wrote the script around what I edited. (This backwards editing technique is often handy when the story is more a function of the images and the thing was not shot to a pre-written script or storyboard.) I have just finished narrating, and so now I just need to do some sound work and put in some music. It's pretty good, actually!

I wanted to do some fancy graphics for this one. I usually use cylindrical projection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_cylindrical_projection) maps from NASA for my graphics, which is fine when you are talking about areas not near the poles. But as you probably know, these maps become very distorted at the poles, showing Antarctica as a strip across the bottom of the map, rather than a continent. That wouldn't work.

Since I couldn't find a good map of Antarctica, I decided to make my own 3D map by mapping a NASA cylindrical projection onto a sphere in a 3D modeling program, then animating it to create a neat 3D map. Since I'm no 3D modeler, it took me a couple days to figure it all out and get a good looking render in HD. I'm pretty happy with the result.

So my graphics, narration and editing are done. Just need another day or two for finishing touches and I'll have something to show at the Antarctica post-party. The rest of you will have to wait until season 2, or until you see me again!

These mapping projects gives good perspective to videos. Some new still cameras have satellite locator...which tells later on which part of wold picture has been taken.

There is lot of "side"-business" in doing videos and I think hat I will wait that somebody will sell them. Some new thing to learn can take not days...weeks or even months.

Jonathan it is nice to hear that you are happy yourself to result you have gotten...must be great.

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

Hey Gang,
We had a great time on Saturday night over at Michael's house when he threw a big party for the Antarctica gang. It's too bad the European contingent didn't show up--it was worth the flight. We called Jukka so he could say hi but I can't imagine what time of day it was for him....must have been the middle of the night!

We started with drinks the Orca Lounge (Michael's person dive shop/garage which is the only dive shop I've been in where the bar is well stocked). He and his wife Heather have a wonderful house on the ocean with incredible views. They whipped up an Antarctica cake, complete with a scale model of the Aleksey Marychev floating in the middle! Julia brought 6 bottles of Doña Paula Malbec, Michael and Heather served delicious steak (and lobster but I don't eat my friends). A great time was had by all.

Thanks for the great party Michael and Heather!

Jonathan

Pics: The cake, my wife Christine on the balcony and the gang around the table!

[sorvju-f]

Hey Gang,
We had a great time on Saturday night over at Michael's house when he threw a big party for the Antarctica gang. It's too bad the European contingent didn't show up--it was worth the flight. We called Jukka so he could say hi but I can't imagine what time of day it was for him....must have been the middle of the night!

We started with drinks the Orca Lounge (Michael's person dive shop/garage which is the only dive shop I've been in where the bar is well stocked). He and his wife Heather have a wonderful house on the ocean with incredible views. They whipped up an Antarctica cake, complete with a scale model of the Aleksey Marychev floating in the middle! Julia brought 6 bottles of Doña Paula Malbec, Michael and Heather served delicious steak (and lobster but I don't eat my friends). A great time was had by all.

Thanks for the great party Michael and Heather!

Jonathan

Pics: The cake, my wife Christine on the balcony and the gang around the table!

What a beautiful sea-view!

I love the cake...looks real.

I just wonder how many boxes of malbec Julian brought from Argentina:D ...now I start to undestand Jonathans excess fees during way back:D

The dive shop sounds also worth of visit:D

I feel it is marvellous when somebody had energy to bring back the spirit of our adventure!

( the time in Finland was 2 am )

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

Jukka,
Jules found a local source for the Doña Paula! Sorry we woke you up!!

Jonathan

[sorvju-f]

Jukka,
Jules found a local source for the Doña Paula! Sorry we woke you up!!

Jonathan

I quess it...but why not to export it after we have given to it prize as second best Argentinian wine and best in relation between quality and price.

Michael warned me earlier about coming call so I was ready to take it 2 am;)

Jukka

[sorvju-f]

I know Jonathan is soon giving presentation of the Antarctica trip...here are some memories from there:

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/kuvat/Antarctica%2024.2-14.3.2009%20part%202/Antarktis%203%20A29%20WM%20800.jpg/full

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/kuvat/Antarctica%2024.2-14.3.2009%20part%202/Antarktis%203%20A24%20WM%20800.jpg/full

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/kuvat/Antarctica%2024.2-14.3.2009%20part%202/Antarktis%203%20A22%20WM%20800.jpg/full

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/kuvat/Antarctica%2024.2-14.3.2009%20part%202/Antarktis%203%20A37%20WM%20800.jpg/full

Wish you success with your presentation

Jukka

[sorvju-f]

Here is one more from Antarctica:

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/kuvat/Antarctica%2024.2-14.3.2009%20part%202/Antarctica%20sunset%20WM%20800.jpg/full

Jukka

[tkelly]

Great shots. I really like the seal shot and the iceberg/wave shot. As usual great work Jukka.

[Jonathan Bird]

I remember that sunset. It was gorgeous. Jukka and I were both shooting it, running back and forth from the sunny side of the boat to get the sun dipping down, to the other side, to shoot the light against the ice. It was one of those magical moments of perfect light that you never forget.

Jonathan

[sorvju-f]

I am updating old files...now it is ready...video from our Antarctica adventure!

It is 16 minutes long so it will take time to load and watch.

Anyhow if you are not in hurry have a look:

http://sorvjuf.1g.fi/Antarctica%202009%20WEB.mov

Jukka

[solisti]

Beautiful video. Well worth waiting to download!

[sorvju-f]

Beautiful video. Well worth waiting to download!

Thanks Solisti!

This is little bit strange that videos is getting so few comments even the work to do them is multi times bigger than pictures. Actually the best comments are from the things you can do better...then there is some learning curve.

Unfortunately this is indicating to me that there is no idea to post them any more.

Jukka

[dascubanut]

Hi Jukka,

I missed this when you posted it, I just downloaded and watched it and all I can say is WOW!! You really did a great job showing the beauty of Antarctica. Thanks.

Doug

[Andrew]

Hey Jukka,

For some reason I never saw the post of this either otherwise you would have known that I would have commented! Great video and music selections are great at keeping the interest as they go with what is on the screen. The one that I thought was strange to me was at the beginning when you were leaving the harbour past the seals on the rocks... it reminded me of Scottish music so I expected you to be sailing into the North sea or maybe even something from Titanic! :eek:

More underwater would have been nice, the formations of those icebergs are amazing, also the seals (leopard?) at the end were great the way they fly around, it is a shame they did not go on for longer as I could have watched them for another 5 minutes.

One question, there were bubbles on the outside (I assume) of your dome port on quite a few shots and especially at the end. Was this due to the cold as I have not seen this before in your other videos?

All in all, very professional... when is this going to be aired on Finnish TV?

Andrew

[sorvju-f]

Great to get some feedback! Thanks Doug and Andrew.

Was it difficult to get loaded

For some reason I never saw the post of this either otherwise you would have known that I would have commented! Great video and music selections are great at keeping the interest as they go with what is on the screen. The one that I thought was strange to me was at the beginning when you were leaving the harbour past the seals on the rocks... it reminded me of Scottish music so I expected you to be sailing into the North sea or maybe even something from Titanic! :eek:

I feel that when the video is raising feelings/memories it is anyhow partly doing it's work.

The first day leaving Ushuaia my video set fell down when in tripod and external LCD was broken and something else also...so it was real fight to get any video material during the trip.

More underwater would have been nice, the formations of those icebergs are amazing, also the seals (leopard?) at the end were great the way they fly around, it is a shame they did not go on for longer as I could have watched them for another 5 minutes.

Topside the seals were furseals and UW leopard seal.

When we were diving with leopard seal I was first wrong side of iceberg and
got only short shooting from it. Totally you understand that I had 7 dives there and one was just check dive. To try to make both stills and video with that amount of dives for sure is limiting material you are able to get.

One question, there were bubbles on the outside (I assume) of your dome port on quite a few shots and especially at the end. Was this due to the cold as I have not seen this before in your other videos?

Close to icebergs those particles were like clue...cleaning dome all the time...

Also in some points you might see scratch...came in too full loaded zodiacs

All in all, very professional... when is this going to be aired on Finnish TV?

The first thing came to my mind...after Antarctica have melted;)

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

I didn't see it until now...been traveling! Will download and watch soon!

[David White]

Nicely done, Jukka. Good sense of pacing and some stunning topside visuals. The audio sets the tone well although the track from 2001: A Space Odyssey really belongs to that film. Shame about the scratch on the dome port and the damage to the camera. The landscapes are impressive yet Antarctica will not likely ever become a vacation "hotspot". I can empathize with you about all the work that is involved with producing a video and then have very few people comment on the production. Still, it is good to know that your memories are readily available whenever you choose to view the video.

[sorvju-f]

Nicely done, Jukka. Good sense of pacing and some stunning topside visuals. The audio sets the tone well although the track from 2001: A Space Odyssey really belongs to that film. Shame about the scratch on the dome port and the damage to the camera. The landscapes are impressive yet Antarctica will not likely ever become a vacation "hotspot". I can empathize with you about all the work that is involved with producing a video and then have very few people comment on the production. Still, it is good to know that your memories are readily available whenever you choose to view the video.

Thanks David!

I remember your Micronesia trip so I have to be happy that I got something even with the scratch.

Maybe it is the same situation with the audience of video than editing of video compared to editing of picture..question of time...to look one picture takes seconds and that way much easier. If you load and look 15 minutes video versus couple of seconds to view a picture...maybe this is one explanation.

Maybe there is other explanations also.

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

Hey Jukka,
GREAT!!!!!!!!!! Man, it brought back so many memories! Now I want to go back!!!!

(For a guy with a busted camera, you did pretty damned well!!)

Jonathan

[scubagirl]

I finally watched your video, Jukka, and I think it's great! I particularly enjoyed the penguin segment.

Natalie

[sorvju-f]

Thanks Natalie and Jonathan... I just have to wait until FCP have scratch removing tool like LR;) .

Jukka

[tarczy]

'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic.

Thought this time-lapse photography was wicked cooool! Takes 3 minutes to view.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017

[sorvju-f]

'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic.

Thought this time-lapse photography was wicked cooool! Takes 3 minutes to view.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017


Mark you were little bit late...Todd added this here one week ago:p

Todd's threat:

http://www.uwphotochat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1048

Anyhow not a problem...I can look that 2 times:eek:

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

It is an amazing sequence. Masterfully shot and edited.