Antarctic Oasis: Under the Spell of South Georgia

by Pauline Carr, Tim Carr

An account of one couple's life on a remote island beyond the Polar Front, a tale to rival the exploits of the great nineteenth-century explorers. After twenty-five years of cruising the world's oceans, renowned blue-water sailors Pauline and Tim Carr found themselves being drawn to the lonely places of the higher latitudes to experience earth's last, scarcely touched regions. Antarctic Oasis records the culmination of those exploits. True adventurers, the Carrs have lived year-round on South Georgia for five years―its only civilian inhabitants―experiencing a way of life that has all but vanished from our modern world.

A center of the Norwegian whaling industry in the last century, today a remnant of the far-flung British Empire, South Georgia is a splendid if forbidding land of towering, glacier-clad mountains and a treacherous, storm-torn coast punctuated by sheltered bays. During its brief polar summer, the island's verdant shoreline offers Antarctic wildlife a place to feed, mate, and rear their young. The only humans on the scene, the Carrs have learned intimate details about the lives of whales, penguins, seals, albatrosses, skuas, and many others.

In all seasons the Carrs explore South Georgia's uncompromising coast aboard their yacht Curlew . Their deep fascination with the island, its wildlife, and its history will stir the spirit of adventure and discovery in us all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1998

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living on a sail boat for a year while exploring South Georgia Island in the Antarctic. I liked the descriptions, photos and the real life experiments this couple had. I felt under a spell while reading it.

[Karl]

Unbelievably gorgeous, gorgeous photos.

[Kate]

Mentioned by Gavin Francis in Empire Antarctica

[Ann]

Wonderful story about two great adventurous sailors discovering and living on South Georgia

[Dlmrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+