Tim and Pauline Carr

Antarctic Oasis

Under the Spell of South Georgia

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.


Tim and Pauline Carr and Curlew, their 100-year-old, 28-foot wooden cutter, comprise the world's most celebrated blue-water sailing team. The Carrs have lived aboard Curlew—which has no engine, no radio transmitter, and no electrical system—for thirty years, crisscrossing the world's oceans. The couple has received the highest accolades for seamanship from cruising clubs the world over.
Antarctic Oasis book jacket


1998 / hardcover / ISBN 0-393-04605-2 / 10" x 11" / 100 full-color photographs, 2 color maps / 256 pages / Sailing/Nature
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