"There is little difference between the sailor of the 1890s and of now," says Jarrell.

Jarrell is among a crew of 14 working with massive sails 12 stories above pitching seas to experience a ship not of luxury, but of tradition.

Tall ships are characterized by their wood structures, steel hulls, canvas sails, ropes, and ten-mile-long (16-kilometer-long) rigging.

Built in 1911, the square-rigged Europa is a contemporary of the Endurance that carried Ernest Shackelton on his harrowing Antarctic adventure. "Wind ships were once mankind's most vital vehicles—the far-ranging satellites of the age of discovery," Jarrell says.

Many seafarers recognize Shackelton's 1,500-mile (2,400-kilometer) route around Cape Horn to Antarctica as the "ultimate sea passage."

		No longer a nautical necessity, the compass is still used by Europa navigators for orientation in Antarctic waters. Photograph courtesy of Todd Jarrell

Time Machine

"It's a bit of time travel," Jarrell says. The crew will tend the ship like old-time sailors, maintaining a lookout for icebergs and squalls 24 hours a day.

According to Jarrell, Europa will follow in the footsteps of great explorers, traveling through a route that traces the legacy of geographic explorers and ships that geographically, politically, and scientifically helped define the modern world: Strait of Magellan, Drake's Passage, and Beagle Channel, named after the ship on which Darwin sailed to the Galápagos.

"It is very rare for a big sailing ship to go this far south anymore," says Jarrell. Europa is the only tall ship sailing to Antarctica this year, he says.

What's it like to explore the ocean on a century-old sailing ship?

"There's a great freedom in the ocean and you could sail anywhere, but you do it within the confines of the ship, the same people, and within the strict regiment of work," says Jarrell. "It's a paradox."

Climbing 12-story masts, Europa crew members prepare to unfurl the ship's sails.   Photograph courtesy of Todd Jarrell

Ocean Ordeal

Sailing in the "Screaming Sixties"—the high latitudes surrounding Antarctica—is no easy feat, as shrieking winds, battering storms, and waves that tower over the ship are not unusual, he says.

The crew must be prepared to battle the elements, however extreme. When a storm approaches—sometimes in a matter of minutes—crew members must scramble up the masts, pack the sails, then secure them. "The work is very difficult and sometimes hazardous," says Jarrell.

"The ship needs us everyday," says Jarrell. "There are no weekends."

Days are defined by events such as whale sightings, severe storms, or indulging in chocolate cake—not by alarm clocks and appointments, he says. "Each day is as different as it is the same."

Each crew member must stand two rigorous watches each 24 hours—one six-hour day shift and one 4-hour shift at night. Meals are taken between shifts. "Working in the middle of the night and during the day—it's like having two days in one," says Jarrell.

"Time telescopes in subtle and unexpected ways. It simply rolls by the rail…hours evaporate, carried away with each passing wave…days dissolve into the fluid blue," he says.