A Sussex woman is the only female in a team of British servicemen who have completed the first stage of their voyage to Antarctica.

The 72ft steel-hulled yacht John Laing arrived at Deception Island, 100 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula, nearly a week after sailing from the Falkland Islands into notorious Drake's Passage.

The British Army Antarctic Expedition yacht was serenaded into the bay at Deception Island by a trio of humpback whales circling the boat and snorting jets of water into the air.

After sheltering from a storm in the horseshoe-shaped island, the 16-strong team, including 2nd Lt Sarah Piesse, 23, from Robertsbridge, was today due to continue for another 24 hours to reach the peninsula.

There, a group will ski and climb inland on the same part of the continent attempted by Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose legendary doomed voyage in 1914 is the subject of a forthcoming TV mini series starring Kenneth Branagh.

Joint expedition leader Major James Harris said: "It's going well so far. We have successfully crossed Drake's Passage and only had a few cases of seasickness, myself included.

"It could have been a lot worse. Now we are ready to go to the peninsula and start exploring."

The Forbidden Plateau, which the team aims to explore hauling rations and equipment on sledges, has no map and they intend to make one as they go along, using Army rangefinding equipment.

As well as exploration, there are a several scientific aims of the trip and the team will be collecting samples and studying wildlife for the British Antarctic Survey and other organisations.