Photo album: "From Melbourne to the Antarctic"
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Thala Dan leaves the port on February 23rd and arrives on March 4th at Dumont d'Urville French base, situated on Petrels Island in Pointe Géologie archipelago, in Adélie land (portion of the Antarctic claimed by France, but this claim, as any other ones, are frozen thanks to the Antarctic Treaty
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The tugboat which helped us to leave the wharf |
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The pilot who assisted us to leave the harbour, is going to take over another ship which is waiting to enter |
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Thala Dan is now in open sea with a very heavy swell |
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From Melbourne to Dumont d'Urville French base, we will cover more than 3200 km |
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Thala Dan, as all other polar ships has no keel, as a consequence, in the south hemisphere roaring forties and fifties, the rolling can reach 45 degrees. To break through the ice, Thala Dan uses the following technique: she gathers speed and, when she arrives in contact with the ice, her slanted bow will climb upon the ice. When the ship can no longer go forward, her weight will make the ice to shatter. The ship, then, will go backward and moving a little sideward, in order to widen the breach, she will begin again the process. Thala Dan can go through pack ice a little more than one metre thick. The operation can last for many hours, even for days. |
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In case of rough sea, it is dangerous to stay on the deck, because we could be washed away by a wave. As a matter of fact we were forbidden to go outside shortly after this photo. |
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Albatrosses come along with the ship |
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At the beginning of March we sight our first iceberg. It is small and far away, but everyone photographs it many times! |
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Then we get sight of loose pack (remains of last year pack ice, broken by storms). The pack ice forms during winter when the sea froze (it is therefore made of salty water) |
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We pass now close to bigger icebergs (calved by Antarctic glaciers) but we had taken so many photos of the first small iceberg that we are nearly no longer interested… On the contrary to pack ice, icebergs are made of fresh water. Ice formed by accumulation, centuries after centuries, of layers of snow fallen over the continent |
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At last, we get sight of the ice-covered Antarctic continent and we begin to make out, still very small, Pointe Géologie archipelago, scope of our journey. |
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We are crossing a pack which do not slacken our progress, but a tempest could make it more compact and turn it into a pack ice the Thala Dan wouldn't be able to break through. We are at the end of summer and the Captain is well aware of this danger, as a consequence, not willing to remain trapped by the ice, he wouldn't want to stop for long. |
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Petrels island, where Dumont d'Urville base is built, is drawing near |
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Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago, the Antarctic coast with the Astrolabe glacier, and Petrels island |
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On Petrels island, always nearer, we begin sighting some details of the French base |
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Many buildings of Dumont d'Urville base are now well visible |
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We hug the coast of the island and the helicopter Alouette II lent by the French Air Force, stationed on the base during all the 1966-67 austral summer, is approaching to participate in the unloading of the ship. |
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When Thala Dan finally stops, on March 4th evening, sheltered by Petrels island, everyone of us is already ready to land on this tiny island, lost at the end of the Earth, where we will have to stay for the next twelve months. |
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