Diary of a Journey under the World – Part 1
David travelled aboard the magnificent Le Commandant Charcot by PONANT Cruises earlier this year on a half circumnavigation trip from Ushuaia, Argentina to New Zealand and what follows are his notes and highlights of a once in a lifetime trip to Antarctica in 2023.
David Heydon has been many things, nominated for Australian of the Year in 2016, the 2012 recipient of the Moore Medal, and a deep seabed mining pioneer. Most days David would be one of the expert naturalist guides aboard a ship, but today he is a guest on the Le Commandant Charcot.
David is an expedition cruising veteran, one who is uniquely specialized in the Polar. His extensive geological knowledge provides welcome insight into these regions’ many fjords and glaciers.
Day 1
The Le Commandant Charcot is moored in Ushuaia, sometimes referred to as the “End of the World”. This small resort town, located on the Southern tip of South America in Argentina, acts as a gateway to the Antarctic region. The only obstacle between Ushuaia and Antarctica is the Drake Passage, a body of water that is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous in the world.
Le Commandant Charcot docked at Ushuaia, Argentina
The Captain has told David the conditions are “not good, not bad”. This Captain was also responsible for supplying French Antarctic bases, regardless of the weather conditions.
David says, “Average to him may have a whole different meaning to mine.”
David boards and is issued the essential gear, a multilayer parker and a full immersion suit used for emergencies within the icy Southern Ocean. Le Commandant Charcot is equipped with a snow room, used to acclimatize guests to the cold they will be experiencing in the deep south.
Aboard there are 70 passengers and 183 crew, there are an additional 21 crew members which form the expedition team. They all depart, heading into the Drake Passage.
David begins to discuss how the Drake Passage was formed.
“Over 35 million years ago, when the South American and Antarctic plates split, the passage began to form between the landmasses as they moved further apart. The parting of these continents allowed for new currents to form, including the circum polar current which surrounds Antarctica.” says David.
The currents which move along the latitude within the Drake Passage are unobstructed by any land mass. Here, the Atlantic, Southern and Pacific oceans converge, resulting in waves that can reach above 12 metres. It might be some small comfort to know that these violent conditions are a crucial element in thermohaline circulation, this circulation affects the rate sea ice forms around the polar regions, which in turn has knock-on effects on our climate.
For example, prior to the Drake Passage, Antarctica was a temperate region. When Robert Falcon Scott explored Antarctica, he collected samples of numerous fossils which told a very different story than the barren ice-covered region provides at a glance.
“He (Scott) knew the value of this to the scientific community, that even though he was weak and dying, he continued carrying 16kg of fossilized rocks to his death.”
Modern ships are more than equipped to handle the passage, it might be a little rocky – but the destination is more than worth it...
Day 2 & 3
The weather has been tolerable so far, it has been “pretty good” compared to some of the other journeys David has taken through this passage. Regardless, David always secures his possessions before bed – just incase.
That night, the weather took a turn for the worse, and multiple rogue waves rocked the ship. A cupboard above the minibar flys open as glass and ceramics shatter in the room.
“This was but a mini-version of what occurred in the bars and public areas around the ship; with furniture ‘relocated’ and glasses breaking. But, all-in-all, pretty good so far.”
continued in Part 2 coming soon…