Diary of a Journey under the World – Part 14 – Scotts Failure
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.
The Adventure Continues…
Robert Falcon Scott was famous for his failure to reach the South Pole first, and the Charcot fittingly also failed to reach his Scott’s Hut. For now atleast.
A plan was made on the bridge to reach this famous landmark.
They began the journey towards the base, with Mt. Erebus again sitting as a picturesque backdrop for the journey.
Mt. Erebus is very rarely cloud-free, but David was fortunate enough to catch it on one of these rare days.
In the distance, David’s friend Neil was able to capture an image of Scott’s Hut through the camera lens.
However, the ice began to rapidly blow in. The expedition team was able to make it ashore, establishing a base for the passengers visit, but the moving ice began to block the landing site. The Zodiac is unable to navigate through this ice.
This meant the expedition team was trapped ashore.
The ships thrusters and azipods come in handy for these exact situations, it began to create a wake in an attempt to shift the ice, causing them to move and rotate. Eventually this creates a path that the Zodiacs can use to reach open water, thereby reaching the ship.
Further attempts to reach the hut were unfortunately abandoned, with the Charcot deciding to instead cruise towards the McMurdo Sound, reconvening the next morning when there would hopefully be better weather…
continued in Part 15 coming soon…