ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS
Tourism Industry |
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic
non-government expedition activities.
ANAN 67
Wednesday, 27 February 2002
News in this edition:
67-01. Near-simultaneous Peninsula visits for two liners in 2003.
67-02. Appeal launched for restoration of historic Ross Sea huts.
67-03. 'Light-weight' ham operation makes 70,000+ contacts world-wide.
67-04. Station staff provide 'on board' presentations to large tour vessels.
67-05. KGI marathons scheduled for next weekend.
67-06. Replica of Captain Cook's 'Endeavour' for sub-Antarctic passage.
67-07. 'Excellent' viewing conditions for East Antarctic overflights.
67-08. Yacht commences 'Jules Verne attempt', another delayed by mast failure.
67-09. Book on 'Expedition Antarctic Peninsula' in preparation.
67-10. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.
NEAR-SIMULTANEOUS PENINSULA VISITS FOR TWO LINERS IN 2003
[ANAN-67/01]
Two cruise liners operated by US-based Holland America Lines (HAL) are scheduled to conduct near-simultaneous visits to the Antarctic Peninsula region in late January and early February 2003. Plans released recently by the company call for its vessels 'Amsterdam' and 'Ryndam', which are close to 250-m in length and can carry around 1,300 passengers and over 600 crew, to each spend three days off the north-western Peninsula coast over a six day period, although no shore landings from either are planned.
Next year's voyages will be the fourth and fifth made to the Peninsula by HAL vessels over a three-year period, the first being conducted by the 'Rotterdam', the company's 238-m, 1,600-passenger capacity, 62,000 gross registered tonne (GRT), flag-ship in January 2000 (ANAN-19/03, 24 April 2000), and the second and third by the 'Ryndam' over the last six weeks (see ANAN-67/04 following).
'Amsterdam', which is only two years old, and like 'Ryndam' is registered in The Netherlands, is currently "the largest and most spacious ship in the world cruise market" according to HAL. It can carry up to 1,380 passengers, has a crew of over 600 and is of 61,000 GRT. It is listed to be in the Peninsula region from 30 January until 1 February, while the slightly smaller 'Ryndam', which has berths for 1,266 passengers, will be there from 2-4 February.
The visit to the Peninsula by the 'Amsterdam' is part of a 38-port, four-month 'around-the-world' voyage that is to commence from Fort Lauderdale in the south-eastern United States on 4 January 2003, an operation similar to the one that 'Rotterdam' was engaged in when it visited the Peninsula two years ago.
'Ryndam' will be conducting a voyage almost identical to the two it made earlier this year. It is to start from Valparaiso, Chile, on 25 January; the Peninsula visit being an 'extension' of one of a number of around-southern-South-America voyages that are to be conducted by the vessel during the 2002-03 austral summer.
Provided conditions allow, both vessels are expected to conduct sightseeing at such places as Hope Bay, Deception Island, the Gerlache Strait, Anvers Island and the Lemaire Channel. An on-board passenger educational program on Antarctica, similar to those organised previously by the company, is also anticipated. The program is likely to include visits to the ship by personnel from the US national program station Palmer on Anvers Island for presentations on the research being carried out there.
Both 'Amsterdam' and 'Ryndam' fit into the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators' (IAATO) new Category 3 listing that covers ships that carry more than 500 passengers, and which under IAATO's By Laws modified in June last year, are not permitted to land passengers in Antarctica (ANAN-51/02, 18 July 2001). HAL was accepted as a Provisional member of IAATO last year, although it has been sending representatives to the tour body's annual meetings since 1999.
The only other large Category 3 tour ship expected to operate in the Peninsula region in 2002-03 is US-company Orient Lines' 'Marco Polo' which has been operating in Antarctic waters since 1994. Unlike HAL's ships, however, 'Marco Polo', which has carried in excess of 500 passengers on about a third of its voyages in recent years, provides its clients with the opportunity to land at selected locations in the Peninsula region. Despite the opening up of IAATO's membership last June (ANAN-51/01, 18 July 2001), Orient Lines has not yet joined IAATO. As the By Laws currently stand, were the company to become a member, the 'Marco Polo' would either have to carry fewer than 500 passengers on its Antarctic voyages, or forego landing operations. The company hopes to carry up to 550 passengers on the vessel on at least one voyage to the region in 2002-03 (ANAN-63/01, 2 January 2002).
Holland America, whose 12-ship, "luxury" fleet is scheduled to conduct a total of 449 cruises to all seven continents in 2003, is part of the large tour-ship alliance which also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar Cruises.
In addition to the two Antarctic voyages next year, HAL's vessels are to operate to Australia, eastern Canada, central America, the Caribbean, Greenland, the Panama Canal, Europe, South America, and the southern and northern parts of the Pacific Ocean. Seven of the ships are to conduct a record135 voyages in Alaskan waters during the northern summer.
Images of HAL's ships and information on its Antarctic and world-wide range of cruise operations are available on line at: http://www.hollandamerica.com/fivestarfleet/fivestarfleet.htm.
The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust (AHT) launched an international appeal for funds on 9 February to conserve and restore the four historic expedition huts established in the Ross Sea region 90-100 years ago. The Trust says that the huts are rapidly deteriorating, partly due to the ravages of wind and sea salt, but also increasingly as a direct consequence of human visitation, some $US15m is needed for conservation work if they and their contents are to survive for viewing by future generations.
Launch of the appeal follows research conducted by the AHT in recent years to develop what it says is a "comprehensive conservation strategy" for Scott's 1901-03 and 1911-13 huts at Hut Point and Cape Evans; Shackleton's 1907-09 hut at Cape Royds; and the buildings of Borchgrevink's expedition to Cape Adare in 1899. The $US15m also includes a fund for the long-term conservation of artefacts from all the historic sites identified in the Ross Sea region.
The 1,500 or so national program personnel from the US and New Zealand stations of McMurdo and Scott Base on Ross Island make up the majority of those who enter the three historic structures at Capes Evans and Royds and Hut Point each austral summer. The 200-250 non-government visitors that have gone ashore at those locations from the small number of tourist ships in recent years are therefore in a minority (ANAN-60/02, 21 November 2001). However, at Borchgrevink's hut at Cape Adare some 700 km to the north tourist visitors dominate as national program landings there are less frequent.
The AHT, which is a non-government, non-profit, charitable trust, has worked to conserve the huts each austral summer since it was formed in 1987. It has operated with an annual budget of around $US50,000 for much of that time, a minuscule figure compared to the level of funds now being sought.
The largest proportion of the budget in recent years ( 36%), has come from tourists who visit the huts, 25% from non-government grants, 15% from Trust memberships and merchandising, and 10% from the New Zealand government. The government also provides 'in-kind' support for Trust personnel who work on the huts each season, including transport of personnel to Antarctica and field support while they are there. Last year the NZ government also provided a 'one-off' grant of $US200,000 to 'seed' the restoration project.
If it is successful in its appeal, AHT envisages allocating $US5.7m to maintain and repair the Cape Evans hut and to restore artefacts there, $US3.9m for similar work at Cape Royds, $US3.3m for "critical maintenance" at Hut Point and the "adaptation of the interior [to reflect] its occupation at the end of the heroic-era", and $US0.8m to "stabilise and preserve the structure and contents" of the huts at Cape Adare, the first wooden buildings erected on the Antarctic continent.
The AHT Chairman, Rob Fenwick says it is imperative that the conservation project gets under way as quickly as possible. "This is the only place [in the world] where the first human dwellings still survive, but despite first appearances they are deteriorating rapidly," he says. Fenwick went on to say that "without the support of the international community, these buildings will not survive."
The costs of the Trust's conservation plans have been reviewed by a firm of international consultants and if the appeal is successful the work involved is to be staged over an eight-year period to take into account technical, funding and climatic constraints.
AHT has assembled a team of conservation professionals to oversee the project, including a project and construction manager, conservation architect, historians, conservators, cost consultant and a fire engineer. That group is advised by a group of its peers with similar experience who come from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The Trust says the first part of the project involves the development of "world class technical conservation plans" that will form the basis of restoration works.
AHT's appeal was launched by Princess Anne, a member of the British Royal family, who flew to Ross Island from New Zealand early this month. At the ceremony she presented Rob Fenwick with a cheque for $US100,000 from what the Trust says was "the Government of the British Antarctic Territory" as an initial contribution to the appeal.
Further details of the Trust's activities and the appeal are available on line at: http://www.heritage-antarctica.org/.
A ham radio expedition that conducted operations from the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia returned to Stanley in the Falkland Islands on 9 February on board the 36-m vessel 'Braveheart' (ANAN-64/08, 16 January 2002). During their month-long voyage, the twelve operators involved made a total of 70,428 contacts or QSOs from both islands with 'hams' from all around the world via voice, morse code and teletype transmission links.
Declan Craig, one of the expedition's three organisers, told ANAN last week that what was "an experiment in the use of low-powered, 'microlight' [radio equipment] from a tough location", had achieved all of its goals "in record time". The expedition was forced to limit the range and amount of equipment used on both islands as a result of environmental requirements set by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and by the logistics involved in deploying personnel and equipment on shore from 'Braveheart'.
Craig said that his group had shown that such expeditions could achieve "excellent results" without "large amounts of high-powered equipment" as has sometimes been the case with such ventures in the past. Ham operators were challenged in their attempts to tune into what was, as a result, a relatively "weak-signal operation", and Declan said that the high number of contacts recorded around the world was a credit to the "skills and persistence" of those who made contact.
The expedition left Stanley in the Falkland Islands on the New Zealand-registered 'Braveheart' on 12 January with 12 hams from Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States, and a crew of 5. The vessel headed directly for the island of Southern Thule in the South Sandwich Islands, completing the 1,820-km journey in five days in moderate seas.
Operations were conducted on Southern Thule from 18-22 January, the hams working from a tent-based field-camp on Hewison Peninsula, the island's south-eastern point. Access to the Peninsula from the sea was reported to have been difficult, personnel having to negotiate a steep, "dangerous" 13-m climb directly after leaving the inflatable rubber boats that ferried them to shore.
A 'human chain' was used to ferry all equipment up the cliff-face and on to the camp site. A similar reverse operation was necessary when they departed; it being conducted in 55-knot winds and a 3-m swell. During 80 hours of operation on the island over 26,000 contacts were made and frequent periods of high winds, rain and snow encountered. In addition to the weather, camping conditions were made "very uncomfortable" as the tents and much of the equipment used quickly became covered in penguin guano. Two tents were used for accommodation and another two for radio operations.
'Braveheart' next travelled to South Georgia where it waited for 11 days between 25 January and 4 February while ham and other activities were conducted on shore. That operation was based in the Manager's House at the old whaling station at Husvik. Close to 43,000 contacts were made during a seven-and-a-half day period. Team members slept on 'Braveheart' when not on duty or napped on shore for short periods. Those involved also took time for day hikes into the surrounding countryside.
While in Stromness Bay, Braveheart's skipper Robert Williamson and owner Nigel Jolly assisted the crew of the Russian scientific vessel 'Atlantida' to free its anchor that had been become fouled on old mooring gear on the bed of the Bay. Captain Williamson, who is also a professional deep-sea diver, descended to a depth of 42m and successfully freed the anchor from the obstruction. The yachts 'Joshua' (ANAN-65/09, 30 January 2002) and 'Baleno', the latter with a family of three on board, were also in Stromness Bay whilst 'Braveheart' was there. 'Joshua' was engaged in rat eradication and other work, while 'Baleno' is believed to be on a recreational visit to South Georgia which is expected to last for several months.
Due to the difficulties involved in the landing at Southern Thule, a smaller range of equipment was sent ashore there than at South Georgia. At both locations electricity to power the radios and provide heat for the operators was generated using four small one-kilowatt generators. Four small radio units were used for transmissions from Southern Thule and six on South Georgia; relatively simple antennas being erected on both islands. Transmissions from Husvik were possible over a greater range of frequencies due to the additional range of equipment taken ashore there.
Earlier larger-scale ham operations on sub-Antarctic Peter I, Heard and Campbell Islands made some 60,000, 81,000 and 96,000 contacts in February 1994, January 1997 and January 1999 respectively (ANAN-59/01, 14 November 2001). It took over two days to set up equipment used during both the Heard and Campbell Island operations, whereas on Southern Thule and South Georgia, ham operations were under way in just 5-6 hours. The 70,000 contacts were made over a total operational period of just under 11 days, a much better contacts-per-day ratio than Heard and Campbell, the higher number of contacts at those locations taking 20 and 24 days respectively to achieve.
The five-day voyage back to the Falkland Islands from South Georgia on 'Braveheart' was reported to have been "rough and unpleasant" with 8-m swells being met for some of the time as the vessel headed west into the prevailing winds.
'QSL' or 'contact made' cards from the islands, which are highly prized by hams, are currently being distributed to those who successfully made contact with the expedition.
Another expedition organiser, James Brooks, a professional film maker, is working to prepare videos on the expedition. They are expected to be available within the next few months. James has also produced videos on the ham radio expeditions at Heard and Campbell Islands late last decade. These are available for $US20 each, a cost that includes priority shipping by air, and can be obtained via e-mail at jamesb@pacific.net.sg or on line at: http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~jamesb.
The third member of the organizing group Trey Garlough, told ANAN that funds for the expedition, which in total cost around $U160,000 to conduct, were provided by each of the 12 hams who took part, and by an "impressive" contribution from the Northern California DX Foundation in the US. The expedition is currently working to develop a web site, however, it is not yet on line.
Staff from the US national program's Palmer station on Anvers Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, provided 'on board' presentations to over 2,500 passengers on two large tourist ships that called there over the last month. While personnel from stations in the region are often invited on board tour ships for meals and talks, this is believed to have been the first time station personnel have given formal presentations to such large numbers of tourists.
The vessels involved were Holland America Lines' (HAL) ship the 'Ryndam', which is believed to have had 1,100 and 1,072 passengers on board when it visited on 17 January and 2 February respectively, and Orient Lines' vessel 'Marco Polo' which was there on 15 January with just over 400 tourists.
The majority of those that normally travel on both ships are citizens of the United States and as it is not feasible for such large numbers to be landed at the station, and in Ryndam's case not permissible under International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) By Laws (see ANAN-67/01 preceding), such presentations allow them and others on board to learn first-hand about the work of the US national program.
At least 129 tourist ship visits have been made to Palmer station over the last 12 completed austral summers; over 13,000 people landing there during that time. In order to minimise the impact of tourist visits on day-to-day station operations the National Science Foundation (NSF), which manages the US national program in Antarctica, normally only allows 10 landings at Palmer each austral summer. Tour companies liase with the NSF as early as June each year to try and obtain one of those slots.
Both 'Ryndam' and 'Marco Polo' were able to position themselves very close to Palmer on their visits and five of the station's staff were ferried out to the ships. Once on board they provided passengers with illustrated, computer-based talks about the US Antarctic Program, station life and science conducted at Palmer, and answered general questions from their audiences. Reports from the ships indicate that the presentations and the presence of personnel from the station were "well received" by passengers.
Ryndam's two voyages in late January, early February, were the first the ship has made to Antarctica (ANAN-47/01, 23 May 2001). It left Rio de Janerio, Brazil, with a reported 1,100 passengers on board on the first voyage on 5 January, visiting Stanley in the Falkland Islands 8-days later after calls at Montivideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
From Stanley, 'Ryndam' travelled south and cruised through the Antarctic Sound near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on 15 January and the Neumeyer and Lemaire Channels the day after, before arriving off Palmer on the morning of the 17th. One of the ship's boats was deployed during passage through the Lemaire Channel to scout ahead for ice and to take photographs of the vessel, although no passengers were involved. The ship headed north after the Palmer visit and completed the voyage in Valparaiso, Chile, on 25 January.
Ryndam's second voyage of the season left Valparaiso the same day with 1,072 passengers and, while it planned to visit the same locations on the first voyage, few details are available about it at this time.
During Ryndam's voyages, which HAL refers to in its brochures and publicity as the 'Antarctic Experience', presentations on the region were given to both passengers and crew members by a three-man team led by 'Expedition Leader' Captain/Dr Lawson Brigham, a retired US Coast Guard Master and a senior associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in the UK. The others involved were ice pilot Captain Swedberg and naturalist Dr Bernard Stonehouse who is head of SPRI's Polar Ecology and Management Group. Both Brigham and Stonehouse undertook similar duties on the visit of HAL's flag-ship the 'Rotteram' two years ago (ANAN-19/03, 12 April 2000).
During the first voyage the weather was generally less favourable than that experienced on the 'Rotterdam' voyage. A vivid demonstration of the changeable and at times unpredictable nature of weather in the region was given to passengers the day 'Ryndam' arrived in Antarctic Sound, when winds of 65 knots and low clouds that were present in the early morning quickly gave way to a clear, sunny afternoon and allowed what one observer said was "spectacular viewing".
Minimal sea-ice was seen during the first voyage, although small icebergs and bergy bits were present in each of the channels and bays visited. What was termed by Brigham "a consistent strategy of 'ice avoidance' practised by the Captain, Ice Pilot, and Navigation Officers" meant that the voyages were both "safe and successful".
'Ryndam' is scheduled to visit the Peninsula for a third time early next February, along with the 'Amsterdam, another of HAL's passenger ships (see ANAN-67/01 preceding).
Over 100 people are expected to take part in marathon and half-marathon events scheduled for King George Island (KGI) off the Antarctic Peninsula next weekend. This will be the fourth time that the commercially-organised runs have been held on the island, and the fifth time they have been conducted in the Peninsula region since the first in 1995.
The races, which are scheduled for 2 March, have again been organised by US-based Marathon Tours, a company that specialises in the provision of travel and related arrangements to those interested in taking part in long-distance running events world-wide. The runners are travelling south on Australian company Peregrine Adventures' tour ship 'Akademic Ioffe' and left Ushuaia, Argentina, on an 11-day voyage on 25 February.
Marathon Tours President, Thom Gilligan, told ANAN prior to leaving for Ushuaia last week that 89 runners had entered the full marathon, while 11 were aiming to complete the half-marathon. He said that those figures do not include personnel from a number of national program stations on KGI that "might get involved", and that an "extra 10" could take part in the shorter event in that way.
Both races are to start and finish at the Uruguayan station Artigas and pass through Russian (Bellinghausen), Chilean (Presedentie Eduardo Frei), and Chinese (Great Wall) facilities. A two-kilometre ascent and descent of the Collins Glacier is part of the route, but most of each course is along a dirt road that joins many of the stations on the island.
Marathoners are required to pass the halfway mark in 3 hours 10 minutes and finish in under six and a half hours, otherwise they must retire from the race. The company's web site says that "course marshals have the responsibility to disqualify any runner who might endanger [themselves] through fatigue, hypothermia or dehydration". Drink stations are to be located every 5 km and toilets are available at the stations that lie along the route. Station staff are believed to operate way-points on the courses to provide water, medical assistance, and 'supportive cheers' to participants.
Last year's races, which were also scheduled for KGI, had to be run on the tourist ship 'Lyubov Orlova' after weather prevented participants from being landed on the island (ANAN-41/13, 14 February 2001). This year's events were thrown into doubt last June when the Canadian company Marine Expeditions collapsed leaving Marathon Tours without a ship, and the Argentine airline Aerolineas Argentinas cancelled flights from North America (ANAN-53/04, 15 August 2001). US-based Adventure Network International conducted marathon and half-marathon races near the South Geographic Pole last month (ANAN-65/02, 30 January 2002).
Details of the KGI events are available on line at Marathon Tours web site at: http://www.marathontour.com/antarctica/.
A replica of British explorer James Cook's historic Bark 'Endeavour' is to cross sub-Antarctic waters for the first time in March during a passage from Bluff, New Zealand, to Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The vessel, which was commissioned in 1994, is expected to have 38 passengers and a crew of 18 on board for the 5 to 6-week voyage to Cape Horn via high southern latitudes.
'Endeavour' is to leave Bluff early next week and pass Cape Horn in late March or early April. Her Captain, Chris Blake, who has considerable experience at the helm of square-rigged ships, told ANAN last weekend that he anticipates heading eastwards from NZ in the vicinity of latitude 57 south, although that may change depending on weather conditions.
If followed, that route is some 300 km further north than the one taken by yachts in the the Volvo around-the-world yacht race earlier this month. They encountered more than 50 icebergs, and many growlers, during a two-week period in the region close to latitude 60 south (ANAN-66/05, 13 February 2002).
'Endeavour' has a timber hull, an overall length of 33 m, beam of 9 m, a 39-m high main mast, 27 sails, and a sail area of 1,511 square metres. She also has two engines, generators, a desalination unit, modern bilge pumps, heads, showers and an electric galley, as well as a complete range of modern communications equipment, including HF and VHF radios, Inmarsat 'M' phone and fax, weather fax, satellite phone, radar and a Global Positioning System.
Since her commissioning, 'Endeavour' has undertaken many voyages in the Australasian region, Canada, South Africa, the UK and the US, opening in over 150 ports as an 18th-Century museum and telling the story of Cook and his men. She has few mechanical aids and is, according to Blake, "very demanding to run", with those who work on her requiring high levels of physical fitness.
Registered as a sailing cargo-ship, not a sail-training ship, she is run by an experienced trained crew of 18 full-time professionals. They are assisted by passengers who pay to travel on her as either "voyage crew or trainee crew", although four berths are also available to non-working passengers who occupy 18th-Century officer and 'gentlemen's cabins'.
Voyage and trainee crew members are required to be over 18, of good health, must be able to 'go aloft' in all weather conditions, and have a "compatiblele personality and be able to cope with physical and mental stress". The voyage to Rio will cost working crew $US6,700 and non-working around $US13,000.
The replica is operated by the 'HM Bark Endeavour Foundation' a non-profit organisation based in Sydney, Australia, that depends upon the support of sponsors, the general public and volunteers. Registered in Australia, she took six years to build, a time almost twice that required to construct the original over 200 years ago.
'Endeavour' will be full for the passage to Rio. Among those participating is a film crew from the US-based National Geographical Society. They are expected to prepare a television documentary and articles for the internationally distributed 'National Geographic' magazine later this year.
Further information about the Foundation, its ship, and twice-weekly reports on her progress, are available on line at: http://www.barkendeavour.com.au/.
The sixth and last East Antarctic tourist overflight of the 2001-02 season was conducted from Australia on 10 February. During the three-and-a-half-month season, the flights, which carried a total of 2,126 passengers and 132 crew, encountered some of the best observing conditions on record.
Five of the flights flew over the northern part of the Trans Antarctic Mountains along the western edge of the Ross Sea, while the last passed over George V Land, the French national program station Dumont d'Urville in Adelie Land, and Australia's Casey station in Wilkes Land.
The overflights, which commenced on 4 November, were again organised by Australian company Croydon Travel and utilised Boeing 747-400 aircraft chartered from Qantas, that nation's largest airline (ANAN-43/05, 28 February 2001).
What Croydon Travel described as "excellent viewing conditions" were brought about in part by the provision of regular weather up-dates direct to the aircraft from forecasters based at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's office in Hobart. Those reports enabled aircraft to change flight plans en route to take advantage of the best weather conditions as they developed.
A seventh overflight that was to have been conducted on 16 February from Sydney, Australia, was cancelled (ANAN-52/06, 1 August 2001). That special charter was to have carried passengers from U.S. company Holland America Line's vessel 'Amsterdam' (see ANAN-67/01 preceding), which was visiting Sydney as part of an around-the-world voyage. According to Croydon, the ship "had poor bookings due to the effects of 11 September", and as a result there was insufficient interest in the overflight and it had to be cancelled.
A total of 64 tourist overflights have now been conducted by Croydon Travel since its first on New Year's Eve 1994. Over the eight seasons to date, over 22,000 passengers and 1,300 crew members have overflown coastal regions between Russia's Mirny station in Wilhelm II Land in the west, and the Terra Nova Bay area of Victoria Land in the east. These have operated from four cities in southern Australia; Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. No flights were conducted from Perth during the season just completed, however.
The flights are to continue during the 2002-03 austral summer, although dates and other details about them have not yet been released. Croydon is, however, already planning a special flight early in the 2003-04 season from Perth, Australia, its focus being the observation of a solar eclipse off the coast of Queen Mary Land on 24 November 2003 (ANAN-59/04, 14 November 2001).
The trimaran 'Geronimo' has commenced its attempt on the 'Jules Verne' around-the-world record and is currently expected to enter sub-Antarctic waters south of Africa sometime next week. Geronimo's rival, the 33-m catarmaran 'Orange', suffered a major set-back on 14 February when its mast failed in a 28-knot wind just 30 minutes after crossing the start line at the western end of the English Channel (ANAN-66/10, 13 February 2002).
'Geronimo' started its attempt at 0125 UTC on 18 February and made very fast progress down the Atlantic Ocean until light winds slowed it as the Equator was approached over the last few days. Geronimo's skipper Olivier de Kersauson's set the current Jules Verne record of 71 day, 14 hour, 22 minute in 1997 voyage on the 'Sport Elec'. On that occasion he took 11 days and 4 hours to cross into the southern hemisphere and he may shave several days off that time.
In comparison to 'Sport Elec', which was 27-m long with a 33-m mast, 'Geronimo' is 34-m long, 23-m wide and has a 42-m mast that can carry up to 1,000 square metres of sail. According to yachting experts, the weight saved by using the latest high-technology materials has given 'Geronimo' "unprecedented power". The trimaran is currently well on track to set a new record, although yachting experts warn that the "often extreme conditions" in the sub-Antarctic will "severely test the yacht and its crew".
Meanwhile, work is currently under way in Brest, France, to replace the top six metres of Orange's mast and its attempt on the current record may not start until the middle of next week. Those behind the venture have set 10 March as the latest date that the catamaran can leave north-west France, a deadline that is controlled primarily by the rapidly decreasing length of darkness in high southern latitudes as the southern hemisphere winter approaches. De Kersauson though did not start his 1997 attempt on the record until 6 March of that year.
As 'Geronimo' was leaving European waters, seven of the boats in the Volvo around-the-world race were arriving in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, to end a difficult and eventful three-and-a-half-week journey from Auckland, New Zealand, via high southern latitudes and Cape Horn (ANAN-66/05, 13 February 2002). The eighth yacht in the race, 'SEB', is currently being shipped to Rio from Punta Arenas, Chile, where it was forced to divert after loosing its mast on 7 February, some 2,000 km west of Cape Horn.
Regular up-dates on the progress being made by both 'Geronimo' and 'Orange' on their 42,500 km around-the-world journeys are available on line at: http://www.madforsailing.com/.
BOOK ON 'EXPEDITION ANTARCTIC PENINSULA' IN PREPARATION
[ANAN-67/09]
A book that is to cover the polar experiences of Australian adventurer Peter Bland, including his participation in last year's 'Expedition Antarctic Peninsula' (EAP), is currently being written in Australia. Publisher Pan MacMillan says that the book is being written by journalist Richard Yallop of 'The Australian' newspaper, and that it is currently scheduled to be released in November this year, although distribution is likely to be limited to Australia in at least the first instance.
Bland was seriously injured in January last year when an avalanche carried him over a 15-m ice fall above Charcot Bay in the north-west of the Antarctic Peninsula during the concluding stages of the EAP venture. He was eventually flown to King George Island by the Chilean national program where his condition was stabilised before he was flown out to Punta Arenas, Chile, and later back to Australia (ANAN-49/04, 20 June 2001).
Prior to the EAP, Bland visited Commonwealth Bay, George V Land on the 19-m yacht 'Spirit of Sydney', and sledged to the North Magnetic Pole in northern Canada.
COMING EVENTS RELEVANT TO NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
[ANAN-67/10]
Please forward notice of events via e-mail to: tourism@aad.gov.au. Up-dates are made to ANAN's web site at http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp as soon as new information comes to hand.
YEAR 2002
2 March (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fifth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon (ANAN-67/05 preceding).
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan).
1-5 July (Cambridge, U.K.)
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
15-19 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
15-26 July (Shanghai, China).
XXVII SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research).
3-14 September (Warsaw, Poland)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXV
YEAR 2003
4-11 January (South Geographic Pole)
High Plateau Marathon (ANAN-65/02, 30 January 2002).
Contact: general@adventure-network.com
July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
24 November (Queen Mary and Dronning Maud Land regions).
Total solar eclipse (See ANAN-61/09, 5 December 2001).
Next edition issued on Wednesday, 13 March 2002 @ 0600 UTC.
Deadline for items: Sunday, 10 March 2002 @ 2359 UTC.
ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS (ANAN)
IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic community. Inclusion of information in it should not be taken to imply endorsement, by the publishers of ANAN News, of any company, program or associated activity that is listed, nor that the activity has necessarily completed all environmental impact assessments required under the legislation of the 'home' nation concerned.
Links provided in ANAN stories are working at the time of first publication.
AVAILABLE ON LINE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY:
ANAN archive (including this issue with its built in links):
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/News/default.asp
Coming events related to non-governmental activity:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp
Links to tourist industry web sites:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Industry/default.asp
EDITOR: Dave Moser (David.Moser@aad.gov.au).
POSTAL: Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia 7054
TELEPHONE: +61-3-6232-3347 (2200-0600 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3357.
RESEARCH/WRITING: Martin Betts (Martin.Betts@aad.gov.au)
TELEPHONE/FACSIMILE: +61-3-6267-4790 (2200-1100 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3500.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
All images, text and downloadable files in ANAN are copyright ©Commonwealth of Australia 2002 or respective authors where indicated. You may down load, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Source credit must be given as follows: © 2002 Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston Tasmania 7050
Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved.
Requests for further authorisation should be directed to:
The Editor, ANAN
Antarctic Treaty and Government Section
Australian Antarctic Division
KINGSTON TAS 7050
AUSTRALIA
or by email to tourism@aad.gov.au