Sunday, November 25, 2007

Over the last several days, the sinking of the Explorer in Antarctic waters has captured my imagination. It was just two years ago that Nancy and I were on another ship, the Endeavor, in the Antarctic. The two ships are similar in size, weight, ice hardening, passengers aboard ... and both were exploring the antarctic peninsula. In spite of 20 - 30 foot swells crossing the Drake passage, our sailing was textbook. The Explorer’s was not.

Hitting submerged ice, the Explorer began taking on water through a fist sized hole in the hull. After all the passengers and crew had successfully abandoned ship to life boats, the Explorer sank. All aboard were successfully rescued and taken aboard a large cruise ship nearby.

A coincidence, our ship, the Endeavor, was about 50 miles away at the time of the accident and steamed to the site to participate in the rescue. The passengers were taken aboard a Norwegian ship to the Chilean research base nearby where they were airlifted home ... another coincidence since the Endeavor put in to the same base when one of our fellow passengers became ill and was med-evac’ed out.

I am glad all passengers and crew were saved without injury. I feel connected to them somehow. But it reminds me that there are still wild places on the planet. Our trip to the Antarctic was fantastic. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m glad there are still wild places left and I’d like to keep exploring them. But it gives me pause ... and reminds me to be careful out there.

The airfiled is just beyond the hills in the background. The base has a year-round population of 42 but might be home to a couple of hundred folks this time of year. You can check out all my Antarctic photos at Digital Quixote. Click on Travel A-M and select Antarctica.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
(1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink