Today felt long, after last night's repairs. Still, we put in a full day
and we're now just about two days drive away from DDU. Maybe two days and
a couple of hours, frustratingly.
The ski repair has been good and we've had no more problems today.
We travelled slowly this afternoon, and when we stopped we discovered why.
One of the skis had broken off the generator trailer - one of of the
4-trailer caravan at the rear of the raid - and was wedged underneath.
In 2 hours we dug out under the ski to get it out, replaced the
axle-mount, craned up the several tonne trailer and refitted it. Patrice,
Anthony and Alex are seriously, seriously good at what they do. It's
going to be a later start tomorrow as we finished at almost midnight, so
we've left the routine maintenance until tomorrow.
We estimate we have three days left to go.
I realised yesterday I put down the wrong distance. The position was
correct but someone had been messing with the GPS waypoints and so the
distance showing was actually the drive left to do to DDU. But now we are
definitely more than half way there.
Tonight we have arrived at D85 and have descended to an altitude of around
2,600. My oxygen saturations - my own personal altimeter - are up at 93
percent, the highest in a year.
And another special treat - we have caught up with night-time. The sun
set just a half hour ago, which was a complete surprise. Right now there
is a fabulous red sky over the snow plain.
Tomorrow will be just like today - another 11 hours of driving. Our
little crew of five is great. When we passed the logistic raid we swapped
David, who is now with them en route back to DC, for Patrice Godon, the
antarctic adventurer who developed the whole French traverse from nothing
more than an idea, and first ventured into the interior looking for Dome C
fifteen years ago with a single challenger, a pisten bully and a hand held
GPS. He's a great guy and very interesting to talk to.
Four days more to go and we should be at Cap Prudomme, on the coast, next
to DDU.
We passed a logistic raid heading for DC today. I found out only the day
after departure that this is in fact the first scientific traverse IPEV
has made into the interior of Antarctica. So it's a bit of a historic
year for them to have two raids on the road at one time. On the way to DC
this raid passed a northbound logistic raid, and today we passed one as we
go north. It was an exciting time for us.
Tomorrow we arrive at d85, the refuelling stop between DDU and DC, where
we will use the machines to do maintenance on the airstrip. We're already
a little more than half way to the coast.
Another day trucking across Antarctica
Another stop in this uniform wilderness
2 days done, 256 km covered, averaging roughly 13 km/hour
The routine for our little crew of five is becoming clear.
the mechanics David and Alex start the Challengers at around 0745, and
disconnect the umbilical power cords that supply power to the engine heaters
that keep them from freezing overnight, and straight away we get in our machine
and just drive in low gear around our stop for fifteen minutes or so to warm up
the engines.
At 0800 we each pull up in front of the loads we will tow and with each others'
help back onto the towing pin and get hitched up. Then, with the Pisten Bully
out in front trying to smooth the bumps we drive, all three trains roped one to
the one behind so we even out the power, for five hours. Michele and I take
turns to drive the longest train, the one at the back. We stop for an hour for
lunch at 1330 and then get back behind the wheel for another six hours driving.
It takes a lot of concentration to follow the twists and turns and steep dips
in the road. I had the feeling today as my tractor's nose pitched steeply up
and down and swayed to either side through the tight turns that I was making
the same steering actions as I do at the wheel of a sailing boat.
At 2030 we stop, with a bit of careful co-ordination, and unhitch from our
loads and leave them standing where they are on the track. We steer the
Challengers round and to the back of the train to face the generator car where
umbilical power lines are led out to heaters inside each engine. Then we get
out and, leaving the motors running, Alex and David do some daily maintenance
work, while Michele fuels the vehicles, I get dinner on and Anthony fills the
snow melter so we have water. We eat at 2200, and crash out shortly after.
We think that we'll be in DDU in more six days, if everything continues to go
well.
The raid I have joined is a very small one of a team of only four French guys plus myself,
driving three massive Challenger tractors and a pisten bully. Together we tow a fuel tank,
a cargo trailer and a caravan of three standard shipping containers, fitted out to be very
comfortable accomodation, another with a generator, snow melter, hot water supply, shower,
and spaces for scientific analyses, and a third which is a food store.
I drove the last challenger in the convoy of three all day today, and behind my machine I
towed a train of three container 'trailers' on skis. They are too heavy for one challenger
alone, so my tractor is attached by a ship's mooring line to another one ahead of me and
with radio communication we co-ordinate our driving.
Although you might expect the road to be a straight and even line all the way to the coast,
the years of passage have turned it into a tightly twisting, uneven, bumpy road. The
containers and tractors sway and lurch as we negotiate the track. I've driven 11 hours
today and as I sit here the room is swaying as if I had stepped off a sailing boat.
It will take us another nine days to cover the remaining 1000km to the coast. The guys are
great, the change is wonderful. But the days are going to be long. There simply hasn't
been any time to reflect on leaving Concordia, that is sadly going to have to wait.
Actually, one of the raid team is David, one of my fellow DC7 winterover crew. It's really
nice to be working with an old friend again.
Short post, sorry, up early tomorrow,
