7 December 2006, Atlantic Ocean south of Cape Town
GPS@21h00 33 deg 53.0'S 017 deg 05.9'Eby Thomas Mulcaire
The I-TASC REconnaissance and Communication Expedition aka GROUNDHOG sailed from Cape Town harbour at 14h10 today 7 December 2006. Crew Amanda Rodrigues Alves, Adam Hyde, Ntsikilelo <1stborn> Ntshingila and Tom Mulcaire all well. Last land Cape Point sighted at 18h31. Next stop Neumayer Iceshelf, Dronning Maud Land. Deepest thanks from I-TASC crew to all GROUNDHOG partners and contributors for getting us to the launch. Daily logs will follow, satcom permitting. A luta continua.
7 December 2006, 1st day on the ship
by Ntsikelelo NtshingilaThe RECE Team
The team is currently made up of 4 team members(1 female and 3 males) who have dedicated themselves to the positive outcome of this expedition. These will be joined by possibly two additional team members who will fly down to the destination at a later date. RECE is made up of the following;
Thomas Mulcaire - The overseer of expedition and the team leader
Amanda Rodrigues Alves - The visual documenting personnel
Adam Hyde - The technology specialist
Ntsikelelo Ntshingila - The sound documenting personnel
Boarding the ship
Amongst many loving families giving their best wishes to their loved ones, our team had only three people to say goodbye to( Fraser Dodge, Siphiwe Ngwenya & Jan), but hey that was enough for us than not to have any goodbye's at all.The mist cleared up, the sun came out, Table Mountain was visible again and I'm pretty sure that was a farewell from mother nature herself. While documenting our farewell we all realised that we just took one first small hot step which is the beginning of a million ice cold ones.Watching the mother city from a distance until disappearing made me say my wishes and prayers for a safe return from the land of frost bites and avalanches (Antarctica).Even though my ears have heard lots of uncomfortable stories about this destination but I hoped that her bark is going to be worse than her bite.
S.A Agulhas
S.A Agulhas is 28 years old, is still in good shape, runs pretty smooth and has been transporting research teams to & from the Antarctica since birth.She carries two helicopters on the deck, two rafts(one on each side) which hold up to 80 people each for emergency situations, a few tanks of reserve fuel, cargo containers and 3 caterpillars.Safety information and precautions during the fire drill took a few teeth out of the ocean's ugly reputation. The ocean makes the red & white machine to be a bit antifriendly, I was starting to get sea sick but a positive mind and nice food cured me into a new sea man. Her cabins consists of 4 bunk beds, a shower, a small lounge to relax in, and a television set mounted with a VHS tape machine. High voices and laughter can be heard from the bar where drinks are served at a price.
The Ocean
So massive, so beautiful yet so intimidating, the ocean is an untameable and commanding feature of currents. The Agulhas is a very small drop in the ocean, but the conflict of the two is felt and very visible. The rocking of the ship got worse as we sailed deep into the night. ' We will be facing a storm in the next few days' said the Chief Officer with a bit of confidence, I guess he has been on these trips so much that he has mastered the Southern weather patterns between South Africa and the Antarctica into on-point prediction. After passing Robben Island (a former prison for former political activists - now a tourist sight) there was no more land in sight, as far as my eye could reach, I could only see water, this will be the view for the next 9-10 days. The unpredictable mother of waters was at her best behaviour, hoping she stays this way until she becomes ice.
The unknown side of mother nature is yet to be seen and experienced (hoping she takes care of us as we are her flesh and blood)