The Astrolabe is a military ship, demilitarized for this mission between Hobart and Dumont d’Urville. She is 72 m long and has 8 decks. She’s a very small icebreaker. There are around sixty of us on board, including around twenty sailors.
At first, the Astrolabe was a real metal labyrinth for me. I had a lot of trouble finding my way around, and the explanations given by the crew, who are very friendly and attentive, weren’t always very clear. But you learn, you get used to it.
My room is large. I share it with 3 other women. Two of them are scientists who work aboard the boat day and night. They get up every 8 hours to launch the temperature probes into the sea (I’ll tell you about that too). I don’t want to wake them up, so I leave early with all my gear for the day and head for either the IPEV (French Polar Institut) meeting room on the officer’s deck, or the passenger lounge on the middle deck.
There are two services in the canteen: babords and tribords. There’s a laundry room and a library for those who don’t get seasick.
The gastrolabe
The Astrolabe is very comfortable. However, as it has a flat bottom to enable it to climb onto the ice and break it up, in very rough seas like the Antarctic Ocean, the boat is very listless, hence its nickname of “gastrolabe (puke + Astrolabe)”. Thanks to the sailors for leaving the bunks at hold level: you’d rather be at the base of a metronome than at the tip of its needle. We were immediately warned, and provided with a treatment for seasickness. It’s a patch you stick to the back of your ear, and its effects last for 3 days. There are a few side-effects: eyesight can become blurred, and the mouth and sinuses can dry out. But as someone who’s sensitive to motion sickness, I managed very well with the patch and was able to enjoy the crossing. That’s not the case for everyone. I know how lucky I am.
A detour to Macquarie
This year, we made a detour to Macquarie Island, to drop off some Australian scientists.
The maneuver was carried out in the early hours of the morning, and very quickly. This Australian island is renowned for its biodiversity. I was able to see dolphins (one day before), king penguins and shearwaters swimming in packs, an orca from afar, elephant seals fighting on the beach, cape checkers and giant petrels. I wish I had the lens to take better photos.
The pack
Today, December 10, I saw my first icebergs, but still no pack.
First, small ice cubes appeared, and now there are more and more of them. The smallest look like plastic bags floating on the surface of the water.
Then, in the distance, an iceberg and chunks of pack ice.
Then nothing. The pack ice broke up the day we arrived. We never saw the pack. That’ll have to wait until winter.