| Ship's Diary |
| During her time at sea, HMS Endurance will be sending back regular diaries to keep us all up to date with what is happening on this deployment. Use the links below to read extracts from the diary. |
| HMS Endurance meets Ellen MacArthur |
|
HMS ENDURANCE, the Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol vessel, recently hosted the famous solo yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur after she arrived in the wildlife paradise of South Georgia on board the yacht Tara. The two vessels passed encountered each other in the vicinity of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Base, King Edward Point (KEP) near Grytviken. It was a proud moment when the Ship’s Company finally met in person the inspirational sportswoman, whose progress they followed with such keen interest earlier this year.
During her time onboard HMS ENDURANCE she flew a reconnaissance sortie in one of the Mk 3 Lynx helicopters to survey species such as giant petrels, skua and other seabirds, while marvelling at the rugged beauty of South Georgia. The last time she had seen this particular helo and crew was during the last leg of her successful world record attempt in late January, some 600 miles South East of Rio de Janeiro. At that time she was tenaciously holding onto her lead in her trimaran B & Q. On this occasion it was a particular pleasure to exchange news and stories and find out some more of each other’s experiences. The Ship’s Company were delighted to congratulate Ellen on her success in the event. Richard Shingleton-Smith, the helicopters’ senior maintainer was thrilled when Ellen signed his copy of her book, “I admire her determination and self motivation to have achieved such incredible feats”, he remarked. Keen yachtsman, Nigel Haybittle, the ship’s Chief Bosun’s Mate, was over the moon to meet his fellow sailor. He regularly follows her progress in her sailing expeditions and enjoyed the brief opportunity to share views on tactics. Indeed he was lucky enough to join POMA(Q) Jacqueline Quant, one of HMS ENDURANCE’s medical staff, the Commanding Officer Captain Nick Lambert and others in hosting Ellen, and our other guest Sally Poncet, Tony Martin and Alison Dean (all associated with BAS and the South Georgia government) to lunch. After the all too brief visit HMS ENDURANCE headed south to insert her final team of BAS scientists for the South Georgia work period. All told 2 teams, each of 2 scientists, will be collocated in Cooper Bay until recovery by RRS Ernest Shackleton in late January 2006. One team are researching the fur seal population and the other investigating the area’s geology. Having delivered a festive hamper to the field teams the Red Plum plans to return to KEP for Christmas alongside, before returning to the Falklands for resupply and refuelling before heading into Antarctica in the New Year.
|
| Website designed and maintained by Westover Computing |