  |
#4 Endless Summer
Participants: Alun Hubbard, Dave Hildes, Marcus Kellerhals and Peter Taylor
"Gambo suffered the misfortune of being knocked down by a rogue wave...."
2-Year Polartec Challenge Expedition returns successful : Dr. Alun Hubbard Completes the Antarctic Convergence Zone Project.
June 1, 2002 – Edinburgh, Scotland. Nearly two years after beginning his ambitious multi sport expedition, Dr. Alun Hubbard has completed his "first phase" of study on the Antarctic Continent. The self reliant expedition which began in the South Pacific aboard the 48-foot sailing vessel Gambo was first conceived of during a 1998 Polartec Challenge Expedition when Hubbard climbed new routes on untouched peaks in Alaska and studied the glaciers there. Beginning in 2000, the Antarctic Convergence Zone Project combined open ocean sailing, mountaineering, scuba diving and scientific study of glaciers and the southern oceans mineral content and how these elements effect the earth’s atmosphere.
Embarking in 2000, the journey included open ocean sailing to New Zealand where necessary refitting took place to prepare the Gambo for the 1500 mile southern ocean crossing from Lyttelton (Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott’s fateful last port of call in 1910) to Patagonia. Just sailing in the higher latitudes, known as the Furious Fifties, is a major undertaking of its own, let alone heading to Antarctica. 500 miles from landfall on the first leg to South America, Gambo was hit by a rogue wave at the end of a week-long storm which included over 50 foot seas. Luckily the crew and rig escaped with "only bumps and bruises," says the understated Hubbard. Later, returning from Antarctica to the Beagle Channel in Tierra Del Fuego, the Gambo persevered winds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
Arriving in Antarctica for Christmas 2001, the team of scientists, sailors and climbers stayed busy completing ten technical alpine ascents of major mountains (six previously unclimbed); twelve scuba dives to a thirty meter depth including exploration of the sunken Glasglow whaling ship "Gouvernoren I"; multiple sea kayak exploratory trips into uncharted waters; and a new ski traverse along the Antarctic Peninsula. Their scientific study included radar sounding of icecap thickness and snow accumulation measurements to gain base data to model the response of Antarctic Peninsula ice masses to climate change; and water and sediment sampling to investigate the incidence of naturally occurring metals and nutrients in glacier runoff and how this contributes to marine life in the southern ocean.
Hubbard is already busy planning his "second phase" back to Antarctica having left the Gambo moored in Puerto Williams near the Cape Horn. His long term goal is to continue with his exploratory adventures whilst carrying out crucial climatic change research and environmental monitoring of glacial recession.
|
