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radar tranquillizzava e affievoliva
le preoccupazioni degli uomini
addetti al comando.
Le rondini antartiche
sfrecciavano nel cielo azzurro
intenso. I pinguini fendevano le
onde prodigandosi in un
incessante carosello intorno alla
nave dando il benvenuto al
"Covadonga" che si avvicinava
alla base Arturo Prat. Sullo
sfondo si intravedeva la costa a
tratti scoperta dai perenni
ghiacciai. L'aria era cristallina e
tutto ciò che si osservava era
imbevuto di un colore azzurro. Il
panorama sembrava un
paesaggio di un altro pianeta.
Un "Pattugliero" (speciale
rimorchiatore) si avvicinò per
dare il benvenuto, e quando si
incrociarono le imbarcazioni, la
nave in avvicinamento sparò
alcuni colpi a salve in segno di
Saluto.
Il Covadonga gettò l'ancora
vicino ad una petroliera, la
Rancagua. I motori restarono
accesi al minimo, precauzione
presa da tutte le imbarcazioni
affinché in caso che il mare si
geli siano pronte a muovere.
All'invito del comandante del
Rancagua gli ufficiali delle due
navi e la troupe italiana si
riunirono intorno ad una tavola
imbandita per consumare una
sontuosa cena. Lo scambio di
opinioni diede il via ad un
distensivo conversare.
Il mattino seguente si visitò la
base Prat. Gli edifici, in lamiera
ondulata rivestiti internamente
in legno a doppia parete, erano
costruiti su di un lembo di
roccia antartica. All'interno si
potevano osservare la sala di
lettura con annessa biblioteca,
l'apparecchio radio, dischi, radio
was made all the more enjoyable by an exange of opinions that gave rise
to some very interesting conversation.
The next morning, we visited the Base itself, which stood on a narrow
strip of rock, and had been constructed in corrugated iron and lined, on
the inside, with double-walled wood Inside we saw that there was a
reading room, radio, record playing equipment radio transmitter,
showers, carpentry shop and garage: everything, in fact to make the
year's stay there as comfortable as possible.
The visitors' names were entered into the register, and their passports
post-marked with the date.
Another smaller hut stood adjacent to the main building, about fifty
meters away, for use in case of fire.
They also had huskies on the Base, indispensible to scientific
expeditions, and some of them were harnessed to sledges to enable us to
photograph the surrounding landscape.
A small launch with an outboard motor was also put at our disposal, so
that we could sail right up close to the icebergs, without any danger.
From the motor launch, we were able to observe the seals basking in the
sun on the icefloes; however, as soon as we headed towards them, they
dove into the water, and swiftly disappeared.
The launch was piloted by an officer from the Base, accompanied by an
N.C.O. marksman It was his job to shoot the seals, and he could kill one
from a distance of300 mts. The seal meat was the huskies staple diet in
"winter" and it was cut up into chunks and stored in a hole in the snow.
Without warning, the officer steered the launch towards an iceberg and,
when we reached it asked us to disembark on the enormous mass of
floating ice. We then helped him slide the boat across the ice to the
opposite side, where we lowered it into the water once more. Then, we got
trasmittente, ufficio postale,
infermeria, cucina, camerate,
bagni, docce, falegnameria,
officina meccanica e altri
accessori per rendere il
soggiorno di un anno
confortevole.
Gli ospiti della base vennero
registrati sul diario e il timbro
postale apposto sul passaporto.
Adiacente alla baracca centrale,
a cinquecento metri di distanza,
sorgeva un'altra baracca di
dimensioni più modeste da
usufruire in caso d'incendio.
I cani da slitta sono
indispensabili per le escursioni
scientifiche, e così alcune slitte
vennero allestite per dare modo
alla troupe cinematografica di
poter filmare il panorama
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circostante alla base.
Un'imbarcazione leggera, una
lancia, con motore fuoribordo fu
messa a disposizione dei
documentaristi per potersi
avvicinare agli iceberg senza
timore di pericolo. Durante la
perlustrazione con la lancia si
potevano osservare le foche che,
adagiate su lastre di ghiaccio, si
godevano i raggi solari. Ma
disturbate dall'imbarcazione nel
loro riposo si gettavano in acqua
dileguandosi.
La lancia era pilotata da un
ufficiale della base
accompagnato da un graduato
tiratore scelto. Il compito del
graduato era quello di cacciare
le foche. Riusciva a centrare il
bersaglio sino da una distanza di
in and headed swiftly back to the Base.
At dinner, the Captain sat at the head of table, with his officers on either
side, and the documentary crew was also present. At a certain point the
Captain addressed the officer who had piloted the launch, asking him
how our excursion had gone. The officer's reply was somewhat
disquieting: "I spotted a killer whale that had picked up our scent,
following us at distance, and so I was obliged to land on one of the
icebergs and slide the launch across to the other side, in order to shake it
off..."
The killer whale is a mammal 15 metres long, and has a double row of
sharp teeth which it uses to tear its prey to pieces, before devouring it It
will also attack and kill a normal whale, which is twice its size. Not for
nothing, is it called a "killer whale"!
Before finally leaving the "Arthur Prat" base, we attended a Memorial
Service for Serjeant Rojas.
We set sail once more, and the "Covadonga" continued to head further
South, towards the "O'Higgins"Base. This last base was located at 7Cf
latitude, where the light is 20.000 kelvins, dawn breaks at 3.00 am. and
the sun sets at 10.30 p.m.. The "summer" temperature can be as low as -
30 "C. The mountains which tower up to the sky are covered with thick
snow, and the icebergs that form from their glaciers are enormous. The
landscape all around the Base was totally unreal. But here, the huskies"
were the real stars, as they had to work harder than anyone!
The documentary crew prepared to film the spectacular way in which
icebergs were formed — with a little help from man — and the
"Covadonga" heaved to, a safe distance from a sheer wall of ice that
formed the side of one of the mountains. A cutter, with three sailors and a
machine-gun on board, was lowered into the sea, and headed towards a