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