5 : Une Fleur sur les traces Shackleton

December 8, 2013 - Ushuaia, Argentina. Last moments on land before the adventure to Antarctica, following in the footsteps of the legendary Sir Ernest Shackleton! More than a month-long expedition to better understand the tragedy of the 1915 expedition. A brief stop in Chile, at the port of Puerto Williams, for a final resupply. December 9: Departure for Elephant Island via the treacherous Drake Passage where the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans meet! Marion and Loup are having trouble getting their sea legs, but not Laura, as usual… In the solitude of the hostile open sea, the children still have to manage school on board, but also prepare for Christmas in 15 days! December 11: 4:00 a.m. in broad daylight, waiting for the first icebergs. Sailing at 14 knots on a 0-degree ocean. December 12th, approaching Elephant Island, one of the legendary islands of Antarctica. No anchorage chart, heavy swell, breakers, fog, and the first icebergs… Anchoring at Point Wild was out of the question, too dangerous! Geraldine landed alone on Elephant Island, at the spot where Shackleton's crew survived after their ship, the Endurance, sank. Here, standing alone amidst thousands of penguins, is the bust of Captain Louis Pardo, another figure in this historical event and revered in Chile as a national hero. We anchored in Endurance Bay, facing the glacier of the same name. The mountains were magnificent, and the family took the opportunity to stretch their legs among the gentoo penguins! Then we headed towards the Weddell Sea and its enormous tabular icebergs, in the direction of the Antarctic Peninsula. Philippe weaves between the rocks, the shoals, the icebergs. December 13: A break on Joinville Island, in the sunshine! Seals and Adélie penguins watch the family sledding. December 17: In the heart of this white paradise, at the entrance to the Weddell Sea and its labyrinthine ice pack. The bow of Fleur Australe breaks through the ice amidst a magnificent, surreal spectacle. Poley Island cannot be reached; the ice pack forces us to turn back. Heading south along the Antarctic Peninsula, in search of the Australis flower, the only one that grows at these latitudes. December 20: Paradise Bay, then the Lemaire Channel, the most photographed place in Antarctica! The cracks in the ice pack become less frequent, and they close in behind the ship. But Fleur Australe, with repeated blows of its bow, will break through to reach the Ukrainian scientific base Vernadsky. Scientists there study the ozone layer, seismology, biology, meteorology, and the Earth's magnetic field. And this base has a bar and Edith Piaf records—perfect for preparing a good game of ice football! December 22: Pitt Island, absolute calm and a desert of ice. Then the navigation becomes more complicated towards Armstrong Island, as does the atmosphere on board. December 23: Fleur reached this island, but the morning held a very unpleasant surprise, as the boat found itself trapped between the rocky coast and the ice floe on which it was moored. An extremely perilous situation! See how the crew will get out, using machetes and Zodiacs, day and night, even on New Year's Eve 2013! On the return trip to Ushuaia, two humpback whales accompanied the family to Deception Island, the only island in the world where you can enter a crater by boat! Another whale, dolphins, and penguins escorted Fleur Australe off Livingstone Island, towards Cape Horn, passing through New Year's Eve 2014…