A wonderful day
Published on 21.03.2007 - The Arctic Arc
Good weather has finally decided to follow the expedition. Yesterday, the first day of spring was a memorable day filled with beautiful sceneries.
For two days now, the sunshine has not left the Arctic ice pack, that is, at least, the expedition's journey. "It has been one of the most beautiful days", explained Alain by telephone yesterday. "First, we followed a lead which was several kilometres wide. It looked like an inside sea. Furthermore, the sun shining on the ice pack and dancing amid the bluish ice made up some awesome landscapes. They were truly breath-taking..."
Even though this sunshine comes with freezing temperatures (-35°C yesterday evening), it enabled the two men to somewhat charge their batteries. Given that the solar panels have been damaged, Alain and Dixie do not want to run the risk of attaching them to their sledges during their progression like they would normally do. They make do with an early morning exposition of 3 hours, whilst they pack up and get the sledges ready. These three hours are not sufficient for an optimal charge but Alain has noticed this is enough to charge the batteries a minimum each day. He thinks that, at this rate, two weeks should be enough to completely recharge the batteries.
That said, suspense was also on yesterday's program given that the two men had chosen to walk along the edges of a wide lead, on ice only 10 cm thick! "Moreover, the ice kept folding limply under the weight of our sledges", said Alain. "In short, a couple of serious adrenaline rushes did sweep over us. But, we progressed 14 km in 7 hours anyway and we are now only 551 km away from the pole. We are managing well and are satisfied with the work we have accomplished so far."
