Dixie Dansercoer arrives in Antarctica 04/01/2008 00:00

Dixie Dansercoer and Michel Tordoir on board Euronav Belgica

4 January 2008 - The South Pole expedition led by Dixie Dansercoer arrived in Antarctica New Year's Eve. The polar explorers travelled from the southern part of Argentina to the South Pole the last week of 2007.

Dixie Dansercoer and his team encountered various problems.

Due to the bad weather conditions the gig of the sailboat's main sail broke and they had to seek temporary refuge in Cape Horn.

The experienced captain Michel Tordoir and expedition leader Dixie Dansercoer were able to manage a makeshift repair and the boat reached Antarctica safely.

The gig of the main sail will be repaired soon. In the footsteps of de Gerlache
Dansercoer and his team are re-enacting the twenty landings by Adrien de Gerlache 110 years ago. The expedition is therefore called ‘In the wake of the Belgica’. The Belgica was Adrien de Gerlache’s boat.

Dixie Dansercoer and his team are taking measurements and gathering data to compare with Gerlache's data from 1897.

This includes measurements of the ice and its thickness, and a record of the fauna. The idea is to determine how the region has changed over the past century.

Dansercoer and his team have already made successful landings on Harry Island, Cobalescou Island and Two Hummock Island.

copyright flandersnews.be