Play@YSDC

Tuesday, October 17, 1933
Melbourne, Australia


Pictured above, Victoria Docks in Melbourne, Australia

After six days in Melbourne, the expedition is ready to set sail. The new equipment is aboard, and the latest weather reports are promising. The police have given their consent to let the Gabrielle go on its way. Expedition team members are instructed to be back aboard ship by midnight on October 17th.


Loading of the SS Gabrielle at Victoria Docks

The final provisions and crated equipment are loaded in the early evening. The activity is reminiscent of New York City. Professor Moore is everywhere with his clipboard, watching and worrying. For once, the expedition members have the luxury of leaning on the rail, simply watching.

As they take their ease, three battered autos come speeding up to the berth, disgorging a dozen reporters and photographers. As if on queue, with lots of gestures and shouts, James Starkweather collars a couple of dockhands and urges them on to more rapidly load the ship. In between directing the loading, Starkweather strikes poses for the photographers and feeds the press whatever it seems to want to hear.

Once the loading of the ship seems well under way, Starkweather makes his way up the gangway. Stopping at the top to give the reporters a farewell salute, he shouts, "Thank you, lads! We'll be back in a few months!"

The S.S. Gabrielle looses her lines and slips free of the dock at 3:30 a.m. under command of a local pilot. The trip to the open ocean is uneventful. Passing through the Rip, a small launch pulls away from the Queenscliff and follows after the Gabrielle. Safely through the passage and in the open ocean, the pilot takes his leave, and returns to the lighthouse aboard the launch.


With a blast of the whistle Captain Vredenburgh turns the Gabrielle to the south--and the Ice.

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Job. (the tortured one)

Finally...
Father Rucker says to no one in particular as he gazes at the land getting away and away from them.

Katie looks back at the port as it dwindles in the distance, wondering if she'll ever see civilization again. While she has every confidence that she'll succeed, she knows how dangerous this can be even if she makes no mistakes. Then she looks forward, across the sea towards the unknown and unexplored. The thrill of impending discovery gives her a tingle.

It will a while Katie ...
The priest says as he too looks to the horizon

Martin takes a sombre photograph of the dwindling port; an inversion has blanketed the harbour smoke in a severe line across the view, seemingly underlining the seriousness of their undertaking. He then turns and captures a candid image of the priest and Miss Wright together, lost in their own thoughts of what lies ahead of them. He takes a third picture just of Katie, realising for the first time, that her strong character made her quite beautiful; a strong profile outlined against the horizon and her eyes alive with the thought of adventure.

He shuts the camera up. "Lets hope for a swift and safe voyage to the ice."

"Amen to that, right, Father?" says Katie with a smile. "Just imagine if Captain Cook could see us now. He discovered Australia, but we're going farther than he ever dreamed possible."

Øyvind sees the expedition members gathering looking at the horizon small talking by themselves. 'I miss the Ice and cold, we are going to to good over there im pretty sure' 'Ive been wondering if we find bears there, those animal are splendid i tell you' Øyvind stares first at Australia as it disappears then takes a deep breath and turns his head towards the Ice. 'My father once told me that it was his dream to visit the south pole. He died years ago... I think he would be proud of me' Øyvind smiles and walks towards the dog deck as he thinks he heard them fighting again.

Anatomist wrote:

Øyvind sees the expedition members gathering looking at the horizon small talking by themselves. 'I miss the Ice and cold, we are going to to good over there im pretty sure' 'Ive been wondering if we find bears there, those animal are splendid i tell you' Øyvind stares first at Australia as it disappears then takes a deep breath and turns his head towards the Ice. 'My father once told me that it was his dream to visit the south pole. He died years ago... I think he would be proud of me' Øyvind smiles and walks towards the dog deck as he thinks he heard them fighting again.

'No bears over there Øyvind' 'polar bears only exits in the northern hemisphere' George says to the tall Norwegian walking towards the dog sounds not sure if the man heard him.

'I hope we all make it back safe and sound, God knows that this mission is areal challenge' 'we are one hundred present relying in exceptional teamwork' 'Ill do my part i assure you all'

8:00 a.m. (ship time) – Wednesday, October 18, 1933
Pacific Ocean
Calm and clear. Sea calm with small swell. Perfect weather.

That morning, Professor Moore holds an expedition team meeting in the officer's lounge. A map of South Polar waters hangs from the wall behind him.


Referring to a sheaf of papers on his clipboard, he says, "I have here the weather news. The reports are both good and bad, but they are in fact what we were hoping for.

"It says there that spring in the far south has been extremely stormy, and that it is likely to continue that way for the next few weeks. That means two things. We are likely to meet very bad weather soon, possibly a lot of it; but it also means that the polar pack ice will be pushed out early from the Ross Sea. This last is very important indeed, for once the pack has been pushed out, we can push our own way in.

"It may have occurred to some of you that we--all of us--are going south far earlier than is customary for Antarctic expeditions. That is true, and it is a gamble. It is, however, a gamble that the Miskatonic University Expedition also made three years ago. What was successful for them will, I hope, succeed for us as well. By proceeding early into the teeth of the storm, so to speak, we gain valuable time in Antarctica. I hope to make good use of that time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job. (the tortured one)

"We're also in a race," says Katie, "so that's another reason to get there sooner. A little competition might spur us on to even greater achievements."

"Hopefully we have left the competition standing." Martin grins, imagining a Punch-style cartoon of them still asleep in their Melbourne beds.

"Sir, will we be sailing into the interior as far as we can or landing on the ice as soon as possible and continuing on foot?"

Mr. Handy wrote:"We're also in a race," says Katie, "so that's another reason to get there sooner. A little competition might spur us on to even greater achievements."

Aine wrote:"Hopefully we have left the competition standing." Martin grins, imagining a Punch-style cartoon of them still asleep in their Melbourne beds.

Professor Moore clears his throat and responds, "Yes, well, the Commander received a report that the Lexington Expedition arrived in Tasmania ten days ago. We're not certain, but we expect that they left port a few days ago, after a week of resupply. Hopefully, we've not lost much time.

"Our planned course has us entering the ice pack due north of Cape Adare, here," he pauses to point to the map, "and proceeding southward through the Ross Sea to Ross Island, where we shall make landfall. Whether this is possible depends upon the ice, of course. We will enter the pack where it seems safest, and improvise from there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job. (the tortured one)

aine wrote:"Sir, will we be sailing into the interior as far as we can or landing on the ice as soon as possible and continuing on foot?"

"Yes Martin, depending on conditions, I expect that we'll disembark onto the Ross Ice Shelf near Mount Erebus, which is as far south as one can ever get. We'll then set up a base camp on the shelf and use teams of dog sleds to lay supply caches of food and fuel, leapfrogging one another, in advance of the aeroplane flights which will take the expedition team to the Lake Campsite."

Moore traces a line on the map with his finger from the Ross Ice Shelf across the interior of the continent to an area labeled the "Victoria Quadrant". "The Lake Site is approximately one thousand miles distant from the Ross Ice shelf."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job. (the tortured one).

"If we had a catapult device like some Navy ships do," says Katie, "I could launch in a plane and do some aerial scouting before we make landfall. But then there's the problem of where to land - though that wouldn't be an issue with a seaplane."

Mr. Handy wrote:"If we had a catapult device like some Navy ships do," says Katie, "I could launch in a plane and do some aerial scouting before we make landfall. But then there's the problem of where to land - though that wouldn't be an issue with a seaplane."

The Professor chuckles at Katie's remark. "Yes, that would certainly help in establishing our base camp, Miss Wright. We wouldn't want to erect our sheds on a layer of ice covering a deep crevasse. From the air, you'd see the ice breaks and discolorations that signal a crevasse, but from the ground..." He shakes his head.

"Unfortunately," he says with a smile, "an aeroplane catapult was not on my packing list."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job. (The tortured one)

"We'll have to remember for next time, then," says Katie with a grin.

8:15 a.m. (ship time) – Wednesday, October 18, 1933
Pacific Ocean
Calm and clear. Sea calm with small swell. Perfect weather.

The Professor closes by saying, "If all goes well, we shall be set up on the Antarctic continent less than a month from today. If luck is with us, it could be much sooner than that."

...

12:00 p.m. (ship time) – Sunday, October 22, 1933
Pacific Ocean
Sear rougher, rising steadily. Sky deep gray, sun dim and pale. Wind W 20-25 mph.
Noon position 157 degrees 15' E, 53 degrees 21' S

Over the next four days, the ship pushes southward nearly a thousand miles into the cold gray sea. Winds shift hourly, are bitterly cold and at times quite fierce. The ship pitches and rolls, thrumming in the heavy swells. Those who suffer from seasickness are miserable throughout this period--the relentless heaving of the deck makes life a quiet hell.



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Job. (the tortured one)

Having long since acquired her sea legs, Katie manages to withstand the terrible weather. She occupies herself for most of the time in her cabin, studying and exercising.

George Barrow having informed himself about the hard sea affront the next time had stored all his equipment back to the boxes, making sure all the glass equipment where safely stored away. His sea legs where god enough to not make him vomit at every turn, nut the Professor would occasionally bee seen at the toilets emptying his stomach.

As usual, Øyvind stayed with his dogs, caring and making them feel comfortable. He spent many days cleaning dog puke of the cages.