Dawn raid on the Esperanza

Life and work on the poop deck | Home | Endless rolling ocean

1 December 2005

by Lally, onboard the Arctic Sunrise

©Greenpeace/Davison
Surprise visitor.

At 4:30, as the early morning light began to filter through the heavy grey snow a small inflatable boat with 6 crew moved slowly through the icy Antarctic waters in the direction of the Esperanza. Launched under cover of darkness (actually it was light because sunrise is fairly early in these parts but darkness sounds better) from the Arctic Sunrise the small craft moved stealth like through the waves.

The mission: To board the Esperanza, raise a flag on her mast and nick a few beers from their fridge without being detected.

Snow swirled around them and visibility was reduced to near zero. Radio silence was essential to prevent detection. Losing sight of either ship wasn't a good idea. Losing sight of both was not an option. With skilful boat driving they snuck up alongside the Esperanza. Thankfully sneaking onboard ships is second nature to most of the crew onboard and after a couple of attempts, a lone figure scaled the side of the ship, crept on deck and a flag was raised with just enough time to raid the fridge...

But wait!!! Back onboard the Arctic Sunrise the radio was crackling to life...it was the Esperanza calling...Had we been busted mid raid? Was it game over? Naaaaaa. The message came through. "What are you doing so close to us? Trying to give us a push or what?" With an added bit of cunning the Arctic Sunrise had pulled up close to the Esperanza as a decoy for her radar.

So eventually, with everyone safely back onboard a toast was raised (with their beer of course). Some have called it a boat training exercise others an act of logistical excellence, a raid of military precision. Me? I call it an excuse to nick beer from the fridge on the Espy. But whichever it was, it was bloomin' funny.

As for the possibility of retaliation? Were ready for ya!

Comments

Saying hello to Andrew Davies and the crews of the Esperanza and Arctic Sunrise from Canadians Proactive group on http://www.care2.com. Sounds like you're having some fun admist some harsh weather there and have I'll have a beer with you, lol. Have your blog posted on our site, and will post the new Esperanza one you are going to make as well. We miss our own Bob Hunter & it is wonderful to see the work continue. You'll probably get a lot of reponse from care2 members as it is an environmental/human rights site, probably the largest in the world founded in Redwood California, I think, lol. Some great people here who care to make a difference and do everyday and support people and causes like Greenpeace every day. Cheers! Sunshine Ray from Toronto, Canada

Posted by: Sunshine Ray at December 2, 2005 3:06 AM

ROFLOHMSCIH
(Rolling on floor laughing outloud holding my sides cause it hurts.)

Great game. Now you need to perfect it so you can sneak aboard the whaling ships and nick a few beers.
(Along with the harpoon heads) ;-)

--b

Posted by: Brianfit at December 2, 2005 7:44 AM

Great story & courage from you all!
(It's not April 1st though so wonder if this is true or if the light is going to your head Lally :-) )

Posted by: cc at December 2, 2005 1:29 PM

Yeah, those cheeky Arctic Sunrise buggers. Let's just say we have them on our radar (literally).

And Sunshine Ray - Yep, Care2 sounds pretty cool, and we do need all the help we can get. I've set up a Care2 profile for the Esperanza - username myEsperanza. Still finding my way around (it's a big place), but will post some action alerts over there soon. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by: Andrew - Esperanza web editor at December 2, 2005 4:41 PM

Hey Hey Hey, some action underway. Sounds like the start of a great day. I raise a beer to the adventure. Keep going guys.

Posted by: MikeMate at December 3, 2005 10:23 PM

Cracking story. Glad to hear you can get the inflatables out despite the weather. Some of the reports were making me wonder if the sea might not be too heavy for them.

Posted by: martin at December 6, 2005 12:40 PM

All updates from the Southern Ocean whaling 2007 leg »
All updates from the Pacific transit »
All updates from the Mexico leg »
All updates from the Hawaii leg »
All updates from the Pacific leg »
All updates from the Philippines leg »
All updates from the India leg »
All updates from the Red Sea leg »
All updates from the Mediterranean leg »
All updates from the Azores leg »
All updates from the Pirate Fishing/Africa leg »
All updates from the Southern Ocean »

Avast ye land lubbers! The ocean critters need your help!
Take action today!