21 January 2006
We're going up
by Jeremy, onboard the Esperanza
"Are we going up?", a question I ask when I see the pilot, Hughie, running around in his yellow jacket or green flying jumpsuit.
Hernan, the videographer, and I have the enviable position on the ship of being the regular passengers in Tweetie, the ships little 4 seater, one engined helicopter. We go up, flown by Hughie, and assisted by a deck crew, to observe the goings on of the whaling fleet, to document what theyre doing, and to take images which make their way to the media all over the world.
But going in the heli has its own fun, walking towards the heli in my Tom Cruise Top Gun suit I cant help but smile that Im about to fly, above the icebergs, above pods of whales, all to be able to photograph. And this is my job. It makes me smile, smug I know.
Some of the nicest moments are seeing the icebergs from above, seeing the ice below the water which shows up more blue or green, and a lot more visible than from sea level. To show his skills Hughie never fails to have fun in landing us on icebergs, touching down gently and lightly on the virgin white snow, allowing Hernan a steady, stable platform from which to film his video scenes.
Im not sure if the dramatic, acrobatic, circus turns Hughie executes are for fun or for actual need of manouevering, but they never fail to elicit stomach churning groans from Hernan and I as we hold on, white knuckled, looking out where the doors once were, to see a wall of ocean facing us. Look at the horizon Hughie once told me, I would if I could see it I replied, facing nothing but the Southern Ocean where 2 seconds ago the floor used to be.
Seeing the ship from the sky, from 700 feet, or 3,000 feet makes us realise how small our home is, and how vast this ocean is. Not something to dwell on too much. Until the next flight.
[ For some basics on heli flying, you can read a weblog from Hughie on a previous trip. ]
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