Author: Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin

Leaving for Antarctica... practically the end of the world, where everything is scaled down and man rediscovers himself, might seem like an unattainable fantasy and instead many do it, for work, carrying out scientific missions and sometimes bringing with them nostalgia for Trieste. We talk about it on an autumn afternoon, mixing everyday life, the banal gesture of sipping a coffee, with the exceptional extreme that life, at times, can give. To who? To those who are passionate, to those who are lucky, to those who dare… What does it mean to set sail for Antarctica? The captain, Tullio Russiani, smiles as the memory lights up his large Adriatic eyes. “It’s not a walk in the park but it gets you hooked, it’s a constant challenge.” Mother from Trieste but of island origins with grandfather from Piranese. “The only one with that Swiss surname, Plocher, from a family linked to the events of the Venetian Arsenal. What a story these families of ours have! I attended the Nautical School in Trieste and in 1956, I started sailing on the Liberty ships of Lloyd Adriatico. I also made two trips on the ship Toscana which carried exiles and emigrants to Australia." What memories do you have, Captain, of those trips? “I didn't like that steamship, it was a so-called slave ship: 800 people crammed into 50-bed cabins in the holds, in the summer the mattresses were removed from the bunks and the canvases were pulled to allow the air to circulate better. We called it the pregnant ship because of its particular pot-bellied shape. German ship that arrived in the Mediterranean to move troops during the war in Africa”. But how did your adventure on the routes to Antarctica begin? “Just like that. In 1965 I became a captain, on the very day my son turned three, I was on board an oil tanker, that was supposed to be my destiny, instead, after having crossed the seas of the world, I found myself heading for Antarctica. It was Easter Eve, we left with the Explora from the North Pacific.” The destination was the Ross Sea. With the captain there was also Paolo Visnovic, in charge of the scientific instruments on board, who enters into the story. “We had to lay 4.500 meters of seismic cable, basically an instrument for launching air bubbles that hit the seabed, sending significant data for geologists. You have to know that disturbances in those seas arrive with incredible speed, without warning, without giving you time to recover your instruments. It is a battle with the elements, a continuous challenge, any carelessness can mean the end of the mission, a stop to work, the nullification of so much preparation". And yet… why is it that those who have been there are struck by a sort of “Antarctica sickness” and want to return? They look at each other and smile amusedly, they know the answer, and in fact… “When you find yourself in the Strait of Magellan, and you see the wrecks that make the passage dangerous, you realize that it is certainly not a joke. But there is something in that sea, its violence, its sudden calms, its unpredictability, that makes you love it, it puts you to the test and if you talk about it it is with a sort of satisfaction for having conquered fear”. What does it mean to face the ice, Commander Russiani? “When I left Punta Arenas in '95, I had some experience in the Baltics behind me but it's a completely different thing, not the same sea and above all the unknown of the wind which when it arrives in those Antarctic seas is a unique experience, it blows at a constant 50 knots, like the worst gusts of Bora but without the intermediate pauses, and there is no way to take shelter "drio el canton", you often find yourself immersed in fog. Towards the Ross Sea the wind can blow up to 300 km per hour, then suddenly the calm comes with good weather and everything lights up, the atmosphere is clear, the colours are bright, the sea is extraordinarily beautiful. It takes hold of you, it stays inside you,” and he puts a hand on his heart. But once you arrive, 180 degrees into the Ross Sea, what happens? “We reach the Italian base, where the scientists work from November to March. Then, within a few days everything empties, when the icebreaker leaves the base it is time to leave again. Delaying could mean getting trapped, and believe me, that is an experience you don’t want to have.” It is very reminiscent of the story of Shakleton who saw his ship crushed by the pressure of the ice... "Exactly, it is an unforgiving grip, it also happened to our Explora with Captain Valles who had to make incredible maneuvers to free himself. When you face those seas, everything is calibrated by precise rhythms and discipline, even in everyday life. On board you never get bored, there are many tasks, constant surveillance, and it's terribly cold. Yet the marines at the American base throw themselves into the water to harden themselves, to try to live through those extreme conditions. In some bases they have tried to provide living conditions for families but it is very difficult." What's different over there? “The scents, the odors, for example, everything is amplified, you can feel the presence of the penguins from the smell of the guano. Orcas swim alongside the ship, seals welcome you. The ice and the sea create incredible landscapes. Silence accompanies you, it even overcomes the noise, it surrounds you. And when bad weather comes, you have to face fear, move carefully in a ship where every object is locked, otherwise it would be thrown with fury. We move without a life jacket because there is no way to wear one but we stay together at the table, with the cook who manages to prepare something, despite everything. It's hard to deal with refueling at sea but you do it and only rarely do you remember having left from the port of Trieste, from Pedocin practically, another world. Geologists of all nationalities climb aboard." And what language do we speak when we're all together? “The Triesten”. They answer. But where is the Explora now? “He is waiting, in the port of Crotone, for the funds to be released. The crisis first involved research itself. Our geologists today participate in joint initiatives to optimize funding. Marine research was especially useful for oil companies that had shifted their interests elsewhere. So pure research is done in the Antarctic bases." What does it mean to sail along the coasts of Patagonia? “It is a magical destination – they reply – a wild nature, forests overlooking navigable canals of steep walls. But when you go ashore and visit the inhabited places you find a strange mix of people. At the cemetery it seems like we are in our area due to the multitude of surnames of people of different origins, Germans but also many Croatians and Italians from our coasts. We happened to enter a farm and the owner, who heard us speaking our dialect, said: where are you from? He was from Lussignan. It's beautiful, you feel that the world every now and then reveals the unknowns and makes you feel at home." After turning sixty, Russiani, whom all scientists used to call “Uncle Tullio”, remained at home, retired, but still clearly remembers that desire to leave again that concluded each journey. Visnovic hopes to return there, answering an ancient call, the desire to explore, to discover new destinations, even within oneself, which is the true challenge, the most difficult.