Stealth Journeys with the Steam Mapper

Chapter 21: MYKA Retells Ancestral Voyages

As the research vessel passed between Australia and New Zealand, and drew closer to Ross Bay of Antarctica, Stef was thinking of Sir Steven Payne, the original Steam Mapper, and his final journey.  The journey was  done secretively in an attempt to steal back the specially designed submersible essential to his mission to detect hydrothermal vents for capturing steam energy. 

After hearing MYKA tell of Jacques Cousteau's near fatal trip to Antarctica, StLF tried to imagine just how Sir Steven's journey might have gone down.  Literally.  The story MYKA  shared of near disaster for the Cousteau explorers was amazing and hearing it gave Stef a new appreciation for the heroic risks Sir Steven experienced.

MYKA  was thinking of Great-grandfather Jacques and Great-grandmother Simone and Great Uncle Philippe as they traveled for several months in Antarctica to study whales.   They ended up very nearly drowning in Hope Bay in early February, just before their departure date from Antarctica.  The Cousteau trip had been planned very carefully with the help of NASA, which gave Calypso instrumentation to use three satellites directly in monitoring weather conditions and using satellite photographs to monitor ice packs as an important assist in navigation.

The harrowing tale of a very near shipwreck of the Calypso, just as summer ended and extremely cold weather was fast approaching, was often repeated during family gatherings as they reminisced about the extreme bravery of the first generations to circle the world on the Calypso.

The fateful day began as a calm one, allowing Great Uncle Philippe the opportunity to dive along a giant iceberg.   NASA's satellite data indicated that a depression would bring a typical storm by the following day.  But, data can deceive.   A very sudden blustery snow storm descended on the ship out of the blue, sharply reducing visibility.

The tempest was one of those of historical accounts of sailing ships coming into utter destruction.  The suddenness allowed for no time to reel in the anchor.  The winds violently pelleted the Calypso with huge ice chunks.   All on board tried in vain to avoid a massive iceberg that crashed into Calypso's hull, resulting in a hole two feet above the waterline.  It also slammed into one of the two propellers on the ship, seriously damaging it.   A blizzard of 65 knots, then 85 knots, then 100 knots- hurricane force- kept the ship spinning because it was still anchored.  Realizing they could not remain moored, because of the potential of a massive glacier close by that could calve at any moment, causing a tidal wave that would overtake the ship, the crew somehow brought up the anchor.

With only one good propeller, the ship limped to a narrow bay in hopes of protection from crashing glaciers.  The ship's problems worsened.  The starboard propeller was bent, but now the shaft of the port propeller was broken.  They could only rely on the starboard engine, meaning they could only turn in one direction.  Now they were faced with surviving the storm by traveling in a circle.

After three days, the storm subsided, and the time arrived to use the lull in weather to head for safety, which involved traveling through some of the stormiest seas on the planet.  Later, it was discovered that the one usable bent propeller was on a shaft where four of five bolts had disappeared in the storm.   Had that fifth bolt broken free, the crew would have been stranded in a blizzard and most probably, all lives lost.

MYKA  related this story of the dangerous journey involving three Cousteau lives, emphasizing that father, sons, and grandsons, had all put themselves in danger on many occasions.  Many of the close calls for Jacques had involved risky business with types of his Aqua-Lung inventions and attempting dangerous dives by apnea, using no breathing devices whatsoever.

Other times, for filming purposes, dangerous creatures, such as great white sharks would be lured to their undersea filming site. Cousteau was quick to say that sharks don't attack people, any more than people attack their breakfast (well, maybe some do).   Sharks are feeding machines and people behaving like fish get their attention because these sharks are going after edibles and people do qualify.  Sharks are also attracted to electrical fields thanks to their special sensing organs known as the ampullae of Lorinzini.   This helps in detecting prey because many organisms have electrical currents, humans included.

Photographers filming underwater from "shark-proof" cages certainly have powerful strobe lights and other electronics along with them.   All of that electronic energy, from breathing apparatus and communication devices, and so on, could be enough to get any shark excited. And so those mishaps occur, when a really big voracious "Great White" or two or three all take note and work themselves into a feeding frenzy.   The Cousteau clan often shared stories of frantic retrievals of shark cages that were seriously damaged, with tubes and ropes nearly severed.

Jacques was in the thick of it, because his rule was to be the first to test out a project, to be willing to be the first to put himself in danger, to be responsible for all others working with him and for him.   Some early disasters with loss of life, made him vow to take every precaution possible.  If any doubts, call it off.

Some extremely dangerous work, such as undersea cave diving, meant days of observations of weather and tides and carefully calculating the amount of oxygen usage, depths and pressure and distances of the entire diving trip.  Even with the careful planning, unforeseen variables could turn such a complicated dive into a hair-raising event.

MYKA's  storytelling had StLF spellbound.   Some parts of the stories were familiar.  But, there was so much more about Cousteau's inventions and service in the French navy, and work with NASA, and his great devotion to many environmental causes, that Stef felt that having Jacques Cousteau as a "lifelong" hero and inspiration was a very wise choice.