The pressure is mounting... the stress is palpable in Concarneau* where preparations are going strong, 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Under The Pole team is getting ready to weigh anchor on May 20th at 1:02 PM on the dot!<br />
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They’re also prepared to tackle the challenges of this 3rd expedition on board the WHY, which will lead Under The Pole -Emmanuelle and Ghislain Bardout, their crew, their children Robin and Tom, and of course, Kayak the dog!- to explore oceans around the globe until 2020 in order to, among other things, lead scientific and experimental programs in extreme environments and work time and again to invent the diving of tomorrow, pushing the limits of what is possible.<br />
In Concarneau, the team is clearly busy and the boathouse is being filled up at a rate of 65 knots... or at breakneck speed, if you prefer. So, one month before they set sail (onwards to Greenland!); let’s plot their position: where is the team now in their preparation phase?
If you want to take a good, hard look at some numbers, let’s lift the veil on the dream team’s impressive checklist 1 month before they set sail... To give you an idea:<br />
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- 6 diving rebreathers<br />
- 18 carbon scuba tanks<br />
- 24 1-3 liter tanks<br />
- 10 B50 oxygen and helium tanks stored on board (that being a total of 70 needed for the entire expedition)<br />
- 24 diving masks<br />
- 550 pounds of lead weights (for diving...)<br />
And that’s not all!<br />
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<strong>For the kitchen:</strong><br />
- 220 lbs of pasta and 880 lbs of flour (for the Arctic crossing, with the second stock up planned for the first stop in the beginning of July in Uummannaq, Greenland!).<br />
And 130 lbs of kibble for Kayak<br />
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<strong>As for their wardrobe?</strong><br />
- 14 types of clothing, that’s it: parkas, overalls, down jackets, micro down jackets, sleeveless micro down jackets, fleeces (not visible on the model), technical pants, technical shorts, an array of accessories (balaclava, cap, neck protector), hoodies, men’s polos, women’s polos, men’s t-shirts, women’s t-shirts, mentioning nothing of bathing suits and the like.<br />
- 60 pairs of sunglasses<br />
- 12 bottles of Azzaro perfume… 1 per person on board to start the trip off right!<br />
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<strong>Want more numbers? Well, UTP III has a long road ahead of it:</strong><br />
- 36 expedition months<br />
- nearly 50,000 miles to travel<br />
- 500 dives planned<br />
That’s it!<br />
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<strong>We’ll be back soon to follow the grand departure and learn everything about the program on the horizon. </strong><br />
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*Concarneau is located in France, in the region of Brittany, in southern Finistère.
