Crónicas X

Day 22

2011-10-29T11:43:00.000+03:30

We r almost at our final destination, Oahu. Currently @ 21º 26.7' N, 158º 55.8' W.It's funny, there's a "farewell" feeling, as when vacations are finished, but at the same time, everyone is glad to touch land...It was great and I had the chance to share with great people!See you soon!!!! Sometime on Tuesday, I'll be back in Sydney.Tavo

Day 21

2011-10-28T10:21:00.000+03:30

Today we spotted the island of Nihoa. Very impressive, at least from afar.We are now moving East on the way to the port. We are still more than 24 hours away. I started copying files, sharing pics, writing emails... Sunsets have been great. Days a bit long, now that the adventure is finished. We are all thinking about a pizza, a beer, and the beach!Cheers,Gustavo

Day 20

2011-10-27T08:47:00.000+03:30

We are now @ 23º 51.22 N, 164º 35.00 W cruising near Necker Island, doing some mapping on our way back. To map better, we slow down to 6 knots, otherwise the mapping quality diminishes dramatically. It's been 20 days since we departed from Honolulu. It has been a great experience so far, but I can\t wait to be on firm land, now that the exciting part is over.I have no clue what's going on in the

Day 19

2011-10-26T08:57:00.000+03:30

We are about to head E to Oahu, leaving behind Gardner Pinnacles. In three days we'll get to Honolulu. Today was an easy day on board. I spent a lot of time in the back deck where you get the less noise and the less rolling. Not much to tell. It's been many days without news and without cellphone... not bad after all.Saludos,Tavo

Day 18

2011-10-25T14:53:00.000+03:30

We are now transiting around the N side of Gardner Pinnacles to map, and from tomorrow we will start our way back.Today we had our last dive. Dave and Jenny collected samples at between 1900 and 1600 meters of water depth. They investigated a massive huge barrier-reef that surrounded the Pinnacles many millions of years ago. The samples confirmed this hypothesis. It was a cool day on board, not

Day 17

2011-10-24T09:04:00.000+03:30

We are on transit on the Eastern side of Gardner Pinnacles, heading to the last diving site, at the very NW of this huge submarine 'island', which is Gardner Pinnacles. We will investigate a structure that from the bathymetry data seems to be a huge barrier-reef, which was possibly developing on the NW of the ancient volcano, as the island sunk, few million years ago. The actual Pinnacles, which

Day 16

2011-10-23T10:33:00.000+03:30

Now @ 25º21.09 N, 167º53.39 W heading to our next dive site, 21:00 Hawaii time.They launched a remote operated vehicle to inspect the bottom. It doesn't look very interesting so far... let's wait and see. Today I was down at 1200 mbsl with Juan Carlos and Terry, the pilot. It was very cool. We saw more animals than in my first, deeper, dive. There was a dead octopus with a body measuring more

Day 15

2011-10-22T10:51:00.000+03:30

We are on the N flank of Gardner Pinnacles on transit to out next dive site.It was a loooong day on board. Jenny dived to a very interesting basaltic outcrop. Tomorrow I dive with Juan Carlos down to 1100 mbsl. on the N slope. Night is starry, we can see a very bright Jupiter and the dark stormy clouds in the horizon that contrast with the starry skies.All ok, but I'm off to bed... tomorrow I

Day 14

2011-10-21T10:39:00.000+03:30

I'm starting to loose track of time, I was not sure which day of the week it was. We are now cruising on the W side of Gardner Pinnacles to the next dive site. 21:00 Hawaii time. Tomorrow Jenny will go with two pilots to investigate what seems to be the headwall of a slide, NW of G.P.It was a loooong boring day of transit. I read a 400 page book in 1.5 days. Mapping was good. Saludos,Tavo

Day 13

2011-10-20T12:53:00.000+03:30

We are now going back to Gardner Pinnacles. Sea is getting worse, there was a thunderstorm, and boat start to wobble after few days of calm waters. I was slightly sick today but a good nap and a dramamine helped loads. I haven;t been sick to the point of being useless, but still... Good night,Tavo

Day 12

2011-10-19T10:07:00.000+03:30

Bio's had their penultimate dive. Currently cruising at 22º22.4 N, 167º17.7 W, 20:30 Hawaii time.The sea was even flatter than yesterday's! The surface was glossy, silky. Clouds reflecting on the endless ocean water. All of it gave the illusion of being in some endless flat depression of blue terrain. A strange panorama. There were some birds, and loads of plankton floating around, which seemed

Day 11

2011-10-18T13:07:00.000+03:30

Bio's had another dive. The pics were very nice, a bunch of strange corals and sponges with funny shapes. They recovered a Manganese rock from the bottom. Cool.We are now transiting to the next spot, currently @ 22º37.2 N, 166º51.9 W, 23:36 Hawaii time.Today the sea was very calm, I can guess that if this is what Magellan found after passing the windy Patagonian seas, then the name Pacific is

Day 10

2011-10-17T07:17:00.000+03:30

The bio's dive just finished. We are now @ 21º56.62' N, 167º19.33 W, 17.45 Hawaii time.All ok, I was sea sick yesterday for a while, but today I'm ok. We spent the afternoon reviewing the videos of the other dives, realizing what we missed or not...Not much going on today. Saludos,Tavo

Day 9

2011-10-16T13:34:00.000+03:30

All ok, I didn't copy the coordinates today, bt we are not far from our last dive point and cruising to the next, some miles to the NE. It's almost mdnight Hawaii time. Today it was a long day... it felt long.Now off to bed.Saludos,Tavo

Day 7

2011-10-15T07:51:00.000+03:30

We are now above Necker ridge @ 21º33.78' N, 168º14.52' W, 18:15 Hawaii time.The Baco-Taylor team had their first dive. They brought up a bunch of deep sea corals and sponges and are now in the lab taking care of every sample as I write. They put samples in ethanol, in a RNA preserver, whole branches for morphology, etc. etc... and they keep that at different temperatures (-20ºC and -80ºC) to

Day 7

2011-10-14T08:56:00.000+03:30

Now @ 23º33.78' N 168º14.52 W, 19:00 Hawaii time.Since last evening the wind has been increasing and the swell is now strong. The dive in program was cancelled, and the plans changed. With bad weather, it becomes difficult to launch and pick up the sub safely. Now we are heading south to the Necker Ridge, an underwater chain running SW-NE in the middle of the Pacific, where the bio's plan to

Day 6

2011-10-13T10:22:00.000+03:30

Current position 24º36.152' N, 168º16.115 W @ 20:30 Hawaii time. Now transiting to our next dive site.We dived to 1700m below sea level on SW of Gardner Pinnacles! Dave, Terry (our pilot) and I departed from the surface at 8.30.It's amazing out there, or down there, rather. A whole pristine world in the dark. Not a sign of marine trash. Few animals (corals, shrimps, fish, anemonae), some rocks

Day 5

2011-10-12T10:22:00.000+03:30

@ 24º25.63' N, 167º49.95 W @ around 19:00 Hawaii time.Transiting to our next dive site.Second dive successful. Interesting samples. Bio's and geo's happy. Sun bath on the main deck... it felt like a vacation cruise for 5 minutes. No cocktails, though.Tomorrow I dive to 1700m water depth with Dave and Terry, it will be cold, few ºC. Very exciting, I feel like Jacques Cousteau and I do have a wool

Day 4

2011-10-11T09:13:00.000+03:30

First dive @ SE Gardner Pinnacles @ 2000m depth with Charlotte and Dave. Now transit @ 24º37.8'N, 167º44.7'W 19:45 Hawaii time.23 samples gathered from what seems to be carbonate walls. Samples themselves consist of a variety of corals, some algae, and some other material to be identified, many covered by black metal oxides. All indicates that we are sampling a miocene (?) reef that is now @

Day 3

2011-10-10T07:24:00.000+03:30

24º 02.15' N, 166º20.45' W @ 17:50 Hawaii time.All ok. Transit time day reading, talking, learning about biology, genetics, geology, oceanography, chit chat. Few birds near the boat.Tomorrow is the first dive. Dave and Charlotte will go down to 2000m water depth! Dave and Jenny r optimising the track and reviewing the targets. Exciting. Gus

Day 2

2011-10-09T07:27:00.000+03:30

We r now passing the coord 22º57.8' N, 162º56.2' W, 17:50 Hawaii time, Heading WNW @ 10 knotsAll ok. Quiet day, it passed QCing the dive points & mapping tracks, reading, talking, editing pics. No nap today.Tonight: a movie. Saludos!

Day 0, 1

2011-10-08T10:30:00.000+03:30

All ok, except 4 Charlotte being sick from the boat. Hopefully she will recover quickly. We r now near the point 21º47.5', 159º28.3' W, just off the southern shore of Kauai. Pity it's night, we can't see the view! We just had a first science-team meeting where each team (bios and geos) explained their objectives and expectations... geological history and biodiversity put in two words. All very

THANKS - The day after and way to Rabat

2010-04-13T18:11:00.001+04:30

Blisters, heat, diarrea, cramps, muscular pain, swollen ankles, limited water, long distances, infinite times, liophilized food, powerbars, powergels, salt tablets... no more of that for now, but neither of all the extreme emotions and stron companionship of the latter days. We made it to Ouarzazate after more than six hours of bus. We went to the hotel and after a super shower that removed a

Stage 7 completed

2010-04-13T17:28:00.001+04:30

Last day was again hard. As I told you in the last post, I arrived among the last 50 in the Marathon stage. This meant that I had to start the final stage one hour earlier. It seemed not very exciting to be among the last 50 of stage 6 but it turned out differently... The 50 started running when still the other 900 participants were fixing their backpacks and the route passed all throughthe

0394--Stage 6 completed

2010-04-10T01:50:00.000+04:30

Very hard again. My left leg is very swollen and I start having other muscular pain on the right leg. Together with the blisters, this made it harder today than yesterday, in a way. I could hardly run for 1 hour or so. Howver today's landscape was quite different from the other days -or perhaps I had more time to look!Wolt and Luca did quite good again, and Toni one guy from Slovenia in my tent

0394--Stage 4-5 completed

2010-04-09T02:04:00.000+04:30

Estuvo rudo. I walked for some 21 hours in a row. Longest pause: 20 minutes. I thought I could do faster and in that way avoid the decay of energy and the soring of my feet, but I had a strong muscular pain all from the first kilometer. After 72 km that pain was mixed with the pain of the blisters and the tiredness. At around 4.30am I decided to run and forget about physical pain. I did so for

0394--Stages 1, 2, 3 completed

2010-04-07T02:45:00.000+04:30

It has been hard, we have already run 104.5 km. Heat is awful, blisters too, but we are doing a good job. Luca is running amazingly well (top 30-40) Wolt as well (almost top 50). Nina (adopted member of our team) is also runnning very swiftly. I am doing it more discretely but I have improved with every passing day in the general position. Every day I learn something new that helps me in the next

Primer contacto.

2010-04-03T15:20:00.000+04:30

Hola a todos, mi nombre es Yelitza, escribo estas breves líneas para contarles un poco como va la carrera de nuestro querido amigo Tavo. Tavo llego ayer a un lugar llamado Ouarzazate, tuve el privilegio de hablar telefónicamente con el y me comento algunas cosas. Son alrededor de 1000 participantes, todo muy bien organizado hasta el momento, traslados, comidas, etc.

otro test antes de escribir

2010-04-03T13:51:00.000+04:30

ayhope! Explore the seven wonders of the world Learn more!

TEST

2010-03-31T17:53:00.001+04:30

Communication / Marathon des Sables

2010-03-31T17:50:00.001+04:30

Dear Friends, Queridos Amigos: Tomorrow we fly to Paris on our way to Ouarzazate, Morocco. We have almost everything set, but as you can imagine, we will be fixing our backpacks many more times before Sunday, when the race starts. In case you are interested, the following links will allow you all to follow up our adventure. 1) You can FOLLOW the race through the official site:

Número 12: (Un refrito de algo que escribí hace más de año y medio) Soy un hijo de la grandísima...

2010-01-22T05:08:00.000+03:30

...Globalización. Sin duda alguna, soy un hijo de la globalización. Y creo que me gusta. Me encuentro en West Hampstead, no muy lejos de Abbey Road, allí donde algunas décadas atrás los Beatles grababan uno de sus álbumes. Estoy llegando de Teherán, y me pasaré esta noche en casa de mi amiga italiana Francesca. Acabamos de llegar de cenar en compañía de mi amigo Gabriel, el pibe, hijo de

Número 11: Taxi

2008-03-16T12:55:00.004+03:30

Mención aparte merecen unos personajes que, en cierta manera, son protagonistas de mi vida Iraní: los taxistas. De ellos dependo cada fin de semana o también los días de trabajo para ir a cenar, a encontrarme con amigos o, eventualmente para los viajes de fin de semana. Con ellos discuto sobre la vida Iraní, el sistema, su vida personal, mi vida menos personal, y, por supuesto, el precio. En

Número 10: The Little People

2008-03-13T12:37:00.001+03:30

Un juego que a veces recuerda Risk, a veces recuerda al Monopolio (marcas registradas por si las moscas!) es el que juegan nuestros gobernantes. Y discúlpenme si como ejemplo pongo a juegos venidos del imperio mismo, pero es que yo crecí en la cuarta republica cuando aún eramos, según el discurso de aquél señor, el 52gésimo estado de la Unión después de Puerto Rico. Es más, creo que jugué más a

Número 9: Un cigarro

2007-12-17T01:05:00.000+03:30

A las doce y media de la noche subo al taxi. El sólito saludo, la sólita conversación. El pregunta a dónde voy… yo no pregunto por cuánto porque de todos modos conozco lo que debo pagar, riales más, riales menos. Esta vez no hay música pop iraní, sino más bien una radio mal sintonizada con canciones que parecen tradicionales, a veces, o con algún locutor hablando, otras. Bajamos por Sarallah

Número 8: De cómo salir en un periódico electrónico iraní y hacerse patear por una mula en menos de dos días.

2007-12-10T00:36:00.000+03:30

En Junio tuve uno de esos fines de semanas que a la noche del primer día parecen lo más normal del mundo. Sales del trabajo, llegas a casa, organizas algo, quizás vas a cenar con algunos amigos, esperando con ansiedad esa mañana del jueves para poder dormir sin la obligación de despertarse con una alarma. Aquel jueves supongo que fue así, aunque habiendo pasado ya unos cuantos meses no lo

Artículo: Venezuela, país ocho cilindros

2007-11-12T17:35:00.000+03:30

Unos días después de escribir el blog número 6, encontré este artículo en El Universal:Consumo de gasolina desafía plan petroleroMARIANNA PÁRRAGAEL UNIVERSALQue Venezuela "es un país ocho cilindros" se le ha escuchado decir más de una vez al ministro de Energía y Petróleo y presidente de Pdvsa, Rafael Ramírez, y es completamente cierto. Según cifras oficiales, el consumo interno de derivados

Artículo: Fellow travelers

2007-11-10T10:34:00.000+03:30

Esto me lo envió mi tía Nene y me pareció interesante:The New Fellow-Travelers> Why actors and models love to hang out with Hugo Chávez.> By Anne Applebaum> Posted Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, at 8:09 PM ET>> Ninety years ago this week, a Bolshevik mob stormed the Winter Palace> in St. Petersburg, arrested the provisional government, and installed> a "dictatorship of the proletariat" in its place.

Numero 7: Dos tierras y media hora

2007-11-10T10:02:00.000+03:30

A simple vista pareciera que este país, cuna de la revolución Islámica, no tuviera nada que ver con la tierra de la revolución Bolivariana. Se pensaría que esta tierra de religión, de guerra reciente y de rebeldía política está, en todo sentido, muy lejos de la tierra de Bolívar… Que esta tierra de sociedades conservadoras, de movimientos discretos, de mujeres cubiertas y de extensa aridez no

Número 6: Otro paciente, por favor

2007-11-10T09:48:00.000+03:30

Ahora nos cambiaron el carro. Antes teníamos un Peugeot igualito a los otros millones de Peugeot que hay en Irán. De hecho la oferta es limitada, y probablemente los precios de unos 8 o 9 modelos ensamblados en Irán son mucho más accesibles que todos los demás, lo que resulta en que todos tienen el mismo carro. Solo algunos tienen suficiente dinero o un carro demasiado viejo para poder romper,

Itinerario: Nepal

2007-09-18T20:43:00.000+03:30

Hace algunos años no habria pensado que veria los Himalayas tan joven (considerando lo lejos, lo costoso...). Sin embargo, este 25 de septiembre estare volando a Kathmandu apra encontrarme con mi compañera de montaña y gran amiga, Yelitza.Queria compartir esto con ustedes, porque, bueno, para los que me conocen, pueden estar imaginandose lo mucho que significa este viaje para mi, con el

Numero 5: Agua color té / Enero 2007

2007-04-09T19:11:00.000+03:30

Hay un país bananero, digo petrolero, en el norte del sur, el paraíso de los paraísos a veces y el infierno de los infiernos otras, y ni lo uno ni lo otro sino todo lo contrario de vez en cuando. La tierra surrealista de abundancia casi absurda en donde todo es posible, desde lo mas agrio hasta lo mas noble… Bienvenidos a Venezuela.Allí pasé otro diciembre como es costumbre. Cómo la pasé de bien

Número 4: Semana de realidad virtual

2006-10-20T16:24:00.000+03:30

La pelicula iraní continúa. Los personajes se multiplican (y hasta algunos se reproducen). Las historias se complican, la trama se vuelve más densa. Sin embargo, el personaje principal sigue igualito, igualito de diferente, diría yo. La luz que llega a la camara se hace menos intensa con la llegada del otoño y los ánimos se apaciguan de consecuencia. Aquí les va otra escena.Estuve en Oslo la

Número 3: Essen verboten

2006-10-20T16:22:00.000+03:30

Conocí a la primera persona HIV positivo (que yo lo sepa). En este ir y andar de gente de cualquier lugar del mundo que se encuentran en Teherán de repente, me vi un día yendo de compras al bazar de los viernes con una señora mauritana, una belgo-americana, una española y un iraní. La pasamos súper bien y compre mi primera alfombra. Buen día… y buena alfombra! Ya la verán, estoy orgulloso de mi

Itinerario: Turquía

2006-10-20T16:18:00.000+03:30

Estuve en Turquía unos 10 días en agosto. La ruta fue Istambul-Ankara-Capadocia-Anatalia-Kash-Bodrum. Genial, fue divertido. Tengo mas fotos, pero he tenido problemas para cargarlas... en otro post pondre mas fotos de Turquía, espero que lo disfruten.

Número 2: Brother has arrived

2006-08-07T14:32:00.000+03:30

Aquí les dejo el No. dos de las crónicas de una república analcohólica. Ocho de la mañana, sueña el despertador ya por segunda vez. Para no variar, no logro alzarme. En 15 minutos debo estar listo para no hacer esperar ni al chofer, ni al otro colega con quien comparto carro. Logro levantarme, me cepillo los dientes, me pongo el ventiúnico pantalón, una camisa planchada y listo, a planta baja.

Número 1: Dejando Italia

2006-08-06T15:07:00.000+03:30

Ahora me encuentro en Teherán. Les escribo desde un apartamento que para describirlo en una palabra se podría decir que es impersonal, con muebles pero vacío, con pisos de mármol y acabados de regular calidad. Está situado en el norte de Teherán. En la época del Shá, esta zona de la ciudad era de las menos desarrolladas, con casonas de lujo, incluyendo un par de ellas pertenecientes al mismo Shá

Bienvenidos Bienvenus Benvenuti Welcome

2006-08-05T20:51:00.000+03:30

Bienvenidos a mi blog. Me negaba a crearlo, pero creo que hara las cosas más fáciles. Será más fácil enviar el link con la actualización, que un megamail de cuatro páginas.Próximamente continuaré publicando las "Crónicas de una república analcohólica"... el Número 1 ya lo haré llegar al blog. El Número dos está ya listo.I will publish comments number 1 and number 2 very soon. In spanish though!