While waiting two years and three months to be rescued when their sloop Favorite was shipwrecked at Kerguelen in 1825, the British sealer and cartographer John Nunn and his crew spent some miserable months trying to survive on Saddle Island (now called Ile de l’Ouest) at 49°17’59” South, 70°31’56” East, buffeted by the merciless westerly winds.
Nunn concluded that there was a better chance of being discovered on the southeastern part of Grande Terre, the main island, so his group gradually skirted the southern coast in search of a place to settle in. (Image above is extracted from page 148 of Narrative of the Wreck of the “Favourite” on the Island of Desolation: detailing the adventures, sufferings and privations of J. Nunn, an historical account of the Island, and its whale and seal fisheries, by NUNN, John. Original held and digitised by the British Library. )
After passing Shoal water Bay (now called Baie Norvégienne), they were eventually able to find an area suitable for monitoring passing ships at Long Point (now called Pointe Charlotte) on the East coast of Courbet Peninsula, where they built two comfortable cabins which they baptized Hope Cottage.
The group was finally spotted in 1827 by Captain Alexander Distant on the schooner Sprightly, belonging to the celebrated shipowner Enderby of London. Nunn and his crewmates joined the Sprightly in hunting whales and elephant seals until 25 March 1829, at which point they were finally returned to Harwich, England four years after the shipwreck.
In 1997, the French post office issued a 20-franc air mail stamp to commemorate the shipwrecks and the construction of Hope Cottage.
Thanks and credit: Kerguelen Islands, French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Part 1) – Iles Kerguelen, TAAF (discoverfrance.net)
October 29, marks the fifty-fourth anniversary (1969-2023) of the birthday of Marambio Joint Antarctic Base (
Last mid september 2023, a patrol from the Joint Antarctic Base Belgrano II (
Antarctica, this remote and mysterious Continent, arouses the curiosity of many people. If you’ve ever considered working there, you’ve probably wondered what the pay is for working in Antarctica. What follows, highlight the different job opportunities on this Continent. To give a more accurate idea of salaries in Antarctica, here are some examples of compensation for different types of jobs:
To find job openings in Antarctica, it is recommended to check the websites of the organizations that run research bases on the continent. These organizations include:
The Chilean Antarctic Institute (
Amateur Radio activities,will be carried out with the purpose of contribute to spreading the presence and operation of the only Antarcticbroadcasting radio station.
LRA 36, Radio National “Arcángel Sas Gabriel”, is located at 63º 23′ South and 56º 59′ West, in the “Sargento Cabral” blockhouse at Esperanza Base, to the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. In front of the bay is the Antarctic Strait, and the Base is at the foot of Mount Flora, an important paleontological site. It is the only shortwave station that Argentina has in Antarctica, and transmits 15,476 KHz. Since this year, transmissions cover 12 months.
Congrats to Philippe Laurent F6FHO for the Top HR 
Another sad news among the Antarctic chasers and Ham radio community. Prof. Carlo Raso, IK5IWU passed away last week at the age of 82.
Keen DXer, Carlo has been the soul and the organizator of several Antarctic Activity Weeks mostly done at the Italian Air Force Bases. We must remember: II2AMI (
