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South of Sixty - life on an Antarctic base
The Antarctic in the 1960s meant melting snow for bathwater, coal stoves and huskies. Each year a few men were landed with a year's supply of food. The nine or ten men were then isolated for nine months. There was no way to leave. You had to get on with the others.
The only outside contact was radio transmission. Personal communication was a hundred words a month. There was no television, DVD, Internet or email.
The first winter for Michael was at Deception Island, a dormant volcano. The harbor was sheltered so there was a British, an Argentinean and a Chilean base on the small island.
The second winter was spent on a small rocky promontory connected to a ninety mile glacier, Adelaide Island. As with the first base Michael ran the the husky team. He had three camping trips on the ice.
In 2005 Michael was an Antarctic tourist. The changes seen were more whales and many more visitors. South of Sixty contrasts the Antarctic of the 10960s with that of the twenty-first century.
The only outside contact was radio transmission. Personal communication was a hundred words a month. There was no television, DVD, Internet or email.
The first winter for Michael was at Deception Island, a dormant volcano. The harbor was sheltered so there was a British, an Argentinean and a Chilean base on the small island.
The second winter was spent on a small rocky promontory connected to a ninety mile glacier, Adelaide Island. As with the first base Michael ran the the husky team. He had three camping trips on the ice.
In 2005 Michael was an Antarctic tourist. The changes seen were more whales and many more visitors. South of Sixty contrasts the Antarctic of the 10960s with that of the twenty-first century.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2006
5 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Michael Warr
2 booksMike lived in the Antarctic for two years in the 1960s. He drove huskies, melted snow with coal stoves and was like the 5 to 10 other men on the bases isolated for nine months.
He now lives in Canada. "South of Sixty" was an account of his Antarctic experience.
Mike enjoys murder mysteries. Having taken six Antarctic cruises he wrote
"Murder in the Antarctic".
He runs marathons for exercise.
He now lives in Canada. "South of Sixty" was an account of his Antarctic experience.
Mike enjoys murder mysteries. Having taken six Antarctic cruises he wrote
"Murder in the Antarctic".
He runs marathons for exercise.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 2, 2019
Warm, engaging memoir
In 1963 20-year-old Michael Warr signed up for a two-year hitch with the British Antarctic Survey as a meteorologist in the Antarctic. He kept a diary. “South of Sixty” is the diary transformed into a most engaging memoir forty years later by the now sixty-year-old Michael Warr.
I recently read Charles Darwin’s famed “Voyage of the Beagle,” and while Warr’s account of his adventures is modest compared to that masterpiece, it is nonetheless similar in some respects. They went to some of the same places, Montevideo and the Falkland Islands, for example; and while Warr didn’t circumnavigate the globe, he did get a lot colder than Darwin even did! And both men transcribed their notes some years after the event. There is a certain charm in such narratives perhaps because the writer gets to look back at the life of a younger man who was himself.
The further similarity that struck me was the love of learning and exploring that both men share. Like Darwin, Warr observes the flora and fauna and takes a delight in what he sees. His interaction with the huskies that pull the sledges, full of warmth and understanding, was one of the highlights of the book. Here’s an example of Warr’s clean, crisp prose:
“In May 1958 three men from the Horseshoe Island base sledged west to the Dions. They were not seen again. Nine of their fourteen huskies made their way back to the Horseshoe Island and the Stonington Island area. The dogs had traveled east for thirty miles over broken sea ice. One of the men, to give the dogs a chance at surviving, had cut their traces.” (pp. 111-112)
Whenever I read a memoir I can’t help but read between the lines, asking myself, what kind of person is the author? What does he think of himself? How candid is he? How much or how little does he try to make himself look good? The magic of this book is that Warr doesn’t attempt to make himself out in any way. He lets the words of the 20-year-old that he once was speak for themselves. What comes through is an earnest, likeable, and talented young man learning about the world. His interactions with the other “Fids” at the two bases suggest a young man eager to learn from others and eager to take his place in that unique world of men, a world that was in some respects like being in the army or in the French Foreign Legion or even in prison! Warr adapted so well that when it came time to leave after two years of virtual isolation, he was a bit sorry to go and even wanted to stay longer. Personally I think I would be rabid with cabin fever.
Warr describes the penguins, the seals, the flying birds and the few other bits of wild life that he encounters in a way that makes them vibrant. His descriptions of breaking up fights between the huskies, of feeding them and sledging with them read like something from Jack London. There is a sense of being one with the dogs, of sharing their short, harsh existence, and learning from them, that reminds me of the best in nature writing. His observations about the seals reminded me of an experience I had with a friend a few years ago. We think of seals as being basically harmless since we usually meet them on land or see them from ships. But Warr mentions that one of the men living in the Antarctic was actually drowned by a leopard seal. I can believe this because my friend and I had hopped out onto a kind of natural rock pier north of Ft. Bragg, California, and while standing there with the waves splashing by us as they hit the rocks, we spotted a couple of animals in the water. One of them got closer and then so close that we could see it was a male elephant seal who was eyeing us strangely, like maybe we were something to eat! Because we were out on the low lying rocks it was like being in the water with the seal. For a moment I realized that, had we actually been in the water, perhaps the seal would have bitten us, or—surprising technique—tried to drown us!
Warr ends the book with a return to the Antarctic as a tourist and sees how things have changed. Women are now working there along with the men. They have snowmobiles and other modern equipment, and the dogs are no longer used to pull sledges. Trash is no longer just dumped into the sea or crevasses. There’s email and the Internet, and clear evidence of global warming as the ice has receded noticeably. Warr looked at the changes that have taken place and realized that you can return, but it will never be the same. He notes though that there are more of the protected fur seals now.
There are a couple of small maps in the book, a brief bibliography, and 16 color photos, some taken back in the sixties and some from 2005. Here’s another beautifully written passage from Warr:
“Saki, grey around the muzzle, got more arthritic as the winter progressed. Sometimes it was too painful for him to have his harness removed, and he had difficulty keeping up with the team…. It was decided to put him down. Jim offered to do it, but I felt it was my job. One morning in late October I led Saki up the edge of Neptunes Window overlooking Bransfield Strait. Cathedral Crags loomed up either side of the narrow gap, and a sheer drop fell to the sea below. I fired the .45. Saki whimpered as I grazed him. The next bullet killed him. I removed his wrinkled collar, and pushed him over the edge. I walked back to the base with tears in my eyes.” (p. 76)
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
In 1963 20-year-old Michael Warr signed up for a two-year hitch with the British Antarctic Survey as a meteorologist in the Antarctic. He kept a diary. “South of Sixty” is the diary transformed into a most engaging memoir forty years later by the now sixty-year-old Michael Warr.
I recently read Charles Darwin’s famed “Voyage of the Beagle,” and while Warr’s account of his adventures is modest compared to that masterpiece, it is nonetheless similar in some respects. They went to some of the same places, Montevideo and the Falkland Islands, for example; and while Warr didn’t circumnavigate the globe, he did get a lot colder than Darwin even did! And both men transcribed their notes some years after the event. There is a certain charm in such narratives perhaps because the writer gets to look back at the life of a younger man who was himself.
The further similarity that struck me was the love of learning and exploring that both men share. Like Darwin, Warr observes the flora and fauna and takes a delight in what he sees. His interaction with the huskies that pull the sledges, full of warmth and understanding, was one of the highlights of the book. Here’s an example of Warr’s clean, crisp prose:
“In May 1958 three men from the Horseshoe Island base sledged west to the Dions. They were not seen again. Nine of their fourteen huskies made their way back to the Horseshoe Island and the Stonington Island area. The dogs had traveled east for thirty miles over broken sea ice. One of the men, to give the dogs a chance at surviving, had cut their traces.” (pp. 111-112)
Whenever I read a memoir I can’t help but read between the lines, asking myself, what kind of person is the author? What does he think of himself? How candid is he? How much or how little does he try to make himself look good? The magic of this book is that Warr doesn’t attempt to make himself out in any way. He lets the words of the 20-year-old that he once was speak for themselves. What comes through is an earnest, likeable, and talented young man learning about the world. His interactions with the other “Fids” at the two bases suggest a young man eager to learn from others and eager to take his place in that unique world of men, a world that was in some respects like being in the army or in the French Foreign Legion or even in prison! Warr adapted so well that when it came time to leave after two years of virtual isolation, he was a bit sorry to go and even wanted to stay longer. Personally I think I would be rabid with cabin fever.
Warr describes the penguins, the seals, the flying birds and the few other bits of wild life that he encounters in a way that makes them vibrant. His descriptions of breaking up fights between the huskies, of feeding them and sledging with them read like something from Jack London. There is a sense of being one with the dogs, of sharing their short, harsh existence, and learning from them, that reminds me of the best in nature writing. His observations about the seals reminded me of an experience I had with a friend a few years ago. We think of seals as being basically harmless since we usually meet them on land or see them from ships. But Warr mentions that one of the men living in the Antarctic was actually drowned by a leopard seal. I can believe this because my friend and I had hopped out onto a kind of natural rock pier north of Ft. Bragg, California, and while standing there with the waves splashing by us as they hit the rocks, we spotted a couple of animals in the water. One of them got closer and then so close that we could see it was a male elephant seal who was eyeing us strangely, like maybe we were something to eat! Because we were out on the low lying rocks it was like being in the water with the seal. For a moment I realized that, had we actually been in the water, perhaps the seal would have bitten us, or—surprising technique—tried to drown us!
Warr ends the book with a return to the Antarctic as a tourist and sees how things have changed. Women are now working there along with the men. They have snowmobiles and other modern equipment, and the dogs are no longer used to pull sledges. Trash is no longer just dumped into the sea or crevasses. There’s email and the Internet, and clear evidence of global warming as the ice has receded noticeably. Warr looked at the changes that have taken place and realized that you can return, but it will never be the same. He notes though that there are more of the protected fur seals now.
There are a couple of small maps in the book, a brief bibliography, and 16 color photos, some taken back in the sixties and some from 2005. Here’s another beautifully written passage from Warr:
“Saki, grey around the muzzle, got more arthritic as the winter progressed. Sometimes it was too painful for him to have his harness removed, and he had difficulty keeping up with the team…. It was decided to put him down. Jim offered to do it, but I felt it was my job. One morning in late October I led Saki up the edge of Neptunes Window overlooking Bransfield Strait. Cathedral Crags loomed up either side of the narrow gap, and a sheer drop fell to the sea below. I fired the .45. Saki whimpered as I grazed him. The next bullet killed him. I removed his wrinkled collar, and pushed him over the edge. I walked back to the base with tears in my eyes.” (p. 76)
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
February 21, 2017
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
While Warr's book includes many interesting events and adventures, it is a little slow to read because it is written as more as a series of lists rather than a full narrative. In many cases, the descriptions are not very detailed and the text is choppy, shifting from one topic to another with no real transition. Part of this is most likely due to the information being based from Warr's journals at the time, but the fact remains that the writing is often vague and simplistic.
The information was interesting however, ranging from life with the huskies to modern day Antartica and how much it has changed since Warr's time there in the 60s. History, culture, animal life, and party stories intermix throughout the text.
The chapters are mostly short, which makes reading more manageable. But as stated before, the list-like qualities and lack of narrative leave the reader not quite as captivated with the stories as Ward is with his own memories.
While Warr's book includes many interesting events and adventures, it is a little slow to read because it is written as more as a series of lists rather than a full narrative. In many cases, the descriptions are not very detailed and the text is choppy, shifting from one topic to another with no real transition. Part of this is most likely due to the information being based from Warr's journals at the time, but the fact remains that the writing is often vague and simplistic.
The information was interesting however, ranging from life with the huskies to modern day Antartica and how much it has changed since Warr's time there in the 60s. History, culture, animal life, and party stories intermix throughout the text.
The chapters are mostly short, which makes reading more manageable. But as stated before, the list-like qualities and lack of narrative leave the reader not quite as captivated with the stories as Ward is with his own memories.
November 1, 2014
I was lucky enough to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway and was really looking forward to it as find the Antarctic fascinating but I have to confess to being disappointed with it.The photos were good but I found the narrative very clinical and unemotional and did not really tell me what it was like to live for 2 years on an antarctic base-I guess I expected anecdotes and in depth stories but itv was more like you would find in a brief diary-I expected to learn for instance what all the medical tests revealed about living there and how the emotional isolation affected Michael and his colleagues. He said it had a profound affect on him but did not share himself with his readers which I expected from a true account.
March 2, 2015
I won this book on the First Reads Giveaway. This book was a detailing of events that happened, not really written in story form. The flow of the story was choppy.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews