Sally Taylor and her cameraman Kevin Bird have made several short films about their experience on Portsmouth-based Royal Navy Ice Patrol vessel, HMS Endurance, as it headed to the Southern Ocean and on to Antarctica, with them on board. For Sally and Kevin, the journey of over 21,000 miles began at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. From there, they flew to the Falklands Islands, with a stop off at Ascension Islands for their transport to re-fuel.  | | HMS Endurance in Antarctica |
They then joined the crew of HMS Endurance at Mare Harbour on the Falkland Islands. From there - after an unscheduled delay due to a faulty onboard boiler! - they sailed from Port Stanley to Antarctica, as Endurance negotiated its way through Drake's Passage - known as one of the roughest stretches of water on the planet. Sally's BlogsSally sent back regular blogs - an online diary - during her time away, tracking the day-to-day progress of her journey. Written in her own words, it's Sally's account of life on board Endurance, as well as giving a behind the scenes look at what goes into preparing live reports for South Today from the other side of the world in Antarctica - the first regional news programme to ever do so! Kevin the cameramanSally was accompanied by BBC South cameraman, Kevin Bird. It was a trip of a lifetime for Kevin who has an honours degree in Marine Biology: "It's one of the last untouched wildernesses on earth - I've studied the oceanography and the biology and it was fascinating to see it all up close."  | | Kevin Bird with his transmission equipment. |
The latest satellite broadcast technology enabled Sally to report for BBC South Today: "We're basically using a broadband connection via satellite so we could send high quality video files, emails and pictures." The signal bounced back to the BBC in Southampton via a geo-stationary satellite somewhere over Brazil on the equator. PhotographsThe photographs taken in Antarctica made it into our photo gallery. There are some stunning images, including a few taken by Chief Petty Officer Pete Morewood, who has literally taken over 13,000 photographs of Antarctica during. Live reportsSally produced 10 live reports into South Today from the Falklands and from Antarctica, and cover every stage of the journey. About The Red PlumHMS Endurance, with its distinctive bright red hull, is one of the best known ships in the Royal Navy. AKA The Red Plum, the ice patrol vessel is the only ship in the Royal Navy officially affiliated to Portsmouth. Each autumn she leaves her home base and spends most of the 'season' in the South Atlantic supporting the work of organisations like the British Antarctic Survey supporting scientists investigating climate change and discovering more about the vast frozen continent of Antarctica.  | | HMS Endurance cutting through the ice |
The current nine-month mission, which began in September 2006, includes hi-tech sonar-mapping of the uncharted seabed using the latest Multi Beam Echo Sounder (MBES). With more tourist vessels plying the waters of Antarctica, well-charted shipping routes are more important than ever. To enable her to work for such long periods of time away from port, she is capable of making 50 tonnes of fresh water per day and she can also store 270 days’ worth of dry and frozen provisions. She carries two Lynx helicopters and seven boats.  | | Sally's route to Antarctica |
The crew regularly face icebergs the size of the Isle of Wight, an ice sheet 4km thick in places and temperatures of up to -30 degrees celsius. | 
