PUNTA ARENAS, Dec 11 (Hina) - The Croatian sail-boat "Hrvatska Cigra" on Wednesday sailed out of the southernmost Chilean harbour of Punta Arenas and started towards the Antarctic. The sail boat is on a three-year sports and
scientific expedition "Arctic-Antarctic" during which the eight-man crew is to research the north and south seas and gather information about life in the seas, Arctic ice and land from tropical zones to zones of permanent ice.
PUNTA ARENAS, Dec 11 (Hina) - The Croatian sail-boat "Hrvatska
Cigra" on Wednesday sailed out of the southernmost Chilean harbour
of Punta Arenas and started towards the Antarctic.
The sail boat is on a three-year sports and scientific
expedition "Arctic-Antarctic" during which the eight-man crew is to
research the north and south seas and gather information about life
in the seas, Arctic ice and land from tropical zones to zones of
permanent ice. #L#
The boat has managed to sail the perilous Northwestern passage
in the Arctic during the two and a half years that they have been
at sea.
Thirty thousand Croatian emigrants and their descendants who
live in Punta Arenas saw the sail boat off on its way to the ever-
lasting ice.
The sailmen, headed by their steersman, Mladen Sutej, visited
the small town of Porvenir which is also in the Strait of Magellan,
and which had been founded by Croatian emigrants in search of gold
102 years ago.
The "Hrvatska Cigra" is to sail Cape Horn and enter the
Antarctic waters in the next month and a half.
The boat is expected to return to Croatia next May.
(hina) lm
111357 MET dec 96