Sunday, 12 June 1910

Amundsen

During a calm spell, Bjaaland was told to take the helm of the Fram. He had never even been to sea, let alone steered a ship. "You can take it from me," he wrote in his diary, "that she made some beautiful swerves ... for Fram is slow to turn, so she always overshoots the mark if you don't stop her in time. But a lovely hour it was, and just imagine being allowed to steer Fram, that historic thingumabob which has brought the country so much honour." [1]


Notes:

[1] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 12 June 1910, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.288.