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Well, there really isn’t a back side to an island but, after thinking about it carefully, our Captain decided that rather than give up on Antarctica, after spending a fairly calm night on one side of the island, that we would move to the other side and hope that the weather clears. Right now there is a marine layer at about 800 feet that covers the mountain peaks but gives us a view from time to time of the coastline and some very blue icebergs.
This is the island that Earnest Shackleton spent five months on back in 1915 after his ship “The Endurance” was entombed in ice in the Waddell Sea 100 miles from the coast of Antarctica. An amusing story that Terry Breen, our resident anthropologist, told us this morning included the ad that Shackleton posted to attract a crew for his Antarctic expedition:
Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger, safe return doubtful.
They got over 5,000 applicants. Go figure. And, the ad proved to be true for the most part — they got what they were looking for. The Endurance made it’s way to Antarctica where they found themselves in a colder than expected summer where they ended up trapped in sea ice. As there was nothing they could do, they hunkered down and waited for the ice to melt. Something like 8 months later they were still stuck and now they discovered that their ship was being ripped apart by the ice. Fortunately, they were able to remove everything that could prove useful to them before their ship was ripped to pieces.
They had a photographer on board (Yeah!) with a large format camera that used glass plates. When the ship was getting ripped apart he realized that he had forgotten a box of his equipment and had to dive into the frigid water to retrieve it. That’s commitment you have to admire!
They took the lifeboats, loaded all the supplies and started pulling the them overland with the sled dogs (started with about 60 of them) and men. After a short time Shackleton decided that it was too hard to try to traverse this way and decided they should just stop where they were, make a temporary shelter out of boxes, etc. and call it Patience Camp…Shackleton knew it was going to take a lot of patience before they were rescued.
The sea ice they had built their camp on started to break up so they loaded everything back into the boats and set out on the open ocean. They finally landed on Elephant Island on April 16, 1916. It had been 426 days since they were on dry land. The island wasn’t very hospitable, however, and their tents were shredded by the catabaric winds (coming down from the mountain peaks…very cold and strong). Turns out they learned why NO ONE ever came to Elephant Island….it sucks. Well, I guess no one except for cruise ships like the Mariner!
So, they took six men and a modified 22 1/2 foot lifeboat and headed North to South Georgia Island where they knew a whaling station was located. The lifeboat had a tarp, higher sides, makeshift masts and supplies that would hopefully last the trip. They had average seas of 53 feet with 16” of ice accumulating on the tarp that they had to chip off from time to time. Ugh…and we thought we had it bad with a little rocking and rolling on the Mariner.
Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance, had frostbite so badly that he was only able to make one good siting on his sextant the entire journey. After 14 days, they came within sight of the South Georgia island but 70 mph winds pushed them back for another 3 days. Eventually they landed on the opposite side of the island from the station. To get to the station by sea at this point would require them to sail around the island — about a 150 mile journey. They decided instead that they would climb up and over the mountains. Shackleton took two men, some makeshift climbing gear and set out on the 22 mile journey. As they crisscrossed their way over the mountains they heard a whistle from the camp, made a makeshift sled, linked their bodies together and slid 1500 feet down to the camp!
The men were then rescued from the other side of the island but it took three failed attempts and five months before they were able to take a Chilean tugboat and rescued the others from Elephant Island. Not one man had died — but unfortunately they had to shoot and eat the sled dogs.
An amazing story for sure and here we are….right where a lot of the action happened. I have a fantastic book at home that is complete with all the photographs that document this epic journey. I will re-read it upon our return with an enriched perspective and a deeper respect for the man and his crew.
Cheryl - Just wanted to let you both know I have been reading your blog. Extremely interesting and I even forwarded your Youtube videos to some friends. Wow…what an experience. Thanks for sharing. And by the way Margaret…enjoyed your Mac story. I’m not there yet. I rather like my PC only because it’s hard to teach an “old dog” new tricks. Maybe one day I’ll learn. Until then I’m happy with what I know best. Stay safe and continue on with all the great stories and pictures! Love you guys…Sis
Dale - Glad you are enjoying it!
We are having fun working on it although, with the pictures it is taking a LOT of time. But, I am learning a lot about photography in the process. Hope you are doing well.
Cheryl - Just wanted to let you both know I have been reading your blog. Extremely interesting and I even forwarded your Youtube videos to some friends. Wow…what an experience. Thanks for sharing. And by the way Margaret…enjoyed your Mac story. I’m not there yet. I rather like my PC only because it’s hard to teach an “old dog” new tricks. Maybe one day I’ll learn. Until then I’m happy with what I know best. Stay safe and continue on with all the great stories and pictures! Love you guys…Sis
Dale - Glad you are enjoying it!
We are having fun working on it although, with the pictures it is taking a LOT of time. But, I am learning a lot about photography in the process. Hope you are doing well.