Point Wild, Elephant Island
The seas were relatively calm throughout the night, but we did experience a very gentle, slow rolling motion as the Endeavour continued to make her way towards Elephant Island. Trip, our Expedition Leader, made a wake up call in time for us to have breakfast before National Geographic’s Roff Smith gave his presentation on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition. As the morning progressed, the Drake began to remind us, albeit gently, that it has a fearsome reputation. So, in order to ensure our comfort, the mandatory IAATO (International Association for Antarctic Tour Operators) briefing was postponed until we reached the shelter of Elephant Island. During the briefing, we learnt how to conduct ourselves as tourists in the Antarctic in such a way that the beauty of these destinations is not compromised by our presence. In the meantime, we attended a very informative talk by Mike Polito and Matt Drennan on the research they are doing for Oceanites, a non-profit organization that is conducting an Antarctic site inventory.
Shortly after lunch, we caught our first glimpse of land – we were still 18 miles away when Trip announced that there was ‘Land Ahoy.’ We came out on to the open decks and watched as we approached the island that was home to some of Shackleton’s men for over 4 months. It was windy but sunny, and by the time we reached our anchorage, we could actually see the peaks of the mountains beyond the glaciers. Our destination was Point Wild as it was here that the adventures and calamities of Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition had their dénouement. Shackleton’s dreams of making the first trans-Antarctic crossing were dashed when his ship Endurance was beset by ice in the Weddell Sea on January 18th 1915. The men did not reach the relative safety of Point Wild until April 1916. Shackleton and five other men then underwent what became the greatest open-boat voyage of all time; they sailed for 16 days and 800 miles across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia where they eventually reached Stromness Whaling Station. Shackleton was then able to arrange to rescue the 22 men that he had left under the command of Frank Wild. On August 30th, 1916 Wild and the others were rescued by the Chilean vessel, Yelcho. We had our own adventure as despite a rather large swell we boarded the Zodiacs for a closer look at the small spit of land where these men spent so much time; the breaking waves and strong wind set the scene perfectly as we tried to imagine the sufferings of the men of the Endurance Expedition. Afterwards we joined the staff for a recap in the lounge and then after dinner we watched ‘South,’ the original film by Frank Hurley of the 1914-16 Expedition.
The seas were relatively calm throughout the night, but we did experience a very gentle, slow rolling motion as the Endeavour continued to make her way towards Elephant Island. Trip, our Expedition Leader, made a wake up call in time for us to have breakfast before National Geographic’s Roff Smith gave his presentation on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition. As the morning progressed, the Drake began to remind us, albeit gently, that it has a fearsome reputation. So, in order to ensure our comfort, the mandatory IAATO (International Association for Antarctic Tour Operators) briefing was postponed until we reached the shelter of Elephant Island. During the briefing, we learnt how to conduct ourselves as tourists in the Antarctic in such a way that the beauty of these destinations is not compromised by our presence. In the meantime, we attended a very informative talk by Mike Polito and Matt Drennan on the research they are doing for Oceanites, a non-profit organization that is conducting an Antarctic site inventory.
Shortly after lunch, we caught our first glimpse of land – we were still 18 miles away when Trip announced that there was ‘Land Ahoy.’ We came out on to the open decks and watched as we approached the island that was home to some of Shackleton’s men for over 4 months. It was windy but sunny, and by the time we reached our anchorage, we could actually see the peaks of the mountains beyond the glaciers. Our destination was Point Wild as it was here that the adventures and calamities of Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition had their dénouement. Shackleton’s dreams of making the first trans-Antarctic crossing were dashed when his ship Endurance was beset by ice in the Weddell Sea on January 18th 1915. The men did not reach the relative safety of Point Wild until April 1916. Shackleton and five other men then underwent what became the greatest open-boat voyage of all time; they sailed for 16 days and 800 miles across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia where they eventually reached Stromness Whaling Station. Shackleton was then able to arrange to rescue the 22 men that he had left under the command of Frank Wild. On August 30th, 1916 Wild and the others were rescued by the Chilean vessel, Yelcho. We had our own adventure as despite a rather large swell we boarded the Zodiacs for a closer look at the small spit of land where these men spent so much time; the breaking waves and strong wind set the scene perfectly as we tried to imagine the sufferings of the men of the Endurance Expedition. Afterwards we joined the staff for a recap in the lounge and then after dinner we watched ‘South,’ the original film by Frank Hurley of the 1914-16 Expedition.
