We are following in the wake of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the men of the Endurance. The Endurance was beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea on January 19, 1915. On October 27 the crew abandoned the ship and drifted on the ice until April 9, 1916, when they took to their three small boats. Their destination: Elephant Island; their first landing, on April 13 at Cape Valentine, the eastern tip of the island. We reached Cape Valentine early this morning. To be sure that we had the exact spot we lowered a Zodiac to repeat Frank Hurley's historic photo of the landing. The photo above shows Expedition Leader Matt Drennan holding a copy of Hurley's photo for comparison. It was the spot!
Next we visited Point Wild (named for Shackleton's second-in-command, Frank Wild), where twenty-two men waited while Shackleton and five others set off across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia Island to arrange their rescue. It is considered the most remarkable small boat journey ever accomplished. We tried to imagine ourselves huddled under two overturned boats through an Antarctic winter, waiting, unsure of rescue. After twenty weeks at Point Wild, almost at the end of their food, the men looked out to see Shackleton arriving aboard the Chilean ship Yelcho, and all were returned to civilization. We returned to the civilized comfort of the Caledonian Star and headed off for our next stop: the South Orkney Islands.
