Great sailing day at the Scotia Sea on our way to South Georgia
Not quite 23ft (6.5m), the James Caird voyaged in winter across 800nm of the stormiest seas in the world, the Southern Ocean. Conditions on board were appalling; finding South Georgia was due to the miraculous navigation of Frank Worsley, who located this tiny spec in the ocean. The story does not end there: Shackleton and his companions Crean and Worsley then had to traverse the unmapped mountainous interior of South Georgia. The Hon. Alexandra Shackleton. Foreword to: Shackleton’s Boat. The Story of the James Caird. Harding McGregor Dunnet
16 days.
16 days of sailing the small sloop James Caird across one of the worst seas in the world. Scotia Sea is characterized by its swells, strong winds and blustery weather.
On a tiny boat rigged with three sails: Jib, Lug and Mizzen, 6 men departed from Elephant Island and managed to reach South Georgia. For this extraordinary journey Shackleton chose the Endurance Captain Frank Worsley, first-rate navigator; the Second Officer Tom Crean, a strong Irish sailor and his fellow countryman Tim McCarthy; Boatswain Vincent and the Scottish Carpenter Harry McNeish.
They worked four-hour watches, three men on each, in conditions described by Shackleton: ‘The discomfort of life in the James Caird was extreme. There was little room to move. Cramped in our narrow quarters and continually wet by spray, we suffered severely throughout the journey. Icy trickles and driving spray poured fore and aft into the boat and we bailed non stop. Of real rest we had none. The perpetual motion of the boat made repose impossible; we were cold, sore and anxious.
Ernest Shackleton
Six desperate, starving, cold and tired men. Men made out of steel all crammed in a leaky wooden hull. To find their way, just a set of soaked and sodden navigating books, a compass, a sextant and a watch. They dealt by then with the very same seas and route that we start today towards South Georgia.
But for us the ride in EUROPA is a complete different story.
A steel hull measuring 56m from the bowsprit to the aft.
Over 20 sails between the fore-aft and the square canvas.
A total of 53 hands to man her.
She is equipped according to international safety regulations and her wheelhouse is fitted with modern electronic nautical instrumentation and safety equipment.
A warm ship, a cozy bunk and a hot shower.
Modern clothing to deal with the kind of weather to expect in Antarctica and its surrounding seas.
Great food for every meal, several meals a day.
A ship and trip where lectures and sail training are provided every day at sea, and even some of us, encouraged by our curiosity and the guides offers, join on deck to participate on the Citizen Science project to gather sightings and abundance numbers of Seabirds in the Southern Ocean. Remote parts of the oceans such as where we sail lack on data on many scientific aspects, they are difficult regions to reach on regular basis. But with the increase on the amount of tourist vessels operating in these areas, passengers and crew accompanied by the guides on board, can help on the data collection.
With her good speed under the ups and downs of the 20 to 30kn of Westerlies and North westerlies, she finds herself today already 154nm away from the spot where Frank Wild, tireless and loyal Shackleton’s right hand, was left in charge of the rest of the Endurance crew. For four months 22 men waited at Elephant Island for rescue relying and having faith on the successful crossing of the James Caird.
To start with, much of her canvas is hoisted and sheeted down, all squares, headrig, lower staysails and spanker while Elephant island falls far away behind us. During the day, changing winds both on direction and speed make for gather hands on deck for the sail handling. The seas haven’t grow much yet in the morning, but they gradually increase, and by the evening and night the ship heels to Starboardside with her braces pulled tight on Close hauled, water now and then fills the scoopers and the decks are wet. A first taste of the Scotia Sea.