Category Archives: Other Voices

“Sir E. discussed with me what we would do if thro’ lack of… observations of a heavy series of Sly gales blowing us off course, we missed S. Georgia. The prospect was not attractive. Our water, we knew, would be … Continue reading →

“It was misty, the boat was jumping like a flea, shipping seas fore and aft and there was no “limb” to the sun so I had to observe the centre by guesswork. Astronomically, the limb is the edge of sun … Continue reading →

“A small bobtailed bird flew & fussed around us with terrific energy. The only time I heard Sir Ernest swear on this passage was when this little fellow buzzed around. It faintly annoyed us all, but for some reason it … Continue reading →

“As a rule when a sea wets a sailor through he swears at it comprehensively, and impartially curses everything in sight beginning with the ship & ‘the old man’—if he’s not within hearing, but on this trip we said nothing … Continue reading →

“In steering a small boat before a heavy gale, don’t look back, it may disconcert you. Fix your eye with a glassy glare on a cloud or breaking sea right ahead & keep her straight, if you can. When you … Continue reading →

“So we all took it in turns to crawl out with an axe & chop it off. What a job! The boat leaping & kicking like a mad mule & a great fifteen inch thick slippery casing of ice over … Continue reading →

“A sea-anchor is a cone-shaped canvas bag attached by a line at its mouth to the bows. The apex, which has a small hole, points away from the ship, and the effect is to act as a drag in the … Continue reading →

“If a boat is overweighted, she jerks, will not sail fast & does not heel away from the wind & so constantly takes seas over her & is at all times wet… If ballast is too low it makes vessels … Continue reading →

“Navigation is an art, but words fail to give my efforts a correct name. Dead reckoning or DR—the seaman’s calculation of courses and distance—had become a merry jest of guesswork… The procedure was: I peered out from our burrow—precious sextant … Continue reading →

“It is very good of him to go off like this for our benefit, but as we could quite well exist here through the winter, provided we lay in an adequate store of penguins, and made for Deception Island next … Continue reading →