The Antarctic Peninsula
No blog post about an Antarctica Expedition would be complete without a mention of Shackleton’s voyage on the Endurance (1914-1917).. Much has been written about it and the story told in documentaries, including one I saw at the IMAX theater in Boston a long time ago. So I will be brief. The Endurance was trapped in pack ice and crushed in 1915, more than a year after the voyage began. Shackleton and his crew found their way on lifeboats to Port Wild on Elephant Island. There, most of the men camped out on the beach in two lifeboats. With five of his men, Shackleton made the 800-mile crossing of the southern ocean to South Georgia Island on the remaining lifeboat, the James Caird (having done this crossing with all creature comforts I cannot imagine this), reaching the uninhabited side of the island. Shackleton, Tom Crean, and Frank Worsley completed a hazardous 36-hour trek across the island to a whaling station. With the help of whalers Shackleton made several...
