James Caird (boat)

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The James Caird is a 23-foot (7 m) whaleboat in which Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions made the epic open boat voyage of 800 miles (1,480 km) from Elephant Island, 500 miles (800 km) south of Cape Horn, to South Georgia during the Antarctic winter of 1916.

She is now preserved at Dulwich College, Shackleton's old school in south London, as a memorial to an illustrious son. The boat is named after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee jute manufacturer and philanthropist, whose generous gift financed Shackleton's expedition.

The James Caird occasionally makes journeys still. In 1999 the Caird visited a museum in New York City, and was on view for several months. The exhibit offered visitors a glimpse of the difficulties that Worsley faced in determining the boat's position on the whirling southern ocean. Small wonder that the Norwegians who rescued McCarty, Vincent, and McNish honored the vessel as graciously as they praised the achievements of her crew.

[edit] Voyage

After the Endurance sank in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea in November of 1915, Shackleton and his 27-man crew had no choice but to take themselves onto the floating sea ice along with three lifeboats from the ship: the Stancomb-Wills, the Dudley Docker, and the James Caird. Over the next four months, during the Antarctic summer, the men camped on the sea ice as the currents from beneath drew their position northward until, miraculously, they came within sight of land. However, although Shackleton and his crew were then able to maneuver the three boats across the frigid waters to nearby Elephant Island, they were still far away from civilization, and every passing day put them in greater danger of eventually succumbing to the harsh Antarctic climate.

Indeed, Elephant Island was a terrible place to await rescue. The island was quite inhospitable with its terrain wholly barren, consisting of no more than bare rock, snow, and ice. Despite the relative abundance of seals and penguins on the shores of the island, it was hard for Shackleton's team to realistically predict how long their food supply would last. The swiftly approaching Antarctic winter was another cause for concern and during the first few days that they were on the island, the weather of the Drake Passage seemed to live up to its terrible reputation. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the island was remote from anywhere that the expedition had planned to go, and was nowhere near any common shipping routes;^[1] so the likelihood of seeing a ship, rescue or otherwise, seemed terribly small. Consequently, Shackleton felt that it was essential that he set out for help immediately upon arrival, and to him, it was obvious that he must head to a remote whaling station on the island of South Georgia, even if it meant traversing over 800 miles (1500 km) of the Southern Ocean in little more than the lifeboat in which he arrived. The resulting boat journey is one of the most remarkable maritime crossings ever undertaken.

The waters that Shackleton was to sail in the 23-foot (7-meter) James Caird are well reputed to be among the most treacherous seas in the world. Shackleton later wrote that the gales in the area are nearly unceasing,^[2][3] and weather reports today confirm that gale-force winds of 40 to 45 miles per hour (60 to 70 km/h) are present in the Drake passage on an average of 200 days per year causing ocean swells of 20 ft. (7 m).^[4] Sailors have often described larger waves occurring in these waters, and some sources report that 60-foot (20-meter) waves are not uncommon.^[4][5] Meteorologists indicate that this extreme weather is because of the effect of Coriolis forces at mid-latitudes, which further south, results in a strong airflow eastward, circling Antarctica. The lack of any land-masses results in an unimpeded airflow around the globe with a correspondingly strong ocean current, and the funneling effect of Cape Horn, the Antarctic Peninsula, and shallow underwater topography result in a magnification of these conditions in the Drake Passage, as well as immediately to the east in the Scotia Sea. Of course, this merely confirms what sailors have known about the region for centuries, and the difficulty of crossing the Drake Passage is legendary. Sailors often referred to these dangerous latitudes as the "roaring forties," "furious fifties," and "screaming sixties," and in centuries past sailors have often applied the adage that "below 40 degrees, there is no law, but below 50 degrees, there is no god." Shackleton's starting position on Elephant Island at the southern boundary of the Drake Passage at 61°S, and his destination at 54°S, placed the crew of the James Caird right in the thick of it. Indeed, Shackleton refused to pack supplies for more than four weeks knowing that if they had not made land by that time, that the boat would certainly have been lost. Clearly, Shackleton and his small crew were routinely battling waves nearly as high as their boat was long whilst hundreds of miles from the nearest island, and occasionally, the waves are likely to have been much larger.

At midnight I was at the tiller and suddenly noticed a line of clear sky between the south and south-west. I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years' experience of the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave so gigantic. It was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite apart from the big white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies for many days. I shouted, "For God's sake, hold on! It's got us!" Then came a moment of suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White surged the foam of the breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething chaos of tortured water; but somehow the boat lived through it, half-full of water, sagging to the dead weight and shuddering under the blow. We baled with the energy of men fighting for life, flinging the water over the sides with every receptacle that came to our hands, and after ten minutes of uncertainty we felt the boat renew her life beneath us.

—Ernest Shackleton, South

In preparation, Shackleton chose the strongest sailors to accompany him, John Vincent and Tim McCarthy, as well as experienced officer and decorated explorer Thomas Crean. Shackleton also required the expedition's carpenter, Harry McNish, who immediately set about making improvements to Shackleton's open lifeboat, raising its sides, strengthening its keel, and building a makeshift deck of wood and canvas, sealing the work with oil paints and seal blood.^[6] The difficult task of navigating the crossing was left to Frank Worsley. Ensuring they were on the correct course was of the utmost importance as missing their target would certainly have doomed the team. Bad weather conditions, stormy and overcast with large sea swells, complicated the task as viewing the horizon relative to the sun or moon was important. Celestial navigation readings were only possible at four times during the 800 mile journey.^[2]

After fourteen days, tired and thirsty, the crew was within sight of their goal and elated that they had successfully completed the journey. However, to avoid a night-time landing on an unknown and uncharted shoreline, they again moved back out to sea to wait for morning, but by that time a fierce storm had begun with hurricane-force winds.^[6] Shackleton's crew battled the storm for a perilous 9 hours, barely managing to stay afloat and off the rocks surrounding South Georgia until they were finally able to go ashore the next evening. However, other mariners were not so lucky: Worsley later wrote that a 500-ton steamer en route from Buenos Aires to South Georgia had foundered in the same storm with all aboard lost.^[6] Shackleton's team had weathered the storm as well as a treacherous journey in the 23-foot James Caird.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Site of Dulwich College with information and picture of the boat
• Official site of the James Cairders at Dulwich College
• Voyage of the James Caird at Antarctic Connection including a list of provisions and instruments taken on the voyage.
• Voyage of the James Caird at Cool Antarctica