Ernest Shackleton and his crew of five men set sail from Elephant Island aboard the James Caird, a 22-foot wooden whaleboat, on a desperate 800-nautical-mile journey to South Georgia Island. IF they succeed, it will go down as one of the greatest small boat sea voyages in recorded history.
But their chances of success are minimal...
Navigating by sextant through constant cloud cover, Frank Worsley must plot a course with minimal data. The crew battles mountainous seas, freezing spray, and hurricane-force gales.
Ice accumulates on deck, threatening to sink the boat. Their only freshwater keg becomes contaminated. As they approach South Georgia, a tempest drives them toward a lee shore and jagged cliffs, threatening to dash the boat and end all hope of rescue.
SOURCES
Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. Basic Books, 1959.
Alexander, Caroline. The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. Knopf, 1998.
Jarvis, Tim. Shackleton's Epic. BBC, 2009.
Shackleton, Sir Ernest. South: The Endurance Expedition. Penguin Classics, 1919.
Worsley, Frank Shackleton's Boat Journey , 1933
