22nd November 2008
We finally arrived at Elephant Island overnight and were just off Point
Wild, there was a buzz in the air but a lot of mist also, and hence we
could not see a thing off the sides of the ship. The intercom came on
and we were on standby, about 15mins later we got a apologetic ‘no way’
we were landing due to the very poor visibility and swell crashing on to
the rocks all around each side of the point. The getting on and off of
the zodiacs was a tough ordeal with swell rising and falling over
meters. A little dishearted, we were given a zodiac cruise to get a
closer look at where Frank Wild took charge of the rest of the crew from
Endurance while Shackleton went to SG on the James Caird. We could make
out the monument to the Chilean Captain Yelcho on shore surrounded by
Chinstrap penguins. At one stage one of the boats actually got lost and
couldn’t find the ship, when he ask for a position by ships radar they
realised he was only 150 meters from it. It was another inspiring
experience just to view this historic and desolate place.
We took up anchor and sailed up around to Cape valentine where the
endurance crew first landed in the hopes of a landing. The swell was the
same and a lot of snow and earth&Rockslides were visible on the very
short beach of only 4-6 meters from a cliff face of 300 meters.
Visibility had improved and some photos could be taken at last but
landing was a negative. It was this place that brought me back to our
2006 expedition. We had arrived out of the mist and once close by the
mist disappeared and provided us with a stunning vista overlooking Cape
Valentine. It was also the place where I remember my three friends and
the friends of all who travelled that year, Gerard McDonnell, Rolf Bae
and Karen Rodgers. I said a little prayer in their memory to myself for
they were an inspirational trio and had adventure in their hearts just
like the people around me now onboard this year.
Continuing on down the coast toward point lookout, we passed a number of
glaciers coming off the islands interior. One massive one maybe 1-2 km
across leading into the distance was named ‘Endurance’. When we arrived
at the point we turned and dropped anchor once more. The intercom came
on again and there was to be no landings but a zodiac cruise all around
the area getting close to the Chin-strap colonies and some Cape Petrels
nesting up high on the cliffs. The swell and waves were fun to buzz
around providing an alternative to the cabin fever felt for the last day
or two. Berenice was our driver and she took us down around the point
and in to view a receding glacier and a family of Elephant seals on
shore. There werent many seals to be seen here due to the remoteness
and lack of places to breed and hide. We noticed some rusted iron on
shore at one stage that looked like a mast of some sort. The waves just
off our position were starting to have a cycle of one large one every so
often we approached with care and had fantastic time bobbing around in
this dramatic water. The tall jutting peaks stood high out of the water
on the islands south easterly point which seemed to have streaks of
quartz and some copper colouring in parts.
Everyone seemed to be overjoyed at being able to visit this historical
part of the Endurance story without landing. If one can just get a sense
of what and where, you can understand it and stick it into the memory
bank. Well thats what we did and moved on.
