Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
The Voyage Of The James Caird – Quotes
The Endurance Expedition.
The Voyage Of The James Caird.
Even 100 years on from the epic boat journey, that was the voyage of the James Caird, it remains difficult to fully comprehend or appreciate, the enormity of the achievement of the six man crew.
Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, Tom Crean, Timothy McCarty, Harry McNish and John Vincent spent 17 gruelling days in the modified lifeboat, traversing one of the most violent stretches of ocean on the planet. That they would somehow conspire to complete the feat, is without doubt one of, if not the single most greatest feat of open boat navigation, ever undertaken, and it was an act of sheer fortitude, brilliance, courage, endurance and pure seamanship that seldom gets the recognition or acclaim that it surely merits.
Below we remember the men of the Caird, in their own words. Lest we forget.
On the 8th of May 1916, the black cliffs of South Georgia loomed into view, and the weary crew of the James Caird felt their journey was almost done.
The Weddell Sea however, would not relinquish the voyagers, without one final battle, but that was yet to come.
After 14 days at sea, in a tiny lifeboat, the sight of the rocky outcrop they had aimed for must have been truly exhilarating.
One of the many problems faced by the crew of the James Caird, as they voyaged across the Weddell Sea, 100 years ago, was the moulting hairs from their reindeer hide sleeping bags.
The Voyage of the James Caird, was, for the six crewmen, and ordeal of immense proportions. They suffered hunger, thirst and freezing temperatures, compounded by the cramped conditions on the tiny lifeboat, which was constantly under siege from the monstrous ocean they were attempting to traverse.
The faint glow, on a massive foreboding ocean.
Tom Crean preferred to take on the might of the savage Weddell Sea, than remain behind, in idle limbo, on Elephant Island.
Lest we forget the centenary of the conclusive chapters in the epic tale of the Endurance Expedition. The voyage in the lifeboats, to Elephant Island, brought many hardships to the 28 men of the Endurance.
Created to honour and celebrate the centenary of the epic voyage of the James Caird.