It wasn't a real gale but the Tom Crean has tasted what the Southern Ocean can be like. During the whole of their 4th day at sea (21 Jan), the five Irishmen attempting Shackleton's boat journey had waves constantly pouring into their cockpit. For 24 hrs the wind blew 25 - 30 knots and it was rainy and foggy. Frank Nugent reported in the morning they all felt "a little miserable". They were cold and wet and life was "a bit difficult" as the cabin was getting damper every day. All their clothes were soaked and there was no way of drying them. Mike Barry told us in our evening radio schedule that no one had been brave enough to cook and they were "doing their best to eat" which meant merely nibbling at crackers, cheese and various pieces of cold food.

Shackleton wrote in his diary "there was no comfort in the boat". On Pelagic, we got the feeling that was exactly what Paddy, Jarlath, Mike, Frank and Jamie were thinking. At 2000 local they told us they had decided to 'heave-to', by stopping the boat, backwinding their jib and lashing their tiller to leeward. In this state, the boat drifted with minimum leeway. The Tom Crean is so light, she floats like a cork over the breakers ("bouchonner" as our Frenchman Patrick calls it) and it is frightening to see her bounce over the big waves with her keel practically out of the water.

"Bouchonner"

Pelagic was also forced to heave-to, so we could keep as close as possible in the bad weather and the fog. It would be disastrous to drift in opposite directions because the VHF on board of the Tom Crean has a range of about 20 miles. If we were to drift further apart, Pelagic would have no way of tracking them down.

During the operation Pelagic had its own problems: while heaving- to, the angle of the wind on the mainsail in some way interfered with the chimney of the heater. In a few seconds Pelagics cabin was filled with smoke while the stove itself sparked intermittently. Skip and Patrick had to pull the mainsail down to eliminate the downdraft.

In 1916, during their passage, Frank Worsley wrote:... "thank goodness we've finished with the sixties, but during the next two days we were nearly blown back over the sixtieth parallel" . The same has happened to us: at 1900 we were at latitude 59 - 59S, but 3 hrs later we were again south of the 60th parallel. Radio contact during the night was made every 2 hrs and the drift was not too bad: We seemed to be able to keep within a 5 mile range of the Crean.

At 0300 am on Jan 22, when Skip brought Pelagic to the side of the Tom Crean, the wind had shifted favorably to the west and died down. Jamie, who was on watch, hoisted the Tom Crean's sails and the day began with a more positive outlook. By 0730 the sun was out and the mood had changed.

Shackleton commented in his log:.... "When the morning of the 7th day dawned there was not much wind... The boat must have presented a strange appearance that morning. All hands basked in the sun. We hung our sleeping bags to the mast and spread our socks and other gear all over the deck... We revelled in the warmth of the sun that day. Life was not so bad, after all."

Likewise on the Tom Crean - all 5 men were out on deck drying their gear, socks were hanging tied to the sails and as we got near them Mick O'Rourke the cameraman jumped on board to film the crew close up.

On that 7th day Shackleton also reported:.... " Cape pigeons wheeled and swooped within a few feet of us. These little black and white birds have an air of friendliness that is not possessed by the great circling albatross...".

This evening Pelagic was also surrounded by a great number seabirds; cape pigeons, prions and white chinned petrels circled the boat as the dying sun marked the end of the afternoon.

Mick jumped back on Pelagic after a couple of hours of work on the Crean. He brought back some interesting quotes from the Irish crew.

The most satisfied is Jarlath, who built the Crean: "there are not many changes we could have made to the original design. She is very tightly built, she sails well and behaved well in the gale. I am very pleased and the bunks are certainly better than the Caird's if you consider the original crew was sleeping on rocks (Shackletons men slept on the internal ballast of beach stones which had been added in Elephant Island).

" Despite our discomfort we are 100% better off than they were." said Frank Nugent adding tongue in cheek,"I wish it was over". He complained of cold feet, but, being a mountaineer, he is delighted to be learning to sail and declared the camaraderie terrific.

Mike Barry jokes as usual: "We are living in luxury. Our food is excellent although last night nobody was jumping into the pot. Yesterday was a day I could have done without but now I feel like an old sea dog."

Jamie pragmatically talks about the watch arrangements, the "bucket" or toilet arrangements and the problems with recharging batteries. He admits yesterday was only a minor gale that gave them a taste of what real bad weather could mean for them.

Paddy's interview was done in Irish and I didn't understand a word!

Elena Caputo