Chasing Shackleton TV Series

[paularsen1]

Q: What's making you want to go so much?

PL: The reason exceptional things happen is...you keep going when people stop.

Dude you are a legend.

This pretty much sums it up! What an epic adventure...

A few more questions:

-Did the screws they used as shoe spikes hold up over the whole trek? It seemed a bit dodgy...

-Was there an obvious trail across the mountain? Or did you guys just hoof it and make your own way? Was gps invovled?

-What were the air temps on the island?

Thanks again for fielding the questions!

Nice job man, what an accomplishment...

Amazingly the screws did hold up... and they didn't do a bad job either. They literally were wood screws through leather soles. the guys definitely did suffer in those boots as against modern ones... but they weren't slipping and sliding about.

There was definitely no obvious trail across this terrain. It was wild. The first few hours when we broke camp were very white. We couldn't see anything. When we got near the Tridents... just before the slide down the other side... it began to clear a bit. It was a magic moment as the incredible terrain began to reveal itself out of the murk. Once the visibility cleared we could pick out obvious landmarks to aim for. Baz was the expert. I was a total novice. The roles were reversed from the sea voyage. I have no idea how to walk across a glacier whereas Baz did a great job. No doubt the conditions would have changed from Shackletons time. I think the glaciers would be far more exposed and therefore crevassed. The snow was also a bit mushy which made for hard going... especially with the traditional boots. We averaged about 1 kmh. Apart from the detours he took 100 years ago, I think we followed virtually his exact course. It was strange though as he seemed to overstate the risk/scale of some sections i.e. the slide down the Tridents and the waterfall at the end... and yet totally understate parts that truly shook us up i.e. the descent of "Breakwind Ridge". Maybe some of that can be put down to how the surfaces had changed. There are definitely no tracks, signs or any other mark of modern man on that crossing. There is barely in wild life for the most of it. We were very careful to leave no mark. I remember one wrapper got whisked away by the wind and I couldn't get it. It really annoyed me as any sign of man up there would sort of ruin the place. I was so relieved to spot the wrapper further up the slope and managed to retrieve it. You're not even supposed to leave your turds up there. Serious. They are very strict about who goes up there and what your responsibilities are.

The air temperatures were around 0 (celcius) I guess. Lower at night. Wind chill was a big factor. We wouldn't have made it on the first aborted attempt as the rain came in and that wetness would have taken out the guys in traditional gear. Shackleton had a great weather window when he went. Our second one was also pretty good when I re-joined and we went for it. It was a massive effort. The hardest physical thing I have ever done as due to the other parts of the expedition, we weren't necessarily fit for this type of exertion. I couldn't even drink one beer at the end. I was spent. (well... I did have a few mouthfuls of champagne but that knocked me out.)

 

[fingerbang]

Larso, Well Done! I really enjoyed it and respect you for buckling down and doing the support for the other two on the island crossing. Did Tim end up with permanent damage as a result of hiking in those inadequate boots? And, just curious, but whats the story about the Island? did you guys stick around and meet the Whaling Station manager or any (if there are any) residents? Again, Well done!

 

[paularsen1]

Loved Part II!

Thanks for talking about the steering system Larso. Why didn't they rig a tiller on on the James Caird I wonder? Steering with the ropes looked fairly shitty.

Q: Did your trip give you a better appreciation/respect for small boats. There seem to be lots of people that say "You can't do [whatever] in that boat" despite feats like yours and others.

I think they chose the mizzen mast option over the Tiller system. Obviously the mizzen would interfere with the tiller... although after sailing with it, I know I would try and rig up something... anything to make it more manageable. The boat had its nice moments at the helm.. but not many. Mostly it was a difficult pig. That said... it was one tough little boat. Its robustness quickly gave us confidence in its ability to ride out anything. The canoe stern also rode very nicely when breaking waves hit us from behind. In fact, the boat was so tough and rode so well, we struggled to think of a scenario that would force us onto the support vessel. I think that the AS could survive some pretty nasty stuff including weather that the original boat could not. Our deck was made a lot sturdier than their canvas covered original. As mentioned, we didn't need to all die in a roll over to prove that that is what would happen. Transferring onto the Australis would have been a messy affair out there also. Nick and I both expressed our confidence in the boat to the crew and said that we would likely try and ride any nasty weather out within reason of course i.e. if the Australis had to leave the area then we would have to reconsider what we were trying to achieve. I have no doubt that if we had missed South Georgia... and had enough water... that we could have made it to far distant shores in that boat. It was a solid survival cell that offered protection from the elements. There are other less famous stories of small boat survival there that are staggering. There was a sealer called 'Brisbane' who apparently built an open boat from his own shipwreck on Sth Georgia and sailed it upwind back to the Falklands. Incredible stuff. No doubt there are many amazing feats that went largely unreported as there was no agenda to do so.

 

[Steam Flyer]

2nd the vote for a Sailrocket documentary

It must have been tough to film the mountain/glacier crossing, but I thought that part of the program was very good (having read a lot about the Shackleton expedtion but knowing nothing about mountaineering).

The final scene at the grave yard was very fitting too

FB- Doug

 

[paularsen1]

Larso, Well Done! I really enjoyed it and respect you for buckling down and doing the support for the other two on the island crossing. Did Tim end up with permanent damage as a result of hiking in those inadequate boots? And, just curious, but whats the story about the Island? did you guys stick around and meet the Whaling Station manager or any (if there are any) residents? Again, Well done!

I think Tims feet would have come good... although I wouldn't be surprised if their was some lingering permanent damage. It mightn't be dramatic... but never quite right. I think they were a bit that way in the first place. It took my hands a long time (3-4 months) to get back to normal.

The whaling station at Stromness is abandoned and you aren't allowed to go in there. We got within 100 meters or so but that was it. It's just ruins and apparently full of Asbestos. I was figuring on going in there anyway just because it was right there... but didn't. I guess we felt a sense of appreciation and respect for the authorities who had allowed us to undertake the trip and also for Ben and The Australis crew who would like to continue working in this area after we left... that and the fact we arrived at dark and were totally exhausted. We climbed onboard the Australis. I had a shower and went straight to bed. I can't remember if we stayed there overnight. I think we went around to Grytviken the following day. We walked around that whaling station and went through the museum. It was a real pleasure to be asked to leave stuff next to some of the original artifacts. There are two named rooms in the Grytviken museum... The "Larsen" room and the "Jarvis" room. It was funny as I was stirring Tim about having a room named after me and we walked around the corner to find the "Jarvis" room... much to his delight. The whaling station is amazing... but there is something about it where you don't feel sorry to see it decaying away.

 

[Clove Hitch]

Great stuff, Larso, thanks for fielding questions.

 

[The Gardener]

Some of the best TV.

Can't imagine doing that journey.

 

[Veeger]

Thanks, Clean & Scott, for making this available. Watched it on my big screen via Airplay from the iPad. Great story. Very nice job Larso--you're a better man than I.

 

[GrantDull]

Like most of you, I too revere Shackleton and his exploits. But the story that Sir E. saved all his men is simply not true. Shackleton's goal was to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But he couldn't carry enough supplies to make the entire trip. So a second group started on the other side of the continent. Their task was to lay food depots for Shackleton to use in the last half of his journey. But things went wrong on the other side of the bottom of the world at same time Shackleton had trouble. The other group knew (or thought they knew) that Shackleton and his men would be depending on those food depots to stay alive. So they went through hell to put them out there. Three died. The rest completed the longest sledge journey in history - 199 days - before returning to the beach to find that their ship had left without them. Two years after their trip began, Shackleton finally came and picked them up.

Read "Shackleton's Forgotten Men."

 

[Kapteeni Kalma]

I recommend Caroline Alexander's book:

The Endurance

Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

Lots of photos and a very good reproduction. Overall the book is stunning.

 

[By the lee]

So I presume you guys just held "it" during storms?

Describe process for dealing with bodily functions on the voyage.

Worsley states they used a ton of ballast, but doesn't say of what, also that it caused "slowness, stiffness and a jerky motion",

Was the A.S. ballasted similar and with same material as Caird and with similar results?

He also relates that the shrouds of the main mast on Caird were secured with four brass screws 2" long.

How so on the A.S.?

 

[paularsen1]

So I presume you guys just held "it" during storms?

Describe process for dealing with bodily functions on the voyage.

Worsley states they used a ton of ballast, but doesn't say of what, also that it caused "slowness, stiffness and a jerky motion",

Was the A.S. ballasted similar and with same material as Caird and with similar results?

He also relates that the shrouds of the main mast on Caird were secured with four brass screws 2" long.

How so on the A.S.?

Yeah it was pretty cramped all round on that boat. We used the ol' bucket-and-chuckit method with everyone having their own preferred methods. Typically the helmsman would move forward and steer from the main hatch and give the cockpit over to the man and his bucket.

I'm not sure exactly how they worked out the exact 'ton' of ballast from the rocks/stone they no doubt loaded on from Elephant Island. I believe they launched the boat 'light', anchored it just off Point Wild and then used one of the other boats (The Dudley Docker) to ferry out the ballast. We tried in every practical way to replicate the boat and how it would sail so we also tried to get the weight right. In our case about half of the ballast was made up of batteries which were used for the filming. The rest was bags of stone and some zinc plates. Our ballast was also well secured down as we obviously wanted to survive a roll-over if it ever happened. We couldn't unload any of this ballast either before the departure from Elephant Island or on arrival at Sth Georgia. Bringing such a light shelled but heavily laden boat in close to surging rocks was a sketchy affair... nonetheless we gingerly rowed her into the exact point where they departed from Point Wild and used one of the oars to push off from a rock. We also bumped her ashore at Peggoty Bluff at the other end. I'm pretty sure that the Alexandra Shackleton would have performed in a very similar manner to the original James Caird. Seb and the team put so much effort into making things authentic... however for reasons of obvious safety, it would have been a bit crazy to make everything identical i.e. we put in two bulkheads fore and aft and lashed the ballast down so as to survive a roll-over. The fact is we didn't roll-over and we actually had far less space below than they would have had on the original. This caused more discomfort than the cold. The motion was pretty stiff... but in the end it may have helped us as it did the originals. We too got stuck on a lee shore and had to do everything we could to keep off it. We noticed in the first sea trials back on King George Island that the AS could hold a much higher course when loaded than when light.

I'm not sure how the shrouds were secured. I wouldn't be surprised if it was done this way. The rigging, the type of sail cloth... even building the hull and then adding the extra freeboard on separately was replicated. I would have to ask Seb about the brass screws though.

 

[Barman]

So I presume you guys just held "it" during storms?

Describe process for dealing with bodily functions on the voyage.

Worsley states they used a ton of ballast, but doesn't say of what, also that it caused "slowness, stiffness and a jerky motion",

Was the A.S. ballasted similar and with same material as Caird and with similar results?

He also relates that the shrouds of the main mast on Caird were secured with four brass screws 2" long.

How so on the A.S.?

Yeah it was pretty cramped all round on that boat. We used the ol' bucket-and-chuckit method with everyone having their own preferred methods. Typically the helmsman would move forward and steer from the main hatch and give the cockpit over to the man and his bucket.I'm not sure exactly how they worked out the exact 'ton' of ballast from the rocks/stone they no doubt loaded on from Elephant Island. I believe they launched the boat 'light', anchored it just off Point Wild and then used one of the other boats (The Dudley Docker) to ferry out the ballast. We tried in every practical way to replicate the boat and how it would sail so we also tried to get the weight right. In our case about half of the ballast was made up of batteries which were used for the filming. The rest was bags of stone and some zinc plates. Our ballast was also well secured down as we obviously wanted to survive a roll-over if it ever happened. We couldn't unload any of this ballast either before the departure from Elephant Island or on arrival at Sth Georgia. Bringing such a light shelled but heavily laden boat in close to surging rocks was a sketchy affair... nonetheless we gingerly rowed her into the exact point where they departed from Point Wild and used one of the oars to push off from a rock. We also bumped her ashore at Peggoty Bluff at the other end. I'm pretty sure that the Alexandra Shackleton would have performed in a very similar manner to the original James Caird. Seb and the team put so much effort into making things authentic... however for reasons of obvious safety, it would have been a bit crazy to make everything identical i.e. we put in two bulkheads fore and aft and lashed the ballast down so as to survive a roll-over. The fact is we didn't roll-over and we actually had far less space below than they would have had on the original. This caused more discomfort than the cold. The motion was pretty stiff... but in the end it may have helped us as it did the originals. We too got stuck on a lee shore and had to do everything we could to keep off it. We noticed in the first sea trials back on King George Island that the AS could hold a much higher course when loaded than when light.

I'm not sure how the shrouds were secured. I wouldn't be surprised if it was done this way. The rigging, the type of sail cloth... even building the hull and then adding the extra freeboard on separately was replicated. I would have to ask Seb about the brass screws though.

Larso, you and the rest of the team are legends, as a bay sailor with no desire to head offshore your journey was amazing to watch and it's great you take the time to chat about it here.

No doubt that Shackleton was an extraordinary man, amazing to think what he, and many other early explorers endured to achieve their goals, or just simply save their lives. Inspirational!!!

Thanks!

 

[slip knot]

Fantastic adventure Larso. There really is no feeling like pushing way beyond your comfort zone.

How much more comfortable were you with the modern gear?

It looked to me that other than the rampant foot issues, the rest was reasonably good, and was certainly less bulky during the mountain crossing.

 

[seebär]

G'day Larso, congratulations to you and the other adventurers on this awesome expedition,

i enjoyed watching the documentry very much!!

you were writing before about batteries been used for the filming-equipment...how about radio and ais...was the A.S. purely batterie-powered for the trip or have you had some form of charging-system aboard?!

cheers mate, well done

 

[paularsen1]

G'day Larso, congratulations to you and the other adventurers on this awesome expedition,

i enjoyed watching the documentry very much!!

you were writing before about batteries been used for the filming-equipment...how about radio and ais...was the A.S. purely batterie-powered for the trip or have you had some form of charging-system aboard?!

cheers mate, well done

We had a fuel cell for generating electricity. You could barely notice it in action. It gave off a slight hum but otherwise I paid little attention to it. It was all hidden away. That was all Sebs responsibility. He topped it up every few days and it performed very well. All of that stuff was well hidden away as we didn't want it to impose on our own experience let alone be on camera.

With respect to the modern gear on the crossing, I would say that the dry boots were the biggest difference. I pretty much wore the same old style base layer I wore on the boat and a thin Gore-Tex shell once underway. It was hot, hard going but as usual in those climates, you had to get the layers on as soon as you stopped. Baz would give us 5 minutes every hour... not 5 minutes and then start thinking about going... stop now and in 5 minutes exactly the rope tied to you will start heading that way. Gotta love the military. Towards the end we were really burning out so we would take a couple of impromptu quick breaks. The thing was, as long as it wasn't raining, the old gear was fine. Once things got damp then they would soak it up and the cold would get in. The snow could be slushy in places so the old boots would get sodden through.

We always had this problem with how we were going to cross South Georgia. The problem was that in order to try and replicate Shackletons crossing, three guys would have to wear old gear, travel light and move fast. They would need to rely on not stopping or getting caught out by bad weather. Shackleton nailed a great weather window for his crossing with cold, clear and essentially dry conditions. Conditions have changed in the 100 years since and we were also crossing in a warmer time of year. We also had to have a solid safety plan or the local governing authorities wouldn't let us near the place. They constantly reminded us that they are not their to perform rescue services for gigs like ours. So this means we had to have a support team and of course the Discovery film team. This means we had to carry all the gear i.e. tents, sleeping bags, cameras, batteries, spare clothes, food, ropes etc... and try and travel at the same speed as three guys travelling light. We couldn't hold these guys up as it may well blow their chance. This is why we wore and carried all the best gear we could get our hands on. It was more likely going to be us who struggled to keep the pace. We carried the minimal amount of gear we could. We only carried one sleeping bag for our guys and one thin blow up mattress. We figured that the gear was more as a means to look after one possibly injured person and ride out a storm rather than a means to make everyone comfortable. It was the bare minimum. I only expected to be part of the 'mule pack' on the crossing. Originally I didn't really expect to be doing this part of the journey and just stayed in the background deferring to more experienced team members. Things changed as one by one various people dropped out. We got nailed when that first weather window closed on us. It may have been fortunate that Si's injury forced us down off the mountain early as the weather that came was atrocious. Once we set up camp further down the glacier and waited for dawn, the rain came pelting in. Tim and Baz were already pretty wet and Baz acknowledged that they would have been in a dire situation in that gear out in those conditions. That night was still pretty uncomfortable. probably the worst I have ever spent in a tent. I shared the small tent with Baz and Tim and let them have the ground sheet. These two hadn't washed since before we left Elephant Island well over three weeks before. I pretty much just sat at the end of the tent, waited for dawn and tried not to breathe too deeply.



Later on when the three of us decided to make a dash for it, I still had to carry a heap of stuff but the other two had to load up a little as well. I probably had more weight... but the luxury of good boots and gear. I wasn't complaining. I did make a bad and obvious mistake of changing my backpack at the last minute. The one I took wasn't right for me and it caused me a lot of discomfort. In my tired state I remember being annoyed that Baz took off his backpack and handed it to the film crew once we rejoined them near the finish. For some silly reason I wanted to carry my gear all the way. I obviously wasn't thinking straight as even Shackleton began to unload once he knew they were nearly there. I felt like I could levitate when I took that thing off at the end.

 

[MSafiri]

Till now I read almost all I was able to put my hands on about the golden age of Antartic Expeditions. One of my dream was to go down there and see it with my own eyes. Never thought that I would be able to read 1st hand experiences of someone who replicated the actuall crossing of James Craid and Crew! Watching the films and reading Larso's stories changed my opinions, Shackleton and Crew were heros, now, they are superheros.

Thanks to all of you who made this possible. Larso, big thumbs up!

Are you guys planning any other trips like this? Probably a replication of Captain Blight of Bounty fame? (if that was not done before)

MSafiri

 

[explenture]

Puts any other reality TV to shame. Congratulations on successful completion and thanks for the film!

 

[johnminnee]

Thanks Larso for the explanations, an amazing feat that I am truely envious of. You have done well.

 

[Raz'r]

Watched part of part one last night with my kids. My 7 year old was totally entranced by it. Why, why, why over and over...

It brings the "Age of Explorers" to life.

more tonight