Don't Look Back

Shackleton is haunting me.  Pondering what sort of man he was, charismatic, single-minded adventurer.  A man who lived by the tenet, "Optimism is true moral courage".  The kind of man that when he had to sail 800 miles in a small boat to save the bulk of his crew, those men waited, keeping each other alive, because they knew he’d come back for them.  When one of those starving men spilled his milk ration, breaking down in tears, every other crewman poured some milk from their own cup into his.  The kind of man who battled sea-ice four times, over four months, to get back to those men, counting them all home alive.  What must it have felt like seeing them on that shore?  For him?  For them?  It likely shortened his life; died at 47.  But what a life.

Early Polar explorers were perhaps naïve, but they had honour, decency, strength of mind, humour, camaraderie, and undaunted civility to one another.    

Offshore, there is that camaraderie.  Important to keep spirits up, keep minds active on things other than the fact you’re living in a vacuum-sealed hotel on top of a gazillion cubic feet of gas and oil, underneath a small airport.  Once, on Magnus platform, there was the worst storm I’d ever witnessed.  As the platform swayed, I was drawn to a window, and stared into the true nature of the sea.  Gigantic, treacherous monster, seething through grasping waves,” You don’t stand a chance”. 

Only the rig lifeboats might save you.  Helicopters can’t fly.  Ships can’t get near.  A fishing vessel, ‘The Sapphire’ was lost that night.

Couldn’t stop looking this terror of Nature right in the eye, until one of the roughnecks came and led me back into the galley.  Made me a cup of tea.  Bless him.

https://eshackleton.com/2013/05/02/dont-look-back/

https://shackleton.com/blogs/articles/shackleton-quotes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird#:~:text=The%20voyage%20of%20the%20James,Trans%2DAntarctic%20Expedition%20of%201914%E2%80%93