Endurance Part VI Chapters 1-3

Drawing of the Caird

As the remaining men await rescue back on Elephant Island, Shackleton and his small team brave the open waters. This trip was more terrifying then any previous, as failure was not an option. The other men were counting on them to reach South Georgia and send help. The men dealt with nature at her most ferocious. The neverending streams and sprays of water constantly assulted the rowers. On the rare oppertunities to sleep, the rocking waves often prevented the fatigue men from drifting off. Ice began accumulating on the ship and had to be chipped off by the men while they were exposed to the elements. All of this was nothing, however, compared to the monotony of sea life.

"Every individual minute had to be noted, then lived through and finally checked off."

Countdown

Everyone has been in that position where it seems like something will never end. It is feeling every student gets as summer or spring break nears. I sometimes feel that way during a slow shift at work. I will stare at the slowly ticking hands of the clock, cheering for every minute that torturously passed. The adage is time flies when you are having fun. However, the opposite is true as well. Time seems to drag on in times of dread. The men on the Caird have nothing to look forward to, South Georgia being a unrealistic goal for the time being. They have nothing to look forward to, and thus they must simply live each moment as it comes.