"At daylight we found ourselves close alongside the land, but the
weather was so thick that we could not see where to make for a landing.
Having taken the tiller again after an hour's rest under the shelter
(save the mark!) of the dripping tent, I ran the 'Dudley Docker' off
before the gale, following the coast around to the north. This course
for the first hour was fairly risky, the heavy sea before which we were
running threatening to swamp the boat, but by 8 a.m. we had obtained a
slight lee from the land. Then I was able to keep her very close in,
along a glacier front, with the object of picking up lumps of fresh-
water ice as we sailed through them. Our thirst was intense. We soon
had some ice aboard, and for the next hour and a half we sucked and
chewed fragments of ice with greedy relish.
"All this time we were coasting along beneath towering rocky cliffs
and sheer glacier-faces, which offered not the slightest possibility of
landing anywhere. At 9.30 a.m. we spied a narrow, rocky beach at the
base of some very high crags and cliff, and made for it. To our joy,
we sighted the 'James Caird' and the 'Stancomb Wills' sailing into the
same haven just ahead of us. We were so delighted that we gave three
cheers, which were not heard aboard the other boats owing to the roar
of the surf.
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