She was an ordinary ship's whaler,
fairly strong, but showing signs of the strains she had endured since
the crushing of the 'Endurance'. Where she was holed in leaving the
pack was, fortunately, about the water-line and easily patched.
Standing beside her, we glanced at the fringe of the storm-swept,
tumultuous sea that formed our path. Clearly, our voyage would be a big
adventure. I called the carpenter and asked him if he could do
anything to make the boat more seaworthy. He first inquired if he was
to go with me, and seemed quite pleased when I said "Yes." He was over
fifty years of age and not altogether fit, but he had a good knowledge
of sailing-boats and was very quick. McCarthy said that he could
contrive some sort of covering for the 'James Caird' if he might use
the lids of the cases and the four sledge-runners that we had lashed
inside the boat for use in the event of a landing on Graham Land at
Wilhelmina Bay. This bay, at one time the goal of our desire, had been
left behind in the course of our drift, but we had retained the
runners. The carpenter proposed to complete the covering with some of
our canvas; and he set about making his plans at once.
Noon had passed and the gale was more severe than ever. We could not
proceed with our preparations that day. The tents were suffering in
the wind and the sea was rising.
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