When daylight came on the morning of the sixth day out we saw and felt
that the 'James Caird' had lost her resiliency. She was not rising to
the oncoming seas. The weight of the ice that had formed in her and
upon her during the night was having its effect, and she was becoming
more like a log than a boat. The situation called for immediate
action. We first broke away the spare oars, which were encased in ice
and frozen to the sides of the boat, and threw them overboard. We
retained two oars for use when we got inshore. Two of the fur sleeping-
bags went over the side; they were thoroughly wet, weighing probably 40
lbs. each, and they had frozen stiff during the night. Three men
constituted the watch below, and when a man went down it was better to
turn into the wet bag just vacated by another man than to thaw out a
frozen bag with the heat of his unfortunate body. We now had four
bags, three in use and one for emergency use in case a member of the
party should break down permanently. The reduction of weight relieved
the boat to some extent, and vigorous chipping and scraping did more.
We had to be very careful not to put axe or knife through the frozen
canvas of the decking as we crawled over it, but gradually we got rid
of a lot of ice. The 'James Caird' lifted to the endless waves as
though she lived again.
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