We skirted westward, awaiting favourable conditions. The morning of
the 28th was dull and overcast, with little wind. Again the ship's
head was turned to the south-west, but at 3 p.m. a definite line of
pack showed up on the horizon. We were about 70 miles from Elephant
Island, but there was no possibility of taking the steamer through the
ice that barred the way. North-west again we turned. We were directly
north of the island on the following day, and I made another move
south. Heavy pack formed an impenetrable barrier.
To admit failure at this stage was hard, but the facts had to be
faced. The 'Southern Sky' could not enter ice of even moderate
thickness. The season was late, and we could not be sure that the ice
would open for many months, though my opinion was that the pack would
not become fast in that quarter even in the winter, owing to the strong
winds and currents. The 'Southern Sky' could carry coal for ten days
only, and we had been out six days. We were 500 miles from the
Falkland Islands and about 600 miles from South Georgia. So I
determined that, since we could not wait about for an opening, I would
proceed to the Falklands, get a more suitable vessel either locally or
from England, and make a second attempt to reach Elephant Island from
that point.
We encountered very bad weather on the way up, but in the early
afternoon of May 31 we arrived at Port Stanley, where the cable
provided a link with the outer world.
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