Some anxious work remained to be done, since bergs and scattered ice
extended in all directions, but at 2 p.m. on March 14 the 'Aurora'
cleared the last belt of pack in lat. 62° 27.5? S., long. 157° 32? E.
"We 'spliced the main brace,'" says Stenhouse, "and blew three blasts
of farewell to the pack with the whistle."
The 'Aurora' was not at the end of her troubles, but the voyage up to
New Zealand need not be described in detail. Any attempt to reach
McMurdo Sound was now out of the question. Stenhouse had a battered,
rudderless ship, with only a few tons of coal left in the bunkers, and
he struggled northward in heavy weather against persistent adverse
winds and head seas. The jury-rudder needed constant nursing, and the
shortage of coal made it impossible to get the best service from the
engines. There were times when the ship could make no progress and
fell about helplessly in a confused swell or lay hove to amid
mountainous seas. She was short-handed, and one or two of the men were
creating additional difficulties. But Stenhouse displayed throughout
fine seamanship and dogged perseverance. He accomplished successfully
one of the most difficult voyages on record, in an ocean area
notoriously stormy and treacherous. On March 23 he established
wireless communication with Bluff Station, New Zealand, and the next
day was in touch with Wellington and Hobart.
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