Ahoy Aris

THIS is the boat that Mick built. Named Tom Crean after the late, great Kerry Polar explorer, the 23 foot wooden craft takes to the waters of Killary Fjord next month in preparation for "South Aris", the 1997 Irish Antarctic Adventure.

Built by Michael Kennedy and a FAS team in a Co Kilkenny shed, the craft is a replica of the lifeboat used in one of the world's most famous Polar exploits. Early next year, an Irish team of sailors and former Everest mountaineers intend to recreate the epic voyage made by compatriots 80 years ago.

The three leader, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean and Tim MacCarthy - were members of the British Transantarctic Expedition of 1914-17, which was marooned after the loss of its ship Endurance on Elephant Island. Shackleton, Crean and four others sailed over 800 miles to South Georgia, and traversed some 30 miles of glaciers and mountains after landfall, to get help for 22 others. Not a single life was lost.

The Tom Crean is on view until Friday of this week at the Lory Meagher Heritage Centre in Tullaroan, Co Kilkenny. South Aris can be contacted through codirector, Frank Nugent, at (01) 6685777 or PO Box 100, Tralee, Co Kerry.