"Spirit of Kildare man" keeps team afloat

IN the "spirit of the Kildare man" the Irish Antarctic Expedition intends to continue to South Georgia on its rescue yacht Pelagic, lacing further bad weather conditions in the next week.

Sir Ernest Shackleton never really achieved any of his targets, but is regarded as perhaps the greatest polar adventurer because he put people before personal ambition and never lost a life. All seven sailors and mountaineers involved in this attempt to re create his 1916 polar rescue intend to fulfll their remaining objectives - and come home in one piece.

Yesterday, the joint leaders, Paddy Barry and Frank Nugent, said they intended to complete the remaining 374 mile sea passage to South Georgia. On landing in King Haakon Sound, they will undertake the 30 mile snow and ice traverse across to the former whaling station at Grytviken. Here, they will lay a brass plaque on behalf of the Irish people at Shackleton's grave.

The South Aris Antarctic Adventure, sponsored by Esat Digifone and the Government, left Ireland on December 29th for Tierra del Fuego at the tip of Argentina. A week later, the crew set out for the launching point in Antarctic waters on their rescue yacht, Pelagic, encountering a 36 hour gale and much seasickness in the notorious Drake Passage en route.

The 54 foot steel built yacht, Pelagic, is owned by US round the world sailor, Skip Novak, who was chartered to shadow the five crew in the tiny Tom Crean on their hazardous 800 mile passage across some of the world's most confused and unpredictable seas. The five Tom Crean crew are: joint skippers, Paddy Barry, Dublin engineer and Arctic Galway hooker sailor and Frank Nugent, Dublin FAS manager and Everest mountaineer; Mike Barry, Everest mountaineer and Tralee, Co Kerry, restaurateur; Jarlath Cunnane, Mayo construction manager and sailor who built the replica; and Jamie Young, transatlantic single handed sailor, Cape Horn canoeist and director of Killary Lodge, Co Galway.

The remaining two members of the Irish team - expedition manager, John Bourke, and cameraman, Mick O'Rourke, both from Dublin - joined Skip Novak on the Pelagic. Also with Novak are his own professional crew, Elena Caputo and Patrick Cuddenez.

The 23 foot replica lifeboat, Tom Crean, had been shipped down to the Argentinian port of Ushuaia at the mouth of the Beagle Channel, and was taken from there to the ice edge on a Russian ship, the Professor Molchanov - accompanied by a seventh crew member, Jamie Young, supporter Kevin Cronin, and this reporter. The rendezvous involving all three vessels took place on King George Island in the South Shetlands on January 14th or the early hours of January 15th, Irish time.

Moving up to Elephant Island, where they made a brief landing, they set sail for South Georgia on January 18th. They had made good passage and had 374 miles to complete when the decision was taken to abandon ship at latitude 58 degrees 49 minutes South, and longitude 44 degrees 11 minutes West yesterday morning.

On their worst days, when they hit northerly winds, they still made 30 miles in 24 hours and were averaging 80 miles a day in good sea conditions, according to Paddy Barry. Their one brief period of favourable westerlies allowed them to dry sodden gear last Wednesday - but it was not to last.