I spent a while up on the bridge last night, chatting with the captain and inspecting the mighty array of gadgetry at his disposal. Although three separate radars are used to check for icebergs, the most trusted and essential ice-detection device is still an organic one: an experienced person with a good pair of binoculars. The most dangerous bergs are the smallest ones, as the radar can't isolate them from surrounding waves.
Today we're continuing our journey to South Georgia. For us it's a 2-day cruise on a stabilised expedition ship, in calm weather; for Shackleton and five of his men it was 17 days through gales in a 22-foot open lifeboat. They only saw the sun, and could thereby check their position, four times during their entire voyage – the rest of the time they steered by dead reckoning, a feat of navigation utterly beyond comprehension. It's a little like finding your way around a golf course blindfold by memorising the map and counting your steps to figure out where you are, but with 50-knot winds, cold, thirst and starvation to contend with. And if you don't arrive on the 18th green, 28 people will die. Pressure, anyone? The navigator's name was Frank Worsley, and it's worth looking him up: a genuine hero.
We've had another whale encounter: several fin whales appeared alongside, bringing the photographic hordes rushing on deck. Fin whales don't do as much "whale stuff" as humpbacks (breaching the tail etc.) – you only really see the blowhole and the back, but there's an awful lot of whale down there. It's the second-biggest species – up to 27m long - and very fast. I feel a particular kinship with the fin whale, as it's the only cetacean that eats anchovies...
