Do you really think our modern icons from the worlds of sport, music and film are great? For one moment just consider the exploits of the explorers of the early twentieth century. 
 
Look no further than Sir Ernest Shackleton and his Antarctic expedition. His most heroic feats came after his wooden ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the ice of the Wedell Sea in November 1915.  No matter how hard the crew worked to dig out and free the ship, their labours had little effect. Provisional estimates put the ice pack at 18 feet deep. 
 
When the ice gradually closed in and crushed the hull leaving it in fragments, the explorers now found themselves stranded on the  ice floe. There could be only one outcome if they stayed in this place.   
 
Shackleton decided to leave in the remaining ship’s boats and make for the nearest landmass. He sadly missed Paulet Island, passing by and leaving it well astern.  He continued onwards landing his 27 men on Elephant Island. At least on dry land, his crew could hunt enough seals and birds to keep themselves alive until rescue arrived. 
 
The following April, with a team comprising 5 of the fittest men, Shackleton sailed a further 800 miles to the whaling station on South Georgia from where a rescue mission was organised. 
 
Although history portrays Shackleton as a leader endowed with  remarkable improvisation and man-management skills, perhaps another deserves even greater praise. Delve a little deeper into the archives and the name of Frank Worsley comes to the fore.  
 
He was born in Akaroa, New Zealand and at 15 years of age, had begun his maritime career as a steam-ship apprentice. Colleagues thought him eccentric since he slept in the passageway rather than in his “stuffy” cabin. After the Endurance Expedition, he skippered anti-submarine boats during World War One and it comes as no surprise that he was awarded the DSO.  
 
A closer examination of his ingenuity and courage provides a good case for naming him as the true hero of the voyage. 
 
In the attempt to reach South Georgia, it was Worsley who expertly navigated the 22 foot-long whaler those 800 miles over the open seas. Remember that this voyage took place in 1916, at least 80 years before the use of electronic instruments became widespread. Today we have digital technology at our fingertips, whether it be finding our way at sea and in the air or simply driving the family car. 
 
Worsley had to operate in the freezing seas of Antarctica and more often than not, faced a 50 foot high wall of swell when using the sextant. To quote the man himself, it was as if “cuddling the mast with one arm and swinging fore and aft round the mast, sextant and all”. To give him more stability, the others had to use their bodies to brace his.  
 
Charts would have been available, as were mathematical tables. Those of us who can remember trigonometry from our schooldays will understand the levels of complexity even if sitting comfortably at a desk, let alone in the confines of a small boat at sea. Furthermore, reports claimed that because of the overcast skies, only limited sightings of the sun positions were possible for use as sextant calculations. For the rest of the time, navigation was dependant on direct reckoning – in other words by informed guess or approximation. This would have involved estimates of distance travelled and the deviation from the compass bearing caused by sideways drift in the wind and currents. 
 
If these difficulties were not enough, temperatures hovered below freezing point whilst the clothing provided to counter the harsh elements was made from reindeer skins, a material that was extremely uncomfortable to wear and chaffed the skin.  
 
By the fifteenth day, food and drink supplies were becoming severely depleted. Imagine the relief when the sightings of seaweed drifting on the ocean surface and seabirds flying overhead gave the first indication that land was not too far away. When a prominent black crag on South Georgia was spotted, it was directly in line with the course plotted by Worsley. 
 
Deemed one of the fittest remaining, he was chosen to join the two others sent overland to head for the whaling station at Stromness Bay. Although the ship’s boat had reached King Haakon Bay on South Georgia, it had landed on the wrong side of the island with the prevailing winds blocking further progress by sea.  
 
Determined to save their colleagues, the trio now faced an almost impossible trek some 15 miles over snow-capped mountain passes. They used canvas from the makeshift deck of the whaler through which they stuck nails before tying the improvised gripping onto the soles of their boots. Even so, their problems did not end here. Once they had crossed the mountains, they were faced with a final snow-covered descent which extended for 1,000 metres. As a last resort, a length of ship’s rope was wound into a coil, on which the trio positioned themselves to careen down the mountain side. It was the desperate act of exhausted men.  
 
After a 36 hour hike and climb, they finally reached the whaling station. 
 
A Chilean Naval ship, the Yelcho, was eventually hired. It steamed back to Elephant Island to pick up the rest of the men. All of the crew were rescued. Not a single life was lost. 
 
As in all walks of life, with the introduction of new technology, we are losing our rudimentary skills, namely, the basic principles of navigation.  
 
It begs the question. What would we do should our modern  electronics fail or the satellites be turned off? Would a Frank Worsley come to our aid? 

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