S/Y "SARAH W. VORWERK"
THE SAILING COMPANIONS
In 1787 Captain William Bligh with the "Bounty" tried for 29 days in vain to round the cape. Finally he had no choice but to take the much longer route via Cape of Good Hope to eventually reach Polynesia.
It was in 1616 that the Dutch seafarers Jaques Le Maire and Willem Schouten on board the Eendracht and Hoorn had left their home port of Hoorn to explore for King and Country new passages and unknown lands. At Puerto Deseado one ship was lost to fire, while the crew was scraping the old tar from its hull, so they had to continue their voyage on one ship. They endeavored to sail south of the passage by that time already known as Strait of Magellan, and thus discovered the narrow passage to the west, and that mysterious cape, which they named after the lost ship..
Scott left for the South Pole on December 24th, 1911. The motor sledges soon broke down, and the ponies which many experts had advised against using, soon perished in this inhospitable climate. Under unspeakable conditions Scott, Evans, Bowers, Oates, and Wilson clawed their way up the Beardmore glacier towards the Antarctic plateau. What utter disappointment it must have been for the group to see on January 17th the tent of Amundsen already standing at the South Pole. We know they did not make it back.
December 5th 1914 Ernest Shackelton left South Georgia to sail south, where his Endurance got frozen into the packice on January 18th 1915, only 80 miles from their goal Vahsel Bay. The Endurance sinks November 21st 1915. Shakelton and his Crew move onto an iceflow and drift north with it.
After having held up the spirit of his crew for more than one year, on April 24 th 1916 he set out with five of his men, to get help. In an open 22 foot whaleboat the James Caird, he navigated the 800 miles of the roughest seas on this planet. After 15 days they sighted South Georgia, where they found help. Shackeltons grave can be visited in Grytviken on South Georgia.
This region, heavy with the spirit and the heroism of exploration and adventure, still has not lost any of it's attraction. The physical conditions of the region have remained unchanged. For this reason it is exciting to compare one's own experiences and determination with the stories of bygone days. You will feel like actually taking part in a sailing adventure in these historic waters.
