Shackleton Epic

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26 January – 1030hrs AEDT (25 January 2330hrs GMT/UTC)

Day Two at Sea: After the second day at sea, Alexandra Shackleton has covered a total of 146 miles and has sailed 90 nautical miles in the past 24 hours; Condition: winds of 30knots gusting to 50 knots and 4-5metre seas. Temperature is -1degree celcius. The Alexandra Shackleton hit 7 knots a few hours ago – “absolutely flying” along! Currently averaging 3.7knots. (click here for live tracking)

The crew reports that conditions on board are tough – Tim says they haven’t eaten much, are dehydrated and all their gear/clothing is wet, itchy and “stinky”. Apart from this, Tim reported that they’re all in good spirits. “The swell is pretty huge though and coming at us from all angles,” he said.

It isn’t quite Australia Day (26 January) on board Alexandra Shackleton as yet as they are now operating on GMT/UTC time, but Tim says they are intending to celebrate with a nip of Mackinlay’s whiskey. Despit the conditions on board he just sent through this message for Australia Day: “All the way from the Southern Ocean, I’d like to say thank you to the people of Australia and Australia generally for the opportunities that it has given me. It really is the ‘Lucky Country’. I moved to Australia from the UK in 1997 and I’ve never looked back. I found it’s a place that’s given me great opportunities and I’d like to repay that by taking these opportunities and doing something meaningful with them. I’d also like to say a special word of thanks to Prime Minister Julia Gillard who wrote to us wishing us good luck. It means a tremendous amount to all of us.” Tim Jarvis AM

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Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition is one of the greatest survival stories in history and has inspired adventurers across every continent over three generations. Now, in honour of Shackleton’s legendary expedition, a crew of five British and Australian adventurers will join expedition leader Tim Jarvis, AM FRGS, in an attempt to become the first to authentically re-enact Shackleton’s complete ‘double’ voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia and dangerous crossing of its mountainous interior. More…

Alexandra Shackleton crew are waiting out the weather on King George Island. The crew needs two sets of weather to conspire to allow for the 170nm crossing under tow to Elephant Island – fairer winds for the crossing and good conditions at Elephant Island to allow a landing. Revised estimated date of departure from KGI is now Wednesday 23 January (Shetland Islands local time) when winds are predicted to ease to a 5knot southerly with a 1.5m swell (currently 25knot westerlies gusting over 30knots and a 2.5-3.5m swell).