Ocean Camp and Patience Camp

They knew that that was as far south as they would ever go. There was no chance of completing the expedition now; they had drifted over 600 miles. They planned to get to Snow Hill or Robertson Island, some 200 miles northwest. Moving anywhere carrying all of their supplies meant dragging two bulky lifeboats, plus all their food and equipment. It was backbreaking work, and they stopped after going just under a mile. They camped on a big ice floe to await the breakup of the ice. They named their camp Ocean Camp. They had to get rid of anything that consumed their valuable food and was unable to pull its own weight. They shot three of the puppies and a tabby cat they had kept onboard. For the next several days, salvage teams ferried back and forth between the wreckage of the ship and the camp, gaining wood, canvas, rope, and food. They removed the entire wheelhouse to use as storage. They hacked a hole in the deck to the storage room beneath it, and many crates of food floated up. Hurley bravely rescued his negatives by hacking through the refrigerator he was keeping them in, stripping down, and diving down four feet through mushy ice water. He chose the best 120 to resoulder, and dumped over 400 others. After weeks of waiting for the ice to open up, they decided to move west. It was a terrible idea. The ice was dangerous and they were moving painfully slow. After eight hours of toil, they had covered a little more than a mile. It went on that way for days, and they were never entirely rested, never totally full. Shackleton had planned for them to go 60 miles, but he saw that it was impossible. He decided to stop the march for a few days, because the ice ahead not only required them to stop, it required them to retreat half a mile. They camped on a sturdy looking floe. A week of labor had gained them eight miles. They had abandoned additional food, clothing, books, and a stove. A blizzard drove their berg through the Antarctic circle and into more familiar waters. Ironically, a few days later, the floe with Ocean Camp drifted within five miles of where they were, and they could go get all the items they had left behind. They shot the remaining dogs. Their floe was drifting with alarming speed in the direction they wanted to go, and they could soon see Clarence Island and Elephant Island in the distance. Their floe began to crack and they decided it was time to launch the boats.