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OHYAY: Birdie was Crazy! (Chapter One)
Dec. 3rd, 2010 08:52 amONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY (well, yesterday)....
The Terra Nova was battling a ferocious storm south of New Zealand. They were extremely heavily laden and riding low in the water anyway, so it was easy for the heavy seas to swamp the ship. The deck was covered in bags of coal and cases of fuel which had been securely lashed down, but the waves crashing over the deck dislodged a number of them and they lost tons of fuel. A sticky mixture of coal dust and oil got into the bilge and clogged the pumps, so the water level inside the ship rose to the point that it flooded the engines. Because the pumps were out of commission the only way they could keep the water level under control was by a bucket chain, which baled the ship out for a night and a day. Meanwhile, a team were cutting a hole through an iron bulkhead to get to the pump shaft and clean out the muck. The dogs, which were chained on deck, had an extremely rough time, often being saved from being swept overboard only by the chain that bound them; one dog's chain broke and he got swept away only to land back on deck with the next wave.
Basically: it was extremely dire.
In The Worst Journey in the World Cherry reproduces a letter home that he wrote about the storm; essentially it goes 'OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!' Then he quotes a letter from Birdie for contrast.
... Okay, I exaggerate. But Birdie was like that! The point of Cherry's comparison was that Birdie always understated things, especially in his letters home, and the fact that his letter for that storm didn't gloss over the extremity of their circumstances was proof of just how dire it was.
Also, he was apparently impervious to cold. More on that later!
If you would like to read more on this very exciting episode, you can read Scott's journal entry for it or the more detailed account in Worst Journey.
And now: a musical aide!
The Terra Nova was battling a ferocious storm south of New Zealand. They were extremely heavily laden and riding low in the water anyway, so it was easy for the heavy seas to swamp the ship. The deck was covered in bags of coal and cases of fuel which had been securely lashed down, but the waves crashing over the deck dislodged a number of them and they lost tons of fuel. A sticky mixture of coal dust and oil got into the bilge and clogged the pumps, so the water level inside the ship rose to the point that it flooded the engines. Because the pumps were out of commission the only way they could keep the water level under control was by a bucket chain, which baled the ship out for a night and a day. Meanwhile, a team were cutting a hole through an iron bulkhead to get to the pump shaft and clean out the muck. The dogs, which were chained on deck, had an extremely rough time, often being saved from being swept overboard only by the chain that bound them; one dog's chain broke and he got swept away only to land back on deck with the next wave.
Basically: it was extremely dire.
In The Worst Journey in the World Cherry reproduces a letter home that he wrote about the storm; essentially it goes 'OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!' Then he quotes a letter from Birdie for contrast.
... Okay, I exaggerate. But Birdie was like that! The point of Cherry's comparison was that Birdie always understated things, especially in his letters home, and the fact that his letter for that storm didn't gloss over the extremity of their circumstances was proof of just how dire it was.
Also, he was apparently impervious to cold. More on that later!
If you would like to read more on this very exciting episode, you can read Scott's journal entry for it or the more detailed account in Worst Journey.
And now: a musical aide!
