Part VI Summary and Analysis

Part VI consists of six enumerated chapters. Briefly, it recounts how Shackleton and a picked crew of five other men pilot the James Caird through the Drake passage and hundreds of miles of the South Sea from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island. Their successful voyage and accurate landfall are, to this day, regarded as one of the most singular and remarkable feats of seamanship in all of recorded maritime history.

On April 24th Shackleton and his five picked men depart Elephant Island in the James Caird. They stand out northerly until encountering a long drift of pack ice which they eventually cross through one open lead by rowing. The first night Shackleton and Worsley sit at the helm quietly discussing their situation while the other men sleep. Shackleton is dismayed to have to trust so entirely in Worsley's...