Hi, to Paddlewise and CPAkayaker folk: Below I am forwarding some information on an interesting exhibit that is going on in New York City through October 11th. It is Shackleton's Voyage of the Endurance at the American Museum of natural History at 77th St on Manhattan's Upper Westside. I am sending it to these listservers outside the New York City area because, if you are traveling in this direction, you may want to include a visit to the exhibit during your stay. You are, of course, welcome to join the nyckayaker group on May 8th as described below for a paddle trip that day, the museum visit, as well to come to my humble abode afterwards for pizza, beer and the video from the original film shot back in 1914-15 of the Endurance voyage saga. For folding kayakers, we are also doing a one way 19 mile trip the next day that will cover a lot of the harbor and return by public transportation. Let me know if interested in coming for any of that weekend. The museum is charging separately for the exhibit and on a reservation basis since they are trying to allot time slots to control the crowds. If you want to join us, make your own reservations (museum phone number is 212-769-5200). At other times, depending on when you come to New York, you may be just able to walk in especially during the week or some evenings. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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PLANNED NYCKAYAKER GET-TOGETHER ... MAY 8TH SATURDAY 1. PADDLE TRIP 2. MUSEUM VISIT 3. PIZZA, VIDEOS, BEER, WINE Last night I went to the opening night of the Shackleton's Endurance Antarctic Voyage exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. The exhibit has gotten a lot of play in the New Yorker and NY Times and it is every bit as impressive as heralded if not more. It is something seafaring types like we kayakers will not want to miss. The exhibit runs through Oct 12th but I was thinking of doing something like we did last year with the visit to the kayak exhibit at the Museum with pizza and an appropriate video back at my place just 7 blocks from the Museum. That went over quite well in letting a lot of us attach a face to that kayaknut_at_suchnsuch.com email address we see on nyckayaker. To summarize the story and exhibit: The story-- Sir Ernest Shackleton set off in August 1914 (yes, the time of the beginning of WWI) to Antarctica for an attempt at a land crossing from the Wendell Sea across the South Pole to the Ross Sea. He never made it but in his failure he gave us one of the most impressive epic stories of survival ever recorded. His ship, the Endurance, got caught by the ice in the Wendell Sea a few hundred miles from the Antarctica coast with 28 men and 70 dogs and one cat. The ice crushed their ship after about 4 months; they spent the next 10 months living adrift on the ice until they could finally make a break for it, an 80 mile crossing to a barren Elephant Island, in three open boats; the largest being 22.5 feet long, the smallest about the size of a double Klepper. There he left 22 of the men and set off with five others in the 22.5 footer on a 800 mile winter crossing of the incredibly turbulent waters of this region to reach a whaling station at South Georgia Island to seek help. That seafaring in such a small boat in such conditions is still considered today to be a virtual impossibility. They landed on the other side of the island from the whaling station whereupon Shackleton and two crew mates proceeded some 20-30 miles across a 4,000 foot high mountain range to reach the station. He then spent 4 months trying to rescue the rest of his crew back on Elephant Island constantly hampered by the ice. He finally accomplished his mission with the help of the Chilean navy. He lost not a man of his 27 person crew! Compare that to other expeditions from that time and more recently such as events on Everest and you will shake your head in disbelief. The exhibit-- The expedition had a photographer along, an Australian Frank Hurley, who took copious fotos of the venture including a movie! His photos are incredibly clear and often artistic, looking like something a modern photographer might take, only under conditions that defy description. When they were forced to abandon the Endurance as the ice crushed it, Hurley stripped almost bare and dove for repeated trips into the freezing waters to retrieve some 500 large film plates from his flooded darkroom; they kept 100. The exhibit has the stunning photos and several movies going on the walls as well as all sorts of artifacts and instruments. Most impressive is the actual 22.5 foot boat they used in the rescue, the James Caird. It is set in a room with several panoramic screens surrounding you with footage of the kinds of seas it crossed. I defy you to stand there without getting seasick (they should have boff bags around!). I have the video made on the voyage and will be showing it at my place when we return there for pizza etc. I think the visit and the video provide a lot of food for thought regarding leadership, group cohesion, and sheer survival philosophy that we will want to discuss. I know I have drawn a lot of conclusions and insights from the Shackleton saga and I am sure you will too. Schedule, May 8th Saturday: Here are my thoughts. You can join in at various times or take it all in if you wish. 1. A paddle trip. Start at around 10 am from the 79th St Boat Basin on the Hudson (which is just a few blocks from the Museum). We'll paddle down the Manhattan shoreline with the ebb current to the Intrepid and beyond and return with the flood. We should be off the water no later than 3 pm. We have various ways of stashing rigid or folding kayaks temporarily on our return. Return to my place for showers, leave paddling gear, etc. 2. Museum visit. Start around 5 pm or so. People who are not on the paddle trip could meet us at the 77th Street entrance next to the war canoe. SOs (Significant others) and kids are welcomed to join us there. Take in the exhibit for an hour or so. 3. Pizza and video, my place: This could be at around 7 pm ish. The guts of the video runs about an hour. It is a haunting silent film reminiscent of the Nanook of the North we viewed last year. Yes, I know there is a demanding one-way 19 mile paddle trip the next day, Sunday, organized by Mark Gluck for folding kayaks, and I will be on it. But I think we will be so exhilarated by the museum visit etc. that that trip will feel great and not be tiring. If you start feeling fatigued, well...think of Shackleton and what he and his crew accomplished! I will post this again in a few weeks. I just wanted to get this into your calendar. Hope you can join us. Let me know by email or phone, ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Wish I lived a bit closer ... would love to see this exhibition. Anyone interested in Shackleton's epic might like to check out: http://www.pelagic.co.uk/log97ind/arind.html This is a log of an attempt in 1997 to recreate Shackleton's remarkable passage from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the 'Tom Crean', a replica of Shackleton's 23 ft boat the 'James Caird'. With the support boat 'Pelagic' this is gripping stuff ... Shackleton's original journey - we are not worthy!. Cheers Colin Calder 57º19'N 2º10'W *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Colin Calder wrote: > > Wish I lived a bit closer ... would love to see this exhibition. > > Anyone interested in Shackleton's epic might like to check out: > > http://www.pelagic.co.uk/log97ind/arind.html > > This is a log of an attempt in 1997 to recreate Shackleton's remarkable > passage from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the 'Tom Crean', a > replica of Shackleton's 23 ft boat the 'James Caird'. > > With the support boat 'Pelagic' this is gripping stuff ... Shackleton's > original journey - we are not worthy!. > > Cheers > > Colin Calder > 57º19'N 2º10'W Too bad you can't make the exhibit. I saw a tv show of that attempt in 1997 to duplicate the original voyage but that failed as you point out. BTW, Tom Crean was one of the 6 men on the James Caird on its epic Elephant Is. to South Georgia Is. voyage. Caroline Alexander, who is the guest curator of the exhibit and the author of the latest quite wonderful book on the 1916 voyage (great fotos), wrote that "Crean was perhaps as close as one can come to being indestructible." An article in the New Yorker quoting her on this then goes on to say, "He is reported to have died in 1938, but that sounds unlikely."!!! ralph -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Colin Calder wrote: > ... Anyone interested in Shackleton's epic might like to check out: > > http://www.pelagic.co.uk/log97ind/arind.html > > This is a log of an attempt in 1997 to recreate Shackleton's > remarkable > passage from Elephant Island to South Georgia... Thanks for the link. Reading the account of this recent attempt only serves to increase my admiration for the accomplishment of Shackelton and his men. Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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