I was very excited to be offered a special opportunity to visit the James Caird in its dedicated exhibition space at Dulwich College. The James Caird is the humble wooden lifeboat that carried Shackleton and 5 of his men from Elephant Island to South Georgia in one of the most epic feats of survival in the history of exploration.
Among a story stuffed full of incredible feats, memorable episodes and near miracles - the survival of the James Caird as an artifact is among them. Pulled ashore by Shackleton and his men as they escaped across South Georgia, three of the party used it as a makeshift shelter while they waited for salvation. Once the men were rescued, Norwegian whalers returned to rescue the vessel because they thought otherwise no one would believe the story, or at least would not appreciate the scale of the nautical feat.
The boat was eventually returned to England as used as a prop as Shackleton toured the country giving lectures until it was gifted to one of the expedition sponsors. The boat was put on show temporarily on the roof of Selfridges, the department store in central London, before the owner finally presented the boat to his alma mater, where he had been a school friend of Shackleton - this is how the James Caird came to be at Dulwich College.
It spent some time at the National Maritime Museum, where it was fully restored and I was taken by all the patches and repairs visible on the hull - the story of the expedition written in its timbers...