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Brad has kindly sent further transcribed pages, from Worsley's log of the
Caird voyage, and I propose to do my best to decode them. Now we have
largely cracked the working of one observation, I expect the others will
follow without too much hassle.

But there are quite a few pages, so this is likely to run and run.

Which leads me to this question. Is this a dialogue just between Brad and
me, or is anyone else taking an interest? If anyone else is following the
matter, please post a note to say so (even just one such request will do).
Otherwise we will, if Brad agrees, take the discussion off-list.

I've been following up a few contacts. I have an old friend who has actually
crossed South Georgia, in Shackleton's tracks, about 25 years ago. He has
alerted me to a publicatation, in a Geographical Journal, of an article
describing a survey of Elephant Island in 1970, with fold-out map. I hope a
copy will arrive soon. He has also pointed me to a book by Dunnett, founder
of the James Caird Society, called "Shackleton's Boat", ISBN 0948028025.
This appears to be now out of print, and available second-hand (from the US,
mostly) at an eye-watering price. I've located a copy that's a bit less
eye-watering, and hope to see it soon. I am told that it contains
transcriptions from the Worsley log (about which more anon).

I've also made some enquiries of my own at Canterbury Museum, where the
original log is held. Explaining my interest, I asked if anyone else had
analysed those observations, as there's no point in the same thing being
done twice. They told me that an American had made enquiries , back in
November, and kindly offered to put us in touch. This evening, he phoned me,
and it turns out to be a navigator with whom I had had dealings some years
ago, concerning the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is a small world we
occupy, those interested in celestial nav. It turns out that he has a copy
of the Dunnett book, in which he tells me that Worsley's log has been
incompetently transcribed, by someone who clearly had no idea what all those
numbers meant. Anyway, he and I and Brad seem to be thinking along similar
lines. I will try to entice him into Navlist.

George.
contact George Huxtable, at  george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.


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