The Further Exploits of “The Stonington Castaways” – Keith Holmes
John Tait, Tony Rider and Jimmy Gardner became isolated on Detaille Island when the sea ice went out totally in warm temperatures and high winds. Following that realization, John Tait referred to themselves as the “The Stonington Castaways” in his Journey Report.
Tony reported on the state of the hut[1] and wrote an account of the stranded party[2].
Their concern about being out of contact was alleviated when Jules Brett flew over them in the single Otter 294 from Adelaide Island on October 4th. Becoming frustrated by inactivity, they dug out the fibreglass boat between October 12th and 18th, and thought about making an escape. They then had to spend several days excavating the limited amount of coal that was buried in a dump under the snow. Living off the land, they dined on roast shag, penguin eggs, and even skuas.
From October 24th to December 7th, Jules Brett made five more runs from Adelaide Island to drop 16 boxes of Nutrican for the dogs, 29 bags of coal, six batteries, and miscellaneous bits of clothing to them. On October 29th, John, now having enough coal, was able to cook a cake, but it needed eight hours in the “oven”.
By this time, they were thinking more seriously of escaping to the mainland in the hope that they could sledge back to Stonington along the plateau, although this had never been done before. On November 29th and 30th they floated the boat, repaired a hole in it, got the Arzani outboard motor working, and started to shifted sledging rations, camping gear, sledges and dogs to the tiny field hut at Orford Cliff (informally known then as ‘Johnston’s point’) on the mainland some nine miles away. This was already a dangerous venture because of winds, currents, and their reliance on a single motor, but, after a week, John, the helmsman, was eventually cut off by dense pack ice. Then the outboard packed up, and on December 7th, Tony was stuck with his team at Orford Cliff. Jules overflew him, but was unable to land because of crevasses.
Tony’s report noted, laconically, that on Detaille Island they got the rifle working on December 10th.
On January 7th, after a fortnight of strong wind, Jules made his last visit in 294 to drop a note telling the castaways that they should wait there until about January 20th, when RRS Shackleton would relieve them. The ship arrived on the 21st. The men and dogs were, fortunately, in good shape.
“Castaway” John Tait – Obituary here
