On Thursday evening we had a virtually full house to hear Philip Temple talking about the adventurous expedition that he took part in to land on the remote Antarctic Heard Island and then climb its 9,000ft volcano which happens to be the highest peak in Australian Terriory. The yacht was skippered by none other than H. W. Tilman. The story is also told in full in the newly released book "The Sea and the Snow" which would make a great read for anyone interested in expedition sailing. The fascinating talk was backed up with some unseen film which really gave a sense of the severe conditions on the island. The photo shows Bob Comlay on the left, myself centre, and Philip Temple on the right. Bob has also sailed with Tilman and was able to add some tales to the end of the talk. In the audience we had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Harwich who has sailed as Tilman's cook and also Andrew Ross who waited in Scoresby Sound to join Tilman to sail south but sadly he never arrived leaving Andrew to over winter in the high Arctic!
For the first time we decided to add a "tastorama" feature to the evening with a little piece of marizipan and a shot of rum. Many a mountain would never have been climbed without good old marzipan!
See our events section for the next talk or demonstration.
