The Elephant Voyage eBook Joan Druett
Download As PDF : The Elephant Voyage eBook Joan Druett 
After their boats are blown offshore from one of the most icy and hostile islands in the sub-Antarctic ocean, twelve men are left to live or die by their own wits and stamina. Six survive, to be carried to New Zealand—where the inquiry and courtcase that follow become an international controversy, with repercussions that reach as far as the desk of the president of the United States.
The Elephant Voyage eBook Joan Druett
Joan Druett's The Elephant Voyage is a fascinating historical account of sailors who find themselves castaway on a desolate, wind-swept sub-Antarctic island, while on an ill-fated voyage to hunt elephant seals in the late 19th century. Their rescue and at least partial redemption also tells a tale of the lively and complex world of colonial New Zealand at the dawn of the 20th century.In 1883, New Bedford, Captain Sanford Miner and his investors, outfit the schooner Sarah W. Hunt and recruit a crew with no real sailing experience, yet who are nevertheless logged as able seamen. Captain Miner and his green crew set sail and successfully navigate to Macquarie Island, a tiny speck halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, only to find the beaches deserted, with not an elephant seal to be seen. They sail on to Campbell Island, another tiny but rugged rock in the Southern Ocean, where they find a safe anchorage for the schooner. The captain sends the mates and crew off to search for seals along the shore in two whale boats. A storm blows up and one boat is blown out to sea, never to be seen again, while the other just barely manages to row back to the island. After several days of arduous rowing, they make it back to where the schooner had been anchored, only to find it gone.
The captain, in a feat of considerable seamanship but blindingly poor judgment, has decided that the crew has been lost in the storm and, with the limited assistance of the cook, sails the schooner to New Zealand. Captain Miner's arrival causes quite a furor. There are calls for a rescue mission, which immediately get caught up in political and bureaucratic maneuvering and intrigue.
What is so engaging about The Elephant Voyage is that once the surviving crew is ultimately rescued, an entirely new story unfolds with surprising consequences. It is as if the rescue is a large stone dropped in a quiet pool, where the ripples spread rapidly outward, rocking many boats and lapping unexpectedly on distant shores. The attorneys and prosecutors maneuver, in and out of court, during the trial of Captain Miner for abandoning his men. Local politicians become involved. The captain maintains an amusing running battle with his usually intoxicated cook. The US consulate gets involved and the newspapers join in the circus as the proceedings attract international interest.
The Elephant Voyage captures both the hardship of sailing in the Southern Ocean and the fascinating world of a rapidly developing colonial New Zealand. Highly recommended.
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The Elephant Voyage eBook Joan Druett Reviews
This true story is really quite a portrait of what life was like on a seal hunting ship in the latter half of the 1800s. I'm always amazed at how tough people can be under extreme circumstances. Sanford Miner, captain of the sloop Sarah W. Hunt, didn't have a stellar reputation to begin with, and his leadership didn't improve on this particular voyage. For some of his crew it cost them their lives and for others it nearly cost their lives.
I loved this book. The author found a true story of nineteenth century whaling /sealing and filled it out with admirable descriptions of the people involved; a villain, some heroes, some victims and others peripherally involved. The historical and geographical contexts let the reader comprehend just why the characters did what they did. If you like nautical adventure stories, or courtroom dramas, or detailed local history, then you will be enthralled by this well-written tale.
Good, but not nearly as good as Island of the Lost. The first half of the book is about hardship, rescue and survival. The second half is basically follow up and there is courtroom drama and lots of legalese. Try Island of the Lost for a good expedition/ adventure story.
The Elephant Voyage is a narrative of a disastrous sealing voyage to sub-Antarctic Campbell Island in the late nineteenth century. Captain Sanford Miner of the American vessel Sarah W. Hunt leads a diverse crew, composed mostly of first time voyagers, into one of the worst seas on the globe to hunt seal during a season when it was prohibited by the government of New Zealand. The captain abandons his crew sent out in two fully manned boats to scout for seal, after a gale blows the boats out to sea, having waited only three days for the their return. Miraculously, Captain Miner sails the Sarah W. Hunt with only one other man, his steward, in severe weather conditions to Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Captain Miner’s reception in New Zealand, the compassionate reaction of the citizenry and the government’s efficiency, or lack of it, in searching for the men in Sarah W. Hunt’s two lost boats are detailed in this absorbing narrative. Six men in one boat survive, with tremendous effort managing to return to Perseverance Harbor on Campbell Island and shelter in a hut built for castaways, until found by the New Zealand government schooner Kekeno. The seamen’s story and the dramatic circumstances surrounding the voyage of the American vessel, the political, legal, and economic consequences in both New Zealand and America during the aftermath, are depicted in author Druett’s clear and lively style in this fascinating non-fiction narrative.
`Elephant Voyage' ( edition), by Joan Druett, is an engaging read. Like a modern day Robinson Crusoe adventure, `Elephant Voyage' tells a chilling latter-day real-life story, in which a group of seal fishermen are castaway on a desolate and uninhabited sub-Antarctic island through a deliverable act of negligence by the skipper of the `Sarah W. Hunt'.
The fact the men are eventually rescued is remarkable, and almost didn't happen. Much vital time was lost as officials argue over cost and availability of vessels to attempt a search and rescue mission. In the end it is only providence that saves the men's lives.
And why the captain abandoned them and sailed away leaving them to suffer starvation and potential death, is the question everyone asks.
Carried away with the dramatic events as they enfolded, exceptionally well told by Druett, I was jolted back to reality once the legal proceedings begin. Here the book takes on a non-fiction feel with the men's evidence being repeated almost word for word.
`Elephant Voyage' is a remarkable story of survival and rescue, tied up in red tape and government bureaucracy, which must be fully unravelled if the reasons behind Captain Miner's blatant act of neglect are to be thoroughly investigated.
Joan Druett's The Elephant Voyage is a fascinating historical account of sailors who find themselves castaway on a desolate, wind-swept sub-Antarctic island, while on an ill-fated voyage to hunt elephant seals in the late 19th century. Their rescue and at least partial redemption also tells a tale of the lively and complex world of colonial New Zealand at the dawn of the 20th century.
In 1883, New Bedford, Captain Sanford Miner and his investors, outfit the schooner Sarah W. Hunt and recruit a crew with no real sailing experience, yet who are nevertheless logged as able seamen. Captain Miner and his green crew set sail and successfully navigate to Macquarie Island, a tiny speck halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, only to find the beaches deserted, with not an elephant seal to be seen. They sail on to Campbell Island, another tiny but rugged rock in the Southern Ocean, where they find a safe anchorage for the schooner. The captain sends the mates and crew off to search for seals along the shore in two whale boats. A storm blows up and one boat is blown out to sea, never to be seen again, while the other just barely manages to row back to the island. After several days of arduous rowing, they make it back to where the schooner had been anchored, only to find it gone.
The captain, in a feat of considerable seamanship but blindingly poor judgment, has decided that the crew has been lost in the storm and, with the limited assistance of the cook, sails the schooner to New Zealand. Captain Miner's arrival causes quite a furor. There are calls for a rescue mission, which immediately get caught up in political and bureaucratic maneuvering and intrigue.
What is so engaging about The Elephant Voyage is that once the surviving crew is ultimately rescued, an entirely new story unfolds with surprising consequences. It is as if the rescue is a large stone dropped in a quiet pool, where the ripples spread rapidly outward, rocking many boats and lapping unexpectedly on distant shores. The attorneys and prosecutors maneuver, in and out of court, during the trial of Captain Miner for abandoning his men. Local politicians become involved. The captain maintains an amusing running battle with his usually intoxicated cook. The US consulate gets involved and the newspapers join in the circus as the proceedings attract international interest.
The Elephant Voyage captures both the hardship of sailing in the Southern Ocean and the fascinating world of a rapidly developing colonial New Zealand. Highly recommended.
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