The Bacliff Exploration Society salutes Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and Royal Navy Captain William Bligh, commanders of two of the most epic open-boat journeys in naval history.
In 1789, after the crew of the HMS Bounty mutinied, Bligh and 18 crew members navigated a 23 ft open boat on a 47-day, 3,618 nautical mile, voyage from Tofua to Timor in the Dutch East Indies. In 1916, after the loss of his ship the HMS Endurance, Shackleton and a crew of five launched a 22-foot lifeboat (the James Caird) from Elephant Island, and sailed 800 miles on the open sea to South Georgia.
See also: Leadership Lessons from Ernest Shackleton (The Art of Manliness), The Voyage of Bounty’s Launch (Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas: A Companion to the Bounty Adventure by Sven Wahlroos), HMS Sharktypus
I hereby propose that the ESOB mount an expedition in open boats to find the source of the mighty Armand Bayou, and the fabled temple of the alligator god, known only as “Al”. The ships involved would include the exploration dinghy HMS Sharktypus, along with the exploration canoes HMtS Shackleton and HMtS Bligh, with the “t” standing for temporary, as they would be rentals. The expedition personnel would be limited to the highest titled gentry in good standing with the ESOB, loyal manservants, involuntary conscripts, eunuch admirals, spies for the Kaiser, and a cortege of nameless porters who would drag the canoes through the muck while fending off alligators with blunt sticks.