"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all"

Dear Explorers and Friends:

The next gathering of the New England Chapter of The Explorers Club will be held on Tuesday February 6th, when sailors, naturalists and conservationists Tim and Pauline Carr take us on a visual circumnavigation of the island of South Georgia, Antarctica, their home for the past 14 years. They are the island’s only permanent residents.

The island of South Georgia boasts a storied history over the past 200 years. The island was home to both sealing and whaling industries- a government-owned commercial fishery still remains, as do two permanent scientific research stations manned by the British Antarctic Survey staff.

South Georgia entered the international public eye most notably in 1916, when Sir Ernest Shackleton famously crossed the island as part of his ill-fated expedition, subsequently dying there in 1922 (where he remains to this day). In 1982, war came to the island with the Argentine conflict (the island’s military garrison was withdrawn in 2001). The South Georgia Museum at Grytviken was established in 1992 to showcase the island's environmental and historical heritage- the museum has been Tim and Pauline’s labor of love in the years since.

The Carrs will provide us with a complete island tour, starting from the deck of their yacht Curlew, which they restored 40 years ago to sail the world’s oceans before settling in South Georgia. They will share varied images of wildlife and heritage, from the bird paradise of Bird Island (a haven for albatross), to Cumberland Bay (home of the first Antarctic whaling station and the South Georgia Museum), to the west coast (where Shackleton and his men arrived at King Haakon bay after their epic journey). They will also explain the progress that has been made in conserving the wildlife and heritage sites during the past decade and future projects planned by the government and South Georgia Heritage Trust.

We hope to have a small number of the Carrs’ book Antarctic Oasis: under the spell of South Georgia (Norton 1998) available for sale. For more information on South Georgia see http://www.sgisland.org/pages/main/island.htm. For more information about the Carrs and the South Georgia Conservation Trust see http://www.sght.org/.