The increasing seas discovered the weaknesses of our decking.

The continuous blows shifted the box-lids and sledge-runners so that the canvas sagged down and accumulated water.

Then icy trickles, distinct from the driving sprays, poured fore and aft into the boat.

The nails that the carpenter had extracted from cases at Elephant Island and used to fasten down the battens were too short to make firm the decking.

We did what we could to secure it, but our means were very limited, and the water continued to enter the boat at a dozen points.