The land showed still in fair weather on the distant horizon, but it was beyond our reach now, and regrets for havens that lay behind us were vain.
"We must wait for the spring, which may bring us better fortune.

If I had guessed a month ago that the ice would grip us here, I would have established our base at one of the landing-places at the great glacier.
But there seemed no reason to anticipate then that the fates would prove unkind.

This calm weather with intense cold in a summer month is surely exceptional.

My chief anxiety is the drift.

Where will the vagrant winds and currents carry the ship during the long winter months that are ahead of us?
We will go west, no doubt, but how far?
And will it be possible to break out of the pack early in the spring and reach Vahsel Bay or some other suitable landing-place?
These are momentous questions for us." On February 24 we ceased to observe ship routine, and the 'Endurance' became a winter station.