Antarctica : a Pers
Jacquetta Megarry reflects on the process of creating a new kind of book about Antarctica
Images : Jacquetta Megarry unless otherwise credited
The gestation period for this book was four years , which is about 10 times our norm for progressing guidebooks from commissioning to printed , bound copies . But this was never going to be a Rucksack Readers guidebook – it was altogether a more personal project .
In a sense , gestation took over 40 years : my interest in Antarctica had built up over a lifetime of reading wonderful books about the early explorers ( Shackleton , Cherry-Garrard , Amundsen , Mawson ); excellent biographies of Scott , Shackleton , and Crean ; and accounts by living authors such as Venables and Jarvis who had authentically recreated epic journeys from the Heroic Age .
At a personal level , I had seen and envied photos brought back by friends , family , and OWPG photographer Chiz Dakin . I had visited the James Caird in which Shackleton and five others had crossed 800 miles of Southern Ocean to South Georgia . The lifeboat stands in the London school where Shackleton had been a pupil , and I was struck by its vulnerability and improvised rigging . Even the dinghies that I ’ ve sailed on the Clyde have keels to combat leeway .
Eventually , aware of my limited lifespan , the pressure to see Antarctica for myself was irresistible . I had no idea how to justify it , and when my son suggested that I write a book about it , my first reaction was imposter syndrome . I assumed that somebody must already have published the book that I needed – the one that tells you which factors to weigh up before you book , provides proper maps and explains the trade-offs ; and I wanted help with wildlife and understanding iceberg shapes and colours .
After years of disappointed searching , I concluded that such a book did not exist , so I decided to create one . In 2020 – 22 I was trying to book a cruise to Antarctica and South Georgia – a long , desperately frustrating process . The pandemic led to countless changes of plan , ship , and itinerary , which I found agonising . Despite my total lack of experience , I had become obsessed with wanting to see icebergs and penguins from a
6 outdoor focus / summer 2024