The son of the late yachtsman Sir Peter Blake is heading to
Antarctica to fulfil a pledge his father made to help save the
historic huts near Scott Base.

James Blake, 19, is in Christchurch preparing for a six-week trip to
work on the three huts used by Antarctic explorers Sir Ernest
Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott, near where Scott Base now stood.

Blake will work as a general hand alongside conservation carpenters
and professional conservators for the Christchurch based Antarctic
Heritage Trust.

Sir Peter Blake was murdered by South American pirates while sailing
on the Amazon on a trip on his yacht Seamaster in 2001.

The trip had included a visit to Antarctica. Antarctic Heritage Trust
executive director Nigel Watson said James Blake would fulfil the
pledge his father had made to assist the trust with its work on the
huts.

“Before his expedition to the Antarctic peninsula and in anticipation
of an expedition to the Antarctica’s Ross Sea, Sir Peter had offered
to assist the trust in any way that he could,” Mr Watson told the
newspaper.

“Given he never made the planned journey to the Ross Sea, it is
fitting and very special that James can participate now.”