 With the Antarctic summer waning, Stenhouse had to consider the possibility that Aurora might be trapped for another year, and after reviewing fuel and stores he ordered the capture of more seals and penguins. This proved difficult, as the soft state of the ice made travel away from the ship hazardous. As the ice encasing the ship melted, the timber seams opened and were admitting around three to four feet (about a metre) of water daily, requiring regular work with the pumps. On 12 February, while the crew were busy with this activity, the ice around the ship finally began to break away. Within minutes the whole floe had splintered into fragments, a pool of water opened up, and Aurora was floating free. Next morning Stenhouse ordered the setting of sails, but on 15 February the ship was stopped by accumulated ice and remained, unable to move, for a further two weeks. Stenhouse was reluctant to use the engines because coal supplies were low, but on 1 March he decided he had no choice; he ordered steam to be raised, and next day the ship edged forward under engine power. After a series of stops and starts, on 6 March the edge of the ice was sighted from the crow's nest. On 14 March Aurora finally cleared the pack, after a drift of 312 days covering 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km). Stenhouse recorded the ship's position on reaching the open sea as latitude 64°27'S, longitude 157°32'E.
