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Thanks Mersault. Yes you are correct (and ahead of me again!) and it fits so elegantly into the boat! At the beginning I thought that this was going to be another boring search but now I have finished I think it is a very clever and entertaining puzzle with new challenges at each evolving stage. Thanks to all for the help; I am glad that I persevered and finished.

Yes, another good puzzle from Shackleton.

Yes, thanks Meursault. V. satisfying.

I finished this yesterday after I seeing the first tangible evidence of the theme.
Good as it is, I'm not sure why they going so wild over it on the other site. It's nowhere near the setter's best puzzle to date, and there are features that are a little weak, such as the complete irrelevance of the climbing three apart from the fact that they are a trio (of any old words). I didn't like the deliberate attempts to bamboozle the solver so that the theme is difficult to get, and I'm left with a lingering uncertainty about how to enter the letters in four cells with two letters. It's not possible to fill cell 31 so that 31ac, 31d and the thematic item all read correctly. If it's filled so the thematic item is correct, 31ac will be incorrect.

Insofar as the preamble was deliberately deceptive (for the second week in a row), I agree. It took me a little while to find the correct interpretation of the misprints also. But unfair ? I won't go that far. And I'd not spotted the difficulty with 31 (also the 3rd cell of 19). I think if the cell is entered so that 31A and 31D both make sense, that's the best that can be done.

On the 3 climbers - you probably know the story, Dryden. I remember reading it a long time ago. ES took the two who had remained strongest from their ordeal so far, including one who could navigate, for the climb of the ridge. In deep snow they were all so exhausted by the time they reached the crest, that ES ordered them to tuck their coats under their backsides and toboggan down, trusting to luck that there would be no protruding rocks or precipices. Alpinism after my own taste !

Lest my post appears too negative, I should say that I think the construction of the four messages with their double meanings does deserve to be called brilliant.

I am still really struggling with this. If I could have nudges for 16 across and 7,8 & 9 down I might be able to read all the messages and gain some clue as to what is going on. Clearly there is something to do with whaling but I don't know what to enter into Google to find help towards getting the story. Help would be gratefully received!

16a - misprint is in first letter. Answer begins with O (i.e., the banking system ends with O... ) and is hyphenated - note is N.

7 is one of the answers entered thematically - unfashionable is OUT, and the word begins with V

8 took me ages and I kicked myself when I eventually got it. "Pounds", here, is a container indicator, and it's a simple container clue.

9 also thematic. For the misprint, think Shakespeare, and for dope, think a three-letter abbreviation for abbreviation.

Hope that isn't too cryptic. For what it's worth, I thought this was a really good crossword.

Sorry, I meant three letter abbreviation for information.

Thank you very much, Olivercardo. I had several sudden rushes of blood to the head and completed the whole puzzle. They are always brilliant if you finish them - otherwise they are unfair!