On 14 February, an open channel of water opened up a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) ahead of the ship and dawn showed the "Endurance" was afloat in a pool of soft, young ice no more than thick, but the pool was surrounded by solid pack ice of in thickness, blocking the path to the open lead. A day's continual work by the crew saw them hack a clear channel long. This work continued through the following day (15 February) and, with steam raised, the "Endurance" was backed up within her pool as far as possible to allow the ship to ram her way through the channel. As the ship went astern for successive attempts, lines were attached from the bow to loosened blocks of ice, estimated to weigh 20 tons (18 tonnes), in order to clear the path. The pool proved too small for the ship to gain enough momentum to successfully ram her way clear and by the end of the day the ice began to freeze up again. By 3:00 PM, the "Endurance" had made of distance through the ice, with still to go to clear water. Shackleton decided that the consumption of coal and manpower, and the risk of damage to the ship, was too great and called a halt.