Weddells first voyage showed a handsome profit for Strachanety and Mitchell enough for them to purchase a second smaller rock the 65-tonne Beaufoy. In September 1821 Jane, commanded by Weddell and the Beaufoy, commanded by the Scot, Michael McCleod, left the Thames, and by August 1821 were at Madeira, where stores were taken on board. After calling at the Cape Verde Islands for salt the two vessels arrived at New Island, in the Falklands. There Weddell encountered Charles H. Barnard, commander and owner of the brig Charity, who had been marooned on the Falklands for two years, 1812-14. It was perhaps at Weddell's prompting that Barnard was to write an account of his experiences (1829).
The Jane, Beaufoy, and Charity then sailed for the South Shetlands, arriving late in October 1821. By that time, 45 American and British sealers were in the area and seals were becoming scarce. The three vessels therefore separated to scout for new grounds. On 11.12.21, when 240 miles to the east of Elephant Island, McCleod in the Beaufoy sighted land further to the east - the South Orkney Islands, discovered quite independently four days earlier by George Powell in the company of Nathaniel Brown Palmer. The three captains rendezvoused at Yankee Harbour, on Greenwich Island on 22.12.21, and in February 1822 Weddell, with the Jane, sailed for the South Orkneys where seals were taken and some survey work carried out. The Beaufoy sailed directly to South Georgia, where she was joined later by the Jane. The two vessels sailed for England at the end of March 1822 and arrived in the Thames in July.
