Time on Ice: Overwinter Voyage to Antarctica - Hardcover

Shapiro, Deborah; Bjelke, Rolf

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0070063990 ISBN 13: 9780070063990

Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 1997

Synopsis

Deborah Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke were not new to high-latitude voyaging. They'd already made an epic 33,000-mile Arctic/Antarctic voyage by sail. But their new plan was even more daring: Lured by memories of Antarctica as compelling as a siren's song, they would sail from Sweden to the Antarctic Peninsula expressly to spend the winter there, frozen into an isolated anchorage. Would their 40-foot sailboat and only home survive, or would it be crushed by the ice? Could they physically and mentally endure the cold and wind? If they did, would the ice release them the following summer? Alone in the last great wilderness on earth, Deborah and Rolf view fiery sunsets on snow and ice, explore mountains rising from mist, and discover aquamarine ice caves. Each day brings new adversity: destructive waves from capsizing icebergs, an unexpected dunking through thin ice, whiteouts, hurricane-force storms, and days on end when shrieking winds make conversation impossible. Time on Ice is the story of this three-year odyssey, as inspirational for what didn't happen as for what did. Bjelke and Shapiro avoided corporate sponsorship, substituting hard work for the encumbrances of easy money. Unlike others before them, they neither sought nor needed any outside help. Having made a pact of self-reliance, to live or die their way, they did not suffer malnourishment, frostbite, or extreme deprivation; the reward for meticulous preparation and superb seamanship was to taste the prize without the poison. They loved Antarctica in the winter, and their marriage was strengthened, not rent by gales or crushed by ice and night.

About this title

Review:

They pound across the Atlantic again, challenging their boat to make sure it can withstand a polar winter, then head south to lock themselves into the ice. They tell their story in alternating voices, a chapter at a throw. Bjelke concentrating on the nautical details while Shapiro takes the breezier tack, pleasuring in the colors and contours of place, delighting in the wealth of wildlife and the '200 nuances of morning light.''

From the Back Cover:

ANTARCTICA:

To the early mapmakers it was Terra Incognita, and it remains a remote, brooding presence, more mythical than real, its mystery only deepened by the legENDary journeys of Shacleton, Amundsen, and Scott. Answering the siren's call, Deborah Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke pushed their sailboat into the depths of an Antarctic winter, accepting complete isolation to experience the sublime majesty of earth's last great wilderness.

TIME ON ICE recounts their three-year, 28,000-mile odyssey, meticulously planned and boldly executed by two experienced and resourceful sailors. Surviving whiteouts, hurricane-force winds, battering seas, and capsizing icebergs, they found what they were seeking: a wild, untamed, yet fragile beauty reserved for the few who an ENDure it. What they have brought back to share with us its magical. With color photos by the authors.

"Eloquently captures what must be the ultimate in sailing adventures... Time on Ice opens the door to a world that even few sailors will ever experience." San Diego Log.

"Sailors and nonsailors alike will thrill to the armchair adventure awaiting them in Time on Ice." Portsmouth (NH) Herald.

"A story in the pure and ENDuring spirit of discipline and adventure. Right out of the annals of Slocum and Chichester..." 48 Degrees North.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0070063990
• ISBN 13: 9780070063990
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288