Time on Ice: A Winter Voyage to Antarctica - Hardcover

Shapiro, Deborah; Bjelke, Rolf

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0070063990 ISBN 13: 9780070063990

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 1997

Synopsis

Nonfiction narrative of a couple's two-year voyage from Sweden to Antarctica aboard their 40-foot sailboat, during which they allow themselves to be frozen into an isolated Antarctic Pennisula anchorage where they stay through the winter for a total of one year. An ambitious expedition carried out with thorough planning and superb seamanship. The sights, sounds, and thoughts of bluewater voyaging and an Antarctic winter conveyed through easy-flowing text and first-class photos.

About this title

Review

In 1989, Deborah Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke willingly set sail for a land of ice and snow. Their goal (reminiscent of the Age of Exploration): to captain a 40-foot sailboat, the Northern Light, from Sweden to the Antarctic Peninsula and back, and overwinter in one of the earth's most beautiful yet inhospitable places. During the 28,000-nautical-mile trip, they endured battering seas, treacherous ice flows, and complete isolation while frozen at the bottom of the world. Time on Ice is the result of their struggles and ultimate achievement. In alternating chapters, the married coauthors recount a remarkable three-year odyssey that peaks with their interment in an Antarctic winter. But the awe-inspiring vistas, seldom-seen wildlife, and personal discoveries far outweigh the dangers. This is a fascinating journey to one of the world's wildest and loneliest places.

From the Back Cover

Rolf Bjelke and Deborah Shapiro plan to sail their 40-foot boat from Sweden to the Antarctic Peninsula and then spend a winter there, deliberately allowing the ice to trap them and hold them hostage in this hostile environment. Would their Northern Light survive the trip only to be crushed by the ice? Could they endure the cold and wind? Would the ice release them the following summer? This adventure contasts the beauty of fiery sunsets, misty mountains, and aquamarine ice caves with punishing storms at sea, deafening winds, and crashing waves from capsizing icebergs. Time on Ice is a superbly narrated and photographed odyssey to the last wilderness on earth.

"In prose that is at times spellbinding, [Shapiro and Bjelke] detail adventures here that readers will thoroughly enjoy in the warmth of their own homes."--Publishers Weekly

Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0070063990
• ISBN 13: 9780070063990
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304