Time on ice

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.