If
all goes well, Matt Rutherford will return to Aassiat, Greenland to
complete the first-ever solo circumnavigation of the Arctic.
Photo:
Ocean Research Project
From ArcticToday by Laurel Colless
When Matt Rutherford set sail from Aasiaat, Greenland on June 25, he embarked on a voyage that no sailor has ever completed: a solo, nonstop, unassisted circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean.
But this feat will only be possible because of something that’s been lost. Arctic sea ice.
“A generation ago, this voyage simply could not have been made,” Rutherford says. “Not because sailors lacked the skill, but because the Arctic was still locked down in ice. And that’s something I hope this expedition will help people understand.”
The challenge ahead
Rutherford is only 21 days into the official expedition at the time of speaking to Arctic Today, Having said that, he notes with a laugh, he’d already sailed some 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometres) from Annapolis, Maryland just to get to his Greenland start line.
“A generation ago, this voyage simply could not have been made,” Rutherford says. “Not because sailors lacked the skill, but because the Arctic was still locked down in ice. And that’s something I hope this expedition will help people understand.”
The challenge ahead
Rutherford is only 21 days into the official expedition at the time of speaking to Arctic Today, Having said that, he notes with a laugh, he’d already sailed some 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometres) from Annapolis, Maryland just to get to his Greenland start line.
Matt Rutherford departs Annapolis for Greenland, where he will begin an attempt to become the first person to circumnavigate the Arctic solo and nonstop by sailboat.If all goes to plan, Rutherford will return to Aasiaat in early October after 90 to 100 days at sea aboard his 42 foot (13-meter) Valiant sailboat.
As he gets further along, Rutherford will start to lose the 24 hours of light that he is enjoying right now in the empty waters above Ireland.
And with the longer darkness periods he will face the combined treachery of floating ice sheets and the rocky archipelago ahead.
“Now if the weather’s good, I can sleep for as long as five or six hours. But up in the north, I will only snatch 30 minutes here and there.”
The 45-year-old founder of the Ocean Research Project already has notched up his share of solo expeditions, including a solo trip across the Atlantic in his early 20s.
“Now if the weather’s good, I can sleep for as long as five or six hours. But up in the north, I will only snatch 30 minutes here and there.”
The 45-year-old founder of the Ocean Research Project already has notched up his share of solo expeditions, including a solo trip across the Atlantic in his early 20s.
He also holds two Guinness World Records for his solo circumnavigation of the Americas, a journey that included the Northwest Passage.
On April 21, 2012, Matt sailed into the harbor of Annapolis, MD, marking a record-setting 309-day, 27,077 mile sail around the Americas.
Alone. Non-stop. Hear how -- and why -- he did it.
Weather not the biggest uncertainty
To complete this feat, Rutherford must sail nonstop and unassisted.
To complete this feat, Rutherford must sail nonstop and unassisted.
That means no anchoring, no stepping ashore and no outside help.
He must also weather every storm alone at sea. Despite two Guinness world records and years of experience sailing solo, Rutherford gives himself a 75 percent chance of success.
Surprisingly, his biggest uncertainty is not the weather. In the Arctic, navigating bureaucracy has become just as tricky as sea ice and storms.
“Russia would be probably my biggest obstacle,” he says.
Surprisingly, his biggest uncertainty is not the weather. In the Arctic, navigating bureaucracy has become just as tricky as sea ice and storms.
“Russia would be probably my biggest obstacle,” he says.
For almost a month, he will sail Russia’s Northern Sea Route, where heavy pack ice, shifting sea conditions and geopolitical uncertainty combine to make this the most dangerous leg of the voyage.
Despite the Russian authorities introducing an exemption for pleasure craft last year, allowing him to obtain a permit to sail the route alone, Rutherford says: “Anything could still happen. Someone could decide I need to come ashore for questioning or an official inspection. And that would be it.”
Communications along this route will also become much more limited.
Despite the Russian authorities introducing an exemption for pleasure craft last year, allowing him to obtain a permit to sail the route alone, Rutherford says: “Anything could still happen. Someone could decide I need to come ashore for questioning or an official inspection. And that would be it.”
Communications along this route will also become much more limited.
Starlink is banned in Russian waters, which will force Rutherford back onto the much slower Iridium satellite network that was originally optimised for phones before mobile internet.
“Starlink is a relatively new thing,” he says.
“Starlink is a relatively new thing,” he says.
“When I sailed around the Americas, I spent 309 days alone in the ocean, with only Iridium,” he says. “So, I’m used to it.”
Rutherford also sailed across the Atlantic alone twice even before Iridium. “Back then,” he says, “I had no weather forecast at all.”
Now, when conditions allow, Rutherford can conduct media interviews, keep in touch with friends, follow the news and even duck below deck and download a Netflix movie, all while being alone at sea.
He jokes that the constant flow of news is a mixed blessing, as he isn’t always keen to hear the latest political developments from back home in the U.S.
Sailing across an increasingly fragmented Arctic. Photo: Ocean Research ProjectClimate research put on hold
The mention of U.S. politics reminds Rutherford of another reason he is now alone at sea.
“The only reason I’m getting to sit here is that our funding was cut,” he says.
As founder of a science research non-profit, Rutherford would normally be spending the Arctic summer in Greenland conducting climate research with his team.
As founder of a science research non-profit, Rutherford would normally be spending the Arctic summer in Greenland conducting climate research with his team.
But after the Trump administration cut U.S. polar research funding by 88 percent through the now disbanded Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), many of those projects had to be cancelled.
“So ultimately what I’m trying to do with this voyage is promote the non-profit and the work we do,” Rutherford says.
“So ultimately what I’m trying to do with this voyage is promote the non-profit and the work we do,” Rutherford says.
“And these big crazy single-handed trips get a lot more PR than research papers.”
Rutherford is careful not to overstate what a single expedition can prove.
Rutherford is careful not to overstate what a single expedition can prove.
“It’s just another data point when it comes to the melting of Arctic ice and climate change,” he says.
Since he started working in Greenland nine years ago, Arctic sea ice has declined by around one third. On one glacier his team has monitored, the ice has retreated 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers).
Since he started working in Greenland nine years ago, Arctic sea ice has declined by around one third. On one glacier his team has monitored, the ice has retreated 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers).
In the same area, water temperatures they measured have risen from around 1.5°C to 3°C.
“It’s the long-term trends that matter,” he says
Matt Rutherford preparing to lower a probe into the ice. Photo: Ocean Research ProjectThe ultimate wilderness
Rutherford’s path to becoming one of the world’s foremost solo sailors began a long way from the ocean.
Raised in Ohio, he spent the first 10 years of his life in a religious cult.
“It was run by a woman named Dorothea who controlled me, my father and my mother,” Rutherford recalls.
“It was run by a woman named Dorothea who controlled me, my father and my mother,” Rutherford recalls.
“You know, she controlled everything down to the wallpaper you could have, or the car you could drive or the books you could read. And obviously you couldn’t have friends outside… It was a closed group.”
When his parents eventually got out, the family fell apart.
When his parents eventually got out, the family fell apart.
“It was as if the cult had been holding my parents’ marriage together,” he says.
Angry and adrift, the teenage Rutherford ended up on the streets.
By the age of 16, he’d been arrested five times.
“I basically grew up in juvenile detention centers and rehabs.”
Then, in his early 20s, Rutherford bought himself a dilapidated boat and taught himself to sail.
Then, in his early 20s, Rutherford bought himself a dilapidated boat and taught himself to sail.
“I’d always been drawn to nature and the outdoors, and the ocean is kind of the ultimate wilderness,” he says.
Now alone in one of the world’s most remote oceans with weeks of solo sailing ahead, Rutherford seems to have found what he was looking for.
Aerial view of Matt Rutherford on board his 42-foot Valiant Photo: Ocean Research ProjectFollow this link to track Matt Rutherford’s progress: oceanresearchproject.org
Links :
- People : Sailor Says He Had to ‘Accept’ That He ‘Might Die’ During Solo Mission Around Arctic Ocean Due to Extreme Conditions (Exclusive) / Sailor Sets Out on 10,000-Mile Journey to Become First Person to Complete a Solo, Nonstop Trip Around the Arctic Ocean (Exclusive)
- Oceanographic Mag : The impossible voyage : Sailing around a changing Arctic
- Marine Technology News : Explorer to Attempt Solo Unassisted Nonstop Circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean
- Lynnwood Times : Solo sailor attempts first-ever nonstop circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean, all in the name of climate research
- SailWorld : Climate Crusader Attempts First-Ever Solo Unassisted Non-stop Circumnavigation of the Arctic
- Cruising News : Matt Rutherford’s Arctic Research Dreams
- PBS : video
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