Meet the man circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean, alone

Sailor Matt Rutherford at the helm of a sailboat. He hopes to be the first to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle alone. Matt Rutherford/Ocean Research Project hide caption

When sailing alone, even sleep is dangerous.

Matt Rutherford knows this all too well. As he travels the Arctic, far from his home port of Annapolis, Maryland, the moments Rutherford does get to rest are precious.

"It just becomes extremely difficult to get any sleep because if you hit the ice, you essentially die," he said.

Rutherford is attempting a maritime first: to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean completely alone, some 10,000 nautical miles in total. The 45-year-old veteran sailor's journey takes him across the North Atlantic, along the Russian Arctic coast and eventually through the Northwest Passage in Canada.

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In an interview with NPR's Rob Schmitz, he said the level of risk will rise as he travels into seas with denser patches of ice, and with worsening conditions.

"It's also going to get dark soon," he said, speaking via Starlink connection from his 42-foot sailboat in the Barents Sea. "I got 24-hour daylight now. How do you see the ice in the dark?"

Rutherford's boat is armed with some helpful tools: radar can spot the bigger chunks of ice, thermal binoculars help him avoid smaller ones – and he has a life raft if things take a turn for the worst.

But the clock is ticking. If he takes too long on his odyssey, and summer turns to fall, the pack ice will freeze his boat in – dooming the expedition.

The route Rutherford plans to take is some 10,000 nautical miles long. No one has completed it unassisted. Matt Rutherford/Ocean Research Project hide caption

Yet for all this obvious danger, Rutherford is steadfast. His voyage, which began on June 25 on the western coast of Greenland, is partly driven by his love of exploration. It's also meant as a fundraiser for his climate science nonprofit, the Ocean Research Project .

"Normally I'm running a research schooner and we're studying glaciers in Greenland. And this year, because there's no funding … I'm doing a little side trip," he joked.

The federal government has slashed funding for climate science over the past two years. With his "side trip," Rutherford hopes to attract new donors to his arctic research group. The group's vessel needs a new engine, among other repairs.

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Climate change, in some ways, has made Rutherford's solo voyage more attainable. Arctic sea ice has shrunk by about a third since the early 1980s, according to figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center .

"[The ice loss is] not everywhere," he said. "I mean, there's still going to be some really heavy ice I have to deal with down the road that could make or break the trip."

The thick ice above Alaska is of particular concern, he says – and so is the pack around eastern Siberia.

Rutherford's sailboat, the Chimera, on an earlier voyage. Matt Rutherford/Ocean Research Project hide caption

But so far, the voyage has been mild. Rutherford sailed past the Nordic countries of Norway and Sweden just a few days ago, and crossed into waters controlled by the Russian government this weekend.

That presents its own sets of challenges. Rutherford says he had to get a permit from the Russian government to allow a pleasure craft like his into the Northern Sea Route , the path along Russia's northern coast connecting the Barents Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Upon reaching the route, Rutherford has to check in with Moscow every day. He says he's also expected to report his position to the FSB, Russia's security service, if he gets too close to shore.

"You better believe I'm going to be doing that on time," he said. "I don't want to ruffle any feathers."

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Rutherford also expects his Starlink connection to stop working at some point inside Russia waters, meaning he'll lose most of his communication capabilities for weeks.

"I don't know what's going to happen. But look, this wouldn't be an adventure if we knew the ending," Rutherford said.

For now, he's confident and comfortable. When NPR spoke with Rutherford this week, the weather forecasts were encouraging.

It looked like he'd be able to have a restful few days.