Time on Ice: A Winter Voyage to Antarctica

by Deborah Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke

Book Overview

As encore to the hard-act-to-follow of sailing from the Arctic to Antarctic, this married team tested whether they and their 40-foot sailboat home could meet the challenge of a winter trek from Sweden... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071353224
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Experiencing Life

This book is one of the few books that portrays not only the classic aspects of human adventure but the more philosiphical underpinnings of our own life experiences in the clutter of modern civilization. Time on Ice will not only take you to antarctica, but to the desolation and isolation experienced therin. The moments of beauty, excitement, distress and love all connect at a very human level. I would recomend this book to anyone, something i have never done before.

I read it "in the raw..."

I have been fortunate to share Deb and Rolf's adventures; I stayed in radio communications with them throughout both their arctic-antarctic adventures, and helped edit both their books. Even in draft form, even though I knew the story in detail, its first reading was exciting. It is truly unfortunate that a lot of the material was cut during the final edit by the publisher.I've also seen the video that was made during their stay...it punctuates their story with unforgetable images. I know I have prejudice, but I am convinced that anyone who has an interest in the human aspects of exploring will find it absorbing. This is NOT a book designed just for sailors. It is a story about challenge and what it takes to meet that challenge.

A nearly flawless and extraordinary polar expedition.

Too frequently, we read of harrowing adventures caused by lack of preparation or mistakes. Not so in this case. "Time on Ice" is the story of an expedition by two extremely well prepared and experienced high latitude sailors who execute with near perfection a well thought out plan to winter in Antarctica. Sharing their experience and knowledge, they tell in excellant fashion, the incredible tale of "overwintering" in a land of magnificent beauty reserved for the few capable of enduring it's demanding climate. Deborah Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke are not only sailors, environmentalists, naturalists and explorers with superior survival skills, they are top notch writers and photographers who wrote a book which is exciting to read and difficult to put down. This book is a "must read" for sailors, people who are interested in wilderness and nature, environmentalists and anyone with an interest in the Polar regions.

An A plus documentary of Viking spirit

An A plus documentary of modern vikings illuminating contemporary society's potential impact on the last largely untouched continent.This book full of insights about living together,especially in a small space in a huge frozen sea .This human space is as sensitive as is their external surroundings, clearly one of the world's most hostile and beautiful environments. Highly recommended for its focus on the story and the implications of what they experience and not on the egos of its highly accomplished authors. Full of suspense and interesting detail for the serious sailer and outdoor adventurer wannabe.

Exciting and informative

Every time I put this book down, I yearned to get back to it - not only because it was a thrilling adventure, but also because I learned a tremendous amount from it. "Time on Ice" is a riviting account of a couple's quest for solitude on the high sea and in the pristine frozen magnificence of Antarctica. Antarctica is a land of extremes and one must constantly plan for all sorts of expected and unexpected mishaps. In addition to being a very exciting adventure story, the book invokes feelings for Antarctica and as one could have for an innocent child in danger of violation. I highly recommend this book. It has something to say to all of us.