Icebound: Shipwrecked At The End Of The World, Pitzer - B-

     William Barents, a Dutch navigator and ship's captain, sailed north from Amsterdam in May, 1594. He was in pursuit of the elusive northeast passage north of Russia. His goal was to find and chart a route that would be the pathway to China. He was part of a four ship fleet that had been directed to explore the sea lanes around Nova Zembla (today Severny Island). They sailed north to the end of  the island, but faced endless miles of ice, and turned back toward the Russian coast. Barents had sailed further north than anyone before. The fleet returned to Holland in mid-September. The Dutch decided to fund a second, larger fleet the following year. They thought that the previous year's efforts pointed to clear sailing, failing to recognize that Barents and the others were thousands of miles from Asia. The second fleet, which carried cargo for trading and consisted of seven ships, sailed north a month later than the prior year. They sailed as far east as the year before, but faced a sea covered in ice. Overwhelmed and stymied, they returned home again, this time in November. The backers were less than pleased, but the city of Amsterdam decided to fund a third try. In May of 1596, once again Barents sailed north. He was directed to try a more northern route, on the delusional theory that the water closer to the pole was ice free and warm. At a hundred miles further north than he had ever sailed, Barents discovered Spitsbergen due north of the Norwegian coast. He then sailed east, rounded the northern tip of Nova Zembla, sailed into the Kara Sea and sought safety in Ice Harbor, only to be locked in. He and his men came to the realization they would have to winter in the Arctic.  They faced the obvious challenge of the oncoming winter and daily had to fend off  fearsome polar bears. By the end of October, they fashioned a small shack and left the boat in the harbor. The last moments of daylight were on Nov. 4th. The men had ample supplies, but nothing that would help them battle a disease they did not understand - scurvy. Only freshly killed Arctic foxes kept them from succumbing. Through months of freezing desperation, they somehow survived until the spring. On June 14, 1597, in two open boats, fifteen men departed Ice Harbor. The oldest man of the group, Barents, was the first to die. He would become the first Arctic hero, and a legend amongst the Dutch. As they journeyed south,  more death brought their number down to twelve. They fought the ice and almost daily attacks by bears. On August 3rd, they left behind the southern tip of Nova Zembla, headed for the Russian coast, 120 miles away and reached it the following day.  They continued west for a month and met a Dutch ship. They were saved.  The twelve survivors arrived in Amsterdam on Nov. 1st. Their survival made Barents "immortal." And today, because of climate change, the passage from Europe to Asia can now be made in the summer in two-thirds of the time of the old southern route.