The Man Who Ate His Boots

It has been much harder to work out a viable dirt-road route to Alaska than we originally hoped. I was discussing the problem with my sister when she said “You should do research on the Northwest Passage. They had the same problem.”

I vaguely remembered the Northwest Passage from my High School days so I did some searching to see if there were any good books on the topic and Anthony Brandt’s The Man Who Ate His Boots seemed to be at the top of the list.

In the early 1800s the Northwest Passage was a much-sought-after sea route which would allow mariners to sail from Europe to Asia by going up and over North America, rather than down and around Southern America.

In theory the route would shave thousands of miles and months of travel time off the journey. In practice… well, theres a reason that Brandt’s book is subtitled “The tragic history of the search for the Northwest Passage.”

The problem, of course, is that sailing north of North America means navigating through Arctic waters and these were expeditions setting out in the 1800s, traveling in wooden sailing ships.

by Toronto Public Library Special Collections

Aside from the expected troubles of unpredictable winters, terrible cold, starvation and the difficulty of keeping a shipload of sailors occupied while spending a year stuck in a ship, locked in an ice flow, expeditions suffered from a complete unwillingness to use the survival techniques of the native inhabitants.

Sailors never adopted the technique of cutting igloo shelters out of the ice; preferring to lug heavy, cumbersome, waxed cotton tents which were almost useless against the cold. Parties consisted of dozens of men where small groups would have had a much better chance of surviving off the land and Captains shunned the idea of scouting routes by dogsled; the idea of traveling by dog power too undignified to even consider.

by Toronto Public Library Special Collections

Regardless of their cultural prejudices (which were common for the time) the bravery, dedication and perseverance of the men was amazing. Captains and sailors would return home, turn around, and set out again on voyage after voyage; even when trips consistently lasted months or even years longer than anticipated, and inevitably ended in starvation, frostbite and death.

In telling the story, Brandt does a fantastic job of presenting amazing amounts of historical facts, while still weaving a fantastic tale of adventure and discovery. It’s a great read especially if you’re looking for some adventure inspiration. It certainly added the far-Northeast to our list of places to go.

Tagged as: adventure, alaska, Boats, book, Ice, Northwest Passage, Sailing, Ships, Snow