Into the Ice: The Northwest Passage, the Polar Sun, and a 175-Year-Old Mystery. Mark Synnott. Dutton. Forthcoming publication: April 15th, 2025. (Photo of cover used with permission from publisher.)
Prior to our western approach attempt of the Northwest Passage on our sailboat Jaca in 2022, I delved into the historical accounts of Arctic exploration on the advice of a friend and high latitude sailor. In his soon to be released book, Into the Ice, Mark Synnott, an extreme mountaineer and climber turned sailor, explains that he did this same research, and became consumed by the stories of Arctic exploration, particularly the lost Franklin expedition. Much of his obsession stemmed from reading The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole by Canadian author, journalist, and raconteur Pierre Berton.
Mark had just completed filming and documenting a cliff-climbing expedition in the Amazon jungle to help further biological research when he received an email from National Geographic: “What’s the next adventure?!? NG execs are LOVING this footage and your storytelling and are primed to greenlight another adventure.”
Mark explains his transition from a climbing apprenticeship living in the caves at the base of Yosemite, to extreme cliff climbing, and becoming a professional explorer and sailor. He was determined to get his 45-foot sloop-rigged sailboat, Polar Sun, from the eastern U.S. to the Pacific. Based on a compelling aerial sighting of a possible grave-like structure on the barren tundra, he pitched National Geographic to fund a sailing expedition to search for the grave of Sir John Franklin. Not wanting to undertake anything without risk or challenge, he decided to sail the Northwest Passage (NWP) in 2022 and search for the “Arctic Holy Grail.”
The NWP presents many challenges that most sailors don’t experience or anticipate. Jimmy Cornell, a sailing guru, describes the NWP as the “Mt. Everest of sailing.” Mark, an experienced climber who has summited Everest, sizes up the formidable logistics and risks of mounting a Northwest Passage expedition. He calculates the ratio of Everest summits to successful NWP completions by sail as 10 to 1. Few analogies can be made between climbing and sailing, apart from the fact that both use rope. Climbers use a rating system that estimates a route’s difficulty based on technical factors, risk, and commitment. A separate rating system exists for ice climbing due to the enhancement of all those metrics. If there is a comparison, it is that technical factors, risk, and commitment are significantly greater when sailing into ice, as Polar Sun discovered.
“Bad decisions make good stories.” Attributed to author Ellis Vidler, this quote seems to describe many a sailing adventure. No one sets out to make a “bad decision,” but, in retrospect, anyone who has set foot on a boat likely has many “good stories.”
Mark goes into the decision and later, second thoughts, on waiting out a significant storm by retreating to an isolated bay called Pasly Bay, located on the northernmost projection of continental North America, known as the Boothia Peninsula. We were faced with the same gale on our western NWP transit on Jaca. While Polar Sun entered Pasly Bay, we sought refuge just a short distance away at Gjoa Haven, an Inuit community with a teardrop cove that provided some modest protection. Although protected, we got pummelled by the storm.
The window for getting through the ice choke point is usually 1-2 weeks at the end of August. The Canadian Ice Service publishes daily ice charts that provide a complicated measure of sea ice. Navigable ice is 3-4/10 or 30-40% sea coverage. On Jaca, we watched as our open passage to the east and north went from clear to 3/10, to 7/10, and eventually 10/10 or completely compacted with ice. The Ice Service issued an extreme ice warning on the Boothia Peninsula, a rare event, especially in late August, and right where Polar Sun was located. We began hearing reports of one or two boats trapped in this dense ice, an extreme situation in a fiberglass boat.
Clear sailing through Bellot Straits, free of ice. All smiles as we (Lorrainne and Jamie) are near completing the NWP.
Mark admits that being trapped turned into a story that landed them a cover article in National Geographic magazine and a documentary film, despite the harrowing experience. The book explains how they managed to survive the 10 days in thick ice late in the season, with signs of freeze-up beginning to appear.
The stress on equipment, crew, and one’s psyche cannot be underestimated. Mark delves into this, which should provide useful research for anyone contemplating an offshore passage. For those who have completed their adventures or are in the midst of one, there are lots of “been there, done that” anecdotes.
Dreamers, part-time adventurers, or armchair explorers will enjoy this read by the fireplace. For those about to set sail, this account provides insight into the planning, preparation, crew dynamics, and execution of a sailing adventure. Mark teases out the inner reflection, complex decision-making, doubts, and responsibilities of skippering. Those underway making their own adventures and experienced sailors will find many relatable moments and will be immersed in a fascinating adventure that few will experience. And of course, if going to high latitude, this is a must-read.
History buffs will appreciate the précis on the exploration of the Canadian Arctic, the NWP attempts, the mystery of the lost Franklin expedition, and the many rescue missions to find the crew. Mark’s research is wide-ranging and well-presented as it intertwines with his story on Polar Sun. His bibliography is extensive, and any one of the references will make a good read for those wanting to explore more about this wave of exploration and the obsession with finding the passage described as “The Arctic Grail.”
I crossed paths with Mark in Victoria last year. He was working Polar Sun down the Alaska and British Columbia coasts in preparation to sail further south, and I was back home after having sailed west Greenland, the UK coast, Atlantic Europe, and laid the boat up in the Mediterranean. One, perhaps sadly, forms a preconceived notion of a person who has received a degree of notoriety. Pleasantly dissuaded from my preconception, I found him very down-to-earth and approachable. Mark has an appealing hint of boyish naiveté and wonder. He is cautiously self-confident, good traits in a team leader. These are the traits that allowed him to charm a couple of surly Newfoundland mechanics to help with a desperate plan to skid his 34-ton boat out of the water before freeze-up and befriend an Inuit guide who sailed a critical leg of the journey and helped with the overland expedition. His relationship with the Inuit helped his understanding of their culture and how they bridged some of the knowledge gaps that were critical in locating the sunken Franklin vessels and finding clues as to the last days of the surviving crew.
I have often wondered what makes a good story as I have struggled to find the words to describe the amazing things that one encounters on the water, and watched as the eyes of friends and family glaze over when trying to describe an incredible adventure. Mark seems to find the right simile for those moments. “In these conditions, manoeuvring around the boat was like riding on the back of a bucking bronco while climbing across a jungle gym.” He injects a smattering of humour. “There was no chapter in The Annapolis Book of Seamanship covering the situation we now faced” when trapped in the ice, having to create a dock on a grounded ice floe out of ice climbing screws and a web of dock lines.
The book is well illustrated and filled with outstanding photographs by two professional photographers and cinematographers who did double duty as amateur sailing crew. Mark’s ability to engage various interesting characters in his travels and then bring them to life, intertwined with his own perilous cruise and the incredible history of the region, makes Into the Ice a brilliant read.
Into the Ice will be released for publication on April 15, 2025. List of booksellers, eBook and audio sources: see Mark’s website https://www.marksynnott.com/. Incredible film documentary footage of the expedition Lost in the Arctic available on Disney+.
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