Rutherford is attempting a maritime first: to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean completely alone, some 10,000 nautical miles in total. Matt Rutherford / Ocean Research Project / Ocean Research Project The route Rutherford plans to take is some 10,000 nautical miles long. It's also meant as a fundraiser for his climate science nonprofit, the Ocean Research Project . Arctic sea ice has shrunk by about a third since the early 1980s, according to figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center . Matt Rutherford / Ocean Research Project / Ocean Research Project Rutherford's sailboat, the Chimera, on an earlier voyage.