Rutherford is attempting a maritime first: to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean completely alone, some 10,000 nautical miles in total. The 45-year-old veteran sailor's journey takes him across the North Atlantic, along the Russian Arctic coast and eventually through the Northwest Passage in Canada. Matt Rutherford / 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 .