Henry Hudson: Great explorer or failure?
Island writer Corey Sandler retraced his steps to find out
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
American explorer Henry Hudson is one of history's most enigmatic men.

Author Corey Sandler, left, in Quaqtaq near Hudson Strait in northern Canada. The stones are an Inukshuk, left by native Inuits to mark trails or hunting areas.

No one knows what he looked like or even how he died, though a final mutiny near the time of his death was linked to reports that Hudson spied for the British.

"I decided to write about Henry Hudson when I realized how little most of us - myself included - knew about him," said Nantucket travel and business writer Cory Sandler, who released "Henry Hudson: Dreams and Obsessions" in April. Publisher's Weekly called Sandler's first historic work "a rich book" and a "quirky blend of history, reporting and travel writing."

A former Gannett and Associated Press newsman, Sandler has also appeared on NBC's "Today" show, the Travel Channel, and National Public Radio, and has been profiled on CNN. He also wrote "Watching Baseball" with Jerry Remy, and the two are collaborating on another baseball book.

Magdalenefjord in Svalbard, right, the last inhabited island before the North Pole. Henry Hudson visited here in 1607; author Corey Sandler returned aboard the luxury cruise ship Silversea Silver Cloud to retrace Hudson's first voyage. COREY SANDLER

"Americans have this vague picture of a Dutch sailor who discovered the river that defines today's Manhattan and New York State," he said of Hudson.

"But they miss the rest of the story."

First of all, Sandler stated, "He was English, not Dutch."

He was also not making any claims of possession anywhere he went. He worked as a private citizen in a private navy paid for by the East India Trading Company - "like the Haliburton of its time," Sandler said.

Using Hudson's journals and logbooks, Sandler became an explorer himself, retracing Hudson's steps on four voyages made between 1607 and 1610.

The first two voyages led Hudson into the ice near the North Pole before a third "stumbled into history when his ship sailed up what we now call the Hudson River," according to Sandler.

The fourth voyage was less auspicious, leading to "a dead end in the ice of northern Canada ... and murder at the hands of his crew."

At the end of his life, some saw him as a heroic explorer, others saw him as a failure.

Trekking 25,000 miles in one year to learn more about the man he considers to be the "New World's least understood explorer," Sandler journeyed through New England, the Canadian wilderness, London, Norway and, of course, the North Pole.

"I ventured by jumbo jet, luxury cruise ship, Spartan icebreaker, cold and wet inflatable raft, freighter, canoe, shallow-draft riverboat, twin-engine bush plane, car, ferry, train, bus, subway, taxi and in the backseat of a police paddy wagon."

What happened in the paddy wagon?

"When I was traveling in James Bay, I was visiting some remote communities and reached the 55th latitude, which is the southernmost Inuit community and northernmost Cree community, and the two communities lived in uneasy peace," Sandler remembered. "There are three police forces in this town: Quebec provincial, Cree and Inuit. I ended my sailing of the icebreaker in this town. I got off the ship, walked on the beach - only about 300 people lived there - and I was looking for this Anglican minister who bridged the three communities. I was waving down everyone who walked by and finally flagged a police car, whose driver turned out to be the minister's son."

Sandler's trip through the Canadian arctic, being among the Inuit and Cree, was the most "spiritually fulfilling" aspect of the trip, he said. "This small group of people - ignored by the British and French governments - has held on to its original beliefs for centuries," Sandler said. "It was an extraordinary experience to be there."

The most beautiful image left in Sandler's mind is Svalbard - the last piece of unoccupied land remaining at the north pole. "It is literally the end of the earth, with three months of total daylight and three months of total darkness," Sandler said. "An extraordinary place with extraordinary people. Like no where else on this planet."

Though it meant little to the overall story, Hudson put some Nantucket wind in his sails on at least one occasion. "On August 6, 1609, the 'Half Moon' passed off the south shore of Nantucket, carefully tacking through the shoals that lie off today's Surfside Beach," according to Sandler.

So, was Hudson a great explorer, the world's worst captain or an accidental tourist?

Sandler eventually decided that Hudson was all three. "He never made a dime for himself or any money for his sponsors. He had at least four mutinies," Sandler said. "But everywhere he went ended up having

a spectacular moment in history." I

For more on the book, go to

www.hudsondreams.com.