I questioned his credibility when (late in the book) he claimed that he fell into step behind a polar bear and slapped it on the rump (or was close enough to). I think it must have been a fantasy or a hallucination, but after spending a winter alone on a boat (except for his cat?) locked in ice in the arctic, I suppose he was entitled ...
You may not be pushing it by heading north this early this year. Thursday, it was around 60 and sunny and I watched a sailboat on the Hudson sailing in front of mid-town. Again today, even though it was cold and very windy, a sailboat was running with the wind at breakneck speed (for a sailboat anyway) southbound on the Hudson again, in front of the condominium where I have a project. My wife thinks the guy had to be crazy.