In 1735, Russian explorer of Siberia Vasili Pronchishchev sailed from Yakutsk down the Lena River on his sloop "Yakutsk". He explored the eastern coast of the Lena delta, and stopped for wintering at the mouth of the Olenyok River. Unfortunately many members of his crew fell ill and died, mainly owing to scurvy. Despite these difficulties, in 1736, he reached the eastern shore of the Taymyr Peninsula and went north surveying its coastline. Pronchishchev and his wife succumbed to scurvy and died on the way back. Maria Pronchishcheva Bay in the Laptev Sea is named after the wife of Pronchishchev.