Thu, 22 Dec 2005, Solstice

The crew change finally went fine last Monday night. Mark is back home, in Longyearbyen, where Marina was waiting for him (their website). Our friends Marie, Marc, Dominique and Hervé are now on board for almost 3 weeks, until I come back to Vagabond. They left the Alps to get quickly into the polar night, far from any settlement, with our 3 dogs... The experience is going to be unforgettable!

Posted Dec 2005 22 at 10:24 [en - fr]

Tue, 13 Dec 2005, Relève équipage

The first trip to Vagabond went well, under the moonlight. The guides arrived on the boat sunday night/monday morning after a appr. 4 hours driving. They ate, slept, packed and headed towards Longyearbyen at 15:00 yesterday. They arrived back home around 20:00, after some small problems with scooters, difficult snow conditions and water from glaciers and rivers. But they got back safely with Marina and in one piece. Erik will start preparations for next trip now, while Mark is alone onboard, waiting for the next crew from Grenoble to come.

Posted Dec 2005 13 at 22:11 [en - fr]

Mon, 05 Dec 2005, Projecteur

Conditions are now a lot better but I am afraid not for long. Wind will turn south again for some days. But for the dogs it is a lot better now, no more over water. Today we have been digging out the dinghy. It was not to bad though but a lot off water under it. The search light works great with polar bears. Looking into such a strong light blinds them so much that they leave, so far. Mark

Posted Dec 2005 05 at 20:51 [en - fr]

Thu, 01 Dec 2005, Récit

Marina and Mark are sharing their adventures, click here to read their complete story (89 Ko - pdf).

Posted Dec 2005 01 at 23:04 [en - fr]

Fri, 25 Nov 2005, Tempête

Bad times in Inglefjeldbukta, there is a gale blowing from the north-east since yesterday. Minus 16 and snow, so the dogs are rolled up outside and us inside. Jin did some rebuilding to his house yesterday so now he has an open front. But I had to block the doghouses anyway because the snow was closing them inside in less then an hour, ones with Frost inside. He was very happy when the shovel hit him through the snow. Mark.

Posted Nov 2005 25 at 23:05 [en - fr]

Mon, 14 Nov 2005, Nouvelles du 7 novembre (Marina et Mark)

Mars is already visible around noon now, days are short. We just put the dog houses on the ice, we connected the chains to the dog houses but we do not know if that works... It is quite handful to have 5 dogs. Little Imjaq, also called Dombo, needs a lot of attention. He gets so out of control that he cannot listen anymore. He is not so skinny now and his fur is much better. With enough time you can make a nice dog out of him. Jin and Frost are doing ok. There has been a few small fights and one bigger one. No serious physical damage but some egos might be hurt badly. The polar bears find the lines to shore interesting, one was destroyed at the shore end. On board things are fine, and we are really enjoying the view from the salon.

Posted Nov 2005 14 at 10:23 [en - fr]

Fri, 04 Nov 2005, Météo du 2 novembre à 7h

Barometer 999.9 mb, temperature -3, wind from south-east 23 knots, cloudy sky, snow, poor visibility, sea ice thickness around Vagabond 22 cm. And always about 1 polar bear per day average.

Posted Nov 2005 04 at 08:52 [en - fr]

Mon, 17 Oct 2005, Embâcle

So Marina and Mark are settling down in Inglefieldbukta. With the five dogs and about a polar bear everyday, it is very crowded, almost a small settlement. The forecast for tonight and the morning is quite windy, but better weather after. The ice in the bay comes and goes, the water temperature is low enough.

Posted Oct 2005 17 at 11:16 [en - fr]

Tue, 11 Oct 2005, Paris

Because of bad weather (icing), the helicopter had to turn back on Sunday morning. Yesterday, conditions were better, and the Dauphin from Airlift landed close to the dogs, scaring away a polar bear who has been eating a seal for the last few hours. We went across heavy brash ice with the dinghy, carrying our bags to shore, then it was time to take off, the pilots didn't want the polar bear to approach the helicopter. Strange feeling for France and me when leaving Vagabond, great and quick flight to Longyearbyen, where we met briefly Marina. She will join Mark, Vagabond, and the 5 dogs within 1 or 2 days. At the moment, the polar bear is probably back, finishing his seal! On our side, after a stop in Oslo, we are already in France, surprised with the warm weather, the trees, the crowd... forgotten since summer 2004.

You will regularly find some news here, from Marina and Mark on board Vagabond. Also look at News page.

Posted Oct 2005 11 at 17:52 [en - fr]

Sun, 09 Oct 2005, Belougas

Vagabond is ready for the winter, well anchored in her shelter also with ropes to shore. Our 5 nice friends left yesterday to Svea, the closest inhabited place, which they should reach on foot within 3 days. Mark, France and I walked with them to the glacier, where some left over from a seal, recently eaten by a polar bear, made our 3 dogs really happy. Then we could watch 5 or 6 belugas passing slowly few meters from us, near the glacier front. Wonderful.

The helicopter is expected this morning with the 2 dogs of Marina and Mark, their dog houses, and some equipment. France and I will leave Vagabond, then given to Mark and the 5 dogs. Marina will come few days later, having a lift with another helicopter flight.

After 15 months away from France, we are happy to come back for few weeks, to see our families and friends, and to take part to the Adventure Film Festival in Dijon in 3 days!

Posted Oct 2005 09 at 07:13 [en - fr]

Wed, 05 Oct 2005, Inglefieldbukta

The dogs, onshore since we arrived, woke us up this morning, barking after a polar bear who was approaching a bit too much. So we know that our new companion, Ymiak, is efficient to alert about polar bear. France and I are now finishing preparing Vagabond for the winter, setting up the weather station, and explaining everything to Mark. In the mean time, the 4 young guides on training are walking around with their instructor Erik, and preparing their trip back on foot to a more inhabited place.

We reached the East coast of Spitsbergen during Sunday to Monday night, looking at very nice northern lights. The sea became better and better, allowing us to do some sea profiles with the CTD, and to watch a killer whale before entering Inglefield's bay. A polar bear was waiting for us on the snowy beach, like last year when we discovered this very nice and protected bay, where Vagabond is about to spend a second winter.

Posted Oct 2005 05 at 10:17 [en - fr]

Sat, 01 Oct 2005, Hornsund

8 people and 3 dogs on board Vagabond, at anchor in a small bay south west of Spitsbergen. While waiting for better winds to sail around south cape, life is nice on board : with Mark, who will replace France and me when we will be in France, with Erik, guide in Svalbard (trekking, ski, snowmobile), and with his 4 young guides on training, Jeppe, Ingebjorg, Vera and Kristin.

Posted Oct 2005 01 at 19:57 [en - fr]

Sat, 24 Sep 2005, Longyearbyen

Vagabond is in Longyearbyen for few days more, as you can see on the harbour webcam : http://www.ssd.no/files/havna/havnebilde/havnbilde1.jpg.

The summer in Greenland was great, the birdwatching and geology programs were very succesful, photos are on line. We are now preparing for the second wintering, as well as for our journey back to France, once Vagabond will be at her winter location and between good hands, in the same bay than last winter.

Posted Sep 2005 24 at 18:31 [en - fr]

Tue, 19 Jul 2005, Longyearbyen

After a very nice stop at Polish Polar base in Hornsund (http://hornsund.igf.edu.pl/index_en.php) - first shower for a very long time ! - Vagabond arrived at Longyearbyen yesterday. We are getting ready for the scientific programs waiting for us in Greenland. Gérard Guérin, who is back on board for 3 days, is busy setting up a huge hydraulic winch ! Departure within 2 days if possible...

Posted Jul 2005 19 at 17:13 [en - fr]

Fri, 15 Jul 2005, Isbukta

Peacefull stop in a great bay, south-east of Spitsbergen, Isbukta. We could leave our wintering location on Wednesday, we are now heading to Longyearbyen. We should be back to town on Sunday or Monday... On the way, we did some CTD casts from the boat, where we came with snowmobile or helicopter during the winter. Also a great dive, looking for a tidemeter set up 10 years ago by Antarctica's crew, not found.

Posted Jul 2005 15 at 17:56 [en - fr]

Tue, 12 Jul 2005, 7 ours

The way is almost clear. Above zero temperatures and tides have been eating our ice pack, only few large floes are remaining, one is still keeping Vagabond here. Even our last week-end swimming spot has been taken away! Seals are more and more curious, getting closer and closer to us, and attracting polar bears. 7 of them today, showing us different hunting techniques, all day long. Waiting, running, swimming, all efforts not giving much results despite the many seals around. Within few days, there will be no more sea ice, and polar bears will have to go much further to find their food. On our side, packing is going on, we need to change our hut to a boat again, tie and check everything, and get back onboard all the equipment left on ice or on the beach. The water is so cloudy, chain is so deep into the mud, that my 2 last diving attempts to get the anchor gave no result. Engines running high speed are not yet enough to move away, but we know that departure is coming soon. Dogs don't doubt about what will happen to them...

Posted Jul 2005 12 at 11:59 [en - fr]

Wed, 06 Jul 2005, Phoques

After staying with us for about 3 weeks, Lucas and Nicolas left yesterday, not able to wait any longer for Vagabond's release. They hope to reach Svea, the closest civilization, in less than 3 days, if rivers are not too difficult to cross. So France and me are alone on board again, less than 2 km from open water... Tenths of seals set up on the sea ice still around us, and we can watch a polar bear hunting now and then, sometimes visiting us on his way. Our dogs also our curious, and without worrying about water ponds, they can pull us very fast towards one or the other seal. Jin and Frost seem amazingly distraught to see it disappearing before reaching it!

Posted Jul 2005 06 at 13:19 [en - fr]

Sun, 03 Jul 2005, Courrier hélitreuillé

The Super Puma from the Governor of Svalbard brought us the mail! The crew used this flight to do a hoist training, the fascinating operation last about half an hour. So it was a rescueman, great in his red survival suit in the blue sky, who came down to give us 2 parcels (last postman was in May). He left with few letters to send, and some unneeded equipment for Lucas and Nicolas, who will certainly have to walk back, as the ice breaking up is later than we hoped. Nevertheless, the 50 knots of wind during the previous night helped pushing away all the icepack in front of Inglefield Bay, and it is 'only' 3 km of ice left between open sea and Vagabond... On top of this lively day, a big polar bear came to the boat last night, Frost barked on time, and one fire cracker was enough to stop him! It is today 9 months that Vagabond left civilization.

Posted Jul 2005 03 at 12:48 [en - fr]

Thu, 30 Jun 2005, Grillades

Despite the cold wind that has been blowing for the last 2 days, we made a fire last night on our small beach, about 200 m from Vagabond. Sitting on a big timber from Siberia, or on a whale vertebra, surrounded by the ice pack, it was really nice to grill some local meat and toast some fresh bred. It was pretty early this morning when a polar bear came to visit our little territory. As usual, Frost barked, Jin hide himself in his dog house. 2 bangers and 4 flares were just about to make the curious leave the place. Regarding the ice thickness, still 1m30 near Vagabond, like 2 months ago!

Posted Jun 2005 30 at 13:17 [en - fr]

Tue, 28 Jun 2005, Plage et banquise

After one week of bad weather (temperatures around zero, snow fall and rain), sun is shining again. The ground is showing up more and more, and it is now possible to walk a bit along the shore, where seaweeds, whales bones and timbers can be seen again. What a pleasure to walk without ski or snow shoes! More and more water ponds on the ice pack, still solid around us. Also our feet were soaked on our skis yesterday when we tried to reach the open water, 9 km from Vagabond, attracted by the nice sound of the waves; but few cracks dissuaded us from going to the edge. If the ice thickness lost only 4 cm during the last month, almost all snow melted and ran out to the sea by cracks and seal holes. Ice pack is then much lighten, and is now about 15 cm above (measuring free board). A CTD cast also shows the quick evolution of temperature and salinity of the sea, very different from the surface to the bottom (95m). A lot of seals and birds, they don't seem to be in a hurry to see their preferred icepack going and drifting away ...

Posted Jun 2005 28 at 12:37 [en - fr]

Wed, 22 Jun 2005, Solstice d'été

The pack ice is more and more flooded. Snow is melting at the surface, and real lakes are growing around us. Skiing is becoming more and more water skiing! Water can only run down the cracks along the shore, or near icebergs, sometimes also by the seals' breathing holes. These holes look like bubbling traps now. From Vagabond we could watch a polar bear hunting. On the look out for few hours, still, he caught a seal when he was coming to breath through his hole. The polar bear moved the seal (50 to 60 kg) for about a hundred meters before eating it. 2 hours later, he was sleeping close to the carcass, carefully cleaned up. During the night, the polar bear passed between Vagabond and the dog houses, curious, but a banger was enough to scare him away, he was obviously not hungry! Dogs could eat some little left-over fresh meat, birds and foxes are now finishing the job.

Posted Jun 2005 22 at 11:35 [en - fr]

Mon, 20 Jun 2005, RFI

We will be by phone on Radio France Internationale tomorrow June 21st, at 11:45 UTC, after marine weather forecast (www.rfi.fr).

Posted Jun 2005 20 at 19:11 [en - fr]

Sun, 19 Jun 2005, 4 à bord

Lucas and Nicolas, after 5 days skiing across the glaciers from the West Coast of Spitsbergen, arrived Friday to Vagabond. They brought some mail, including 2 letters 'lost' in Longyearbyen for over 6 months... one of them, from December 12th last year, was announcing a nephew or a niece to France for June 17th, the day we received the letter. And yesterday morning, June 18th, we had a message saying the baby was born during the night ! Medicine is amazing.

So we are 4 on board, ready to sail again. Navigation season already started, about 10 days ago, on the West Coast. But our bay is so well protected that the ice breaking up may come very late, also we enjoy as much as we can the nice summer weather. France started making a kite, to ski faster, with the remains from the tent destroyed by polar bears. Digging under the snow, we managed to find a little stream, no need to go and collect ice anymore to get fresh water.

Posted Jun 2005 19 at 14:44 [en - fr]

Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Voiles

Nice day yesterday to check our sails. Sun shine, westerly wind 15 knots, for about 4 hours Vagabond looked like sailing close to the wind on a flat sea covered with snow... walking around the boat under sails was an amazing feeling, it was like moving in a picture. From a nearby summit, the icepack is not showing any movement around us... sails and engines are not yet enough to reach the open sea!

Posted Jun 2005 15 at 12:08 [en - fr]

Sun, 12 Jun 2005, Crevettes

Thousands of shrimps are living under the hull! This is what I saw while diving under the ice earlier today. I could use the hole we hardly dug last month, and which is now well open as the sun has been shining for the last 3 days. I even could surface at the back of the boat, through the hole made by the sea water exhaust from the generator. You may imagine how I surprised the dogs, sun bathing on the snow, when they first heard bubbles, then saw a strange animal, and then recognized my voice! Vagabond is completely free from ice now (she is floating!), light is making a nice halo all around, very nice seen from under the sea, while darkness is everywhere else under the icepack. It is amazing in this season, because we forget about night with the permanent daylight. During the winter, the hull let her print in the ice, which was increasing slowly, and also getting a bit down after each big snow fall. The final architecture is amazing. Still about 10 km of icepack are keeping us away from open water... Polar bear visits are not finished, the last one took away the seal skin France was about to tan!

Posted Jun 2005 12 at 19:11 [en - fr]

Wed, 08 Jun 2005, Jin retrouvé

Intense stay for Fred, Jean and Lucas: short dive under the ice, even shorter sea bath, seal hunting, visit of a polar bear... The weather became bad again for the trip back. There was just enough snow to drive the snowmobile back to Svea, from where our 3 friends were taking the plane. Without any visibility, looking carefully at the GPS, driving slowly across the glaciers, I was not so proud about pulling the 3 skiers in such conditions. 12 km from Vagabond, Jin suddenly went back. One of our 2 dogs was following us faithfully towards Svea, to join me for the trip back, to help pulling the pulka and to watch my tent during the night. I drove back few kilometres, I called in the storm but no answer. I only had to find my friends again, hoping Jin was not lost. When we arrive in Svea few hours later, after a really tiring trip, France told us on the phone that Jin was not back to the boat. The next morning, I said bye to our 3 friends, I parked the snowmobile, I took the mail, and I started pulling the heavy pulka back to Inglefield's bay, 45 km from Svea. 36 hours after having seen the last prints from Jin, I set up my tent at the same position, hoping to see him coming back. It is only the following day that I found some tracks on the moraine between Edvard and Nordsyssel glaciers, 10 km from Vagabond. I looked around for few hours, before resigning myself to go to Vagabond, because bad weather was coming again. This last gale was short enough, France and me could go back there quickly, set up a camp to search more with Frost, despite the permanent fog. Yesterday at last, down Storbollen, at the end of Evard glacier, Jin heard our calls. Emotion to see him running to us, after more than 5 days of roaming! The governor also will be happy, Jin will not do like this other dog lost in spring, killing reindeers to eat and hiding himself from the snowmobiles looking for him. No polar bear visit on board while we were away, and Vagabond even lost her listing, thanks to thaw.

Posted Jun 2005 08 at 18:18 [en - fr]

Mon, 30 May 2005, Retrouvailles

We missed each other at meeting point on Saturday, the 3 skiers arrived at Vagabond when we were still expecting them on Evard glacier! As they were finally carrying the needed spare parts to repair the snowmobile, Lucas and Jean could use it to come and pick us up. What a surprise for us! Beautiful day on the icepack yesterday, 1 skier with the dog, 3 others pulled with the snowmobile, we could even do a CTD cast.

Posted May 2005 30 at 10:47 [en - fr]

Thu, 26 May 2005, Interminable tempête

Endless storm. The helicopter could not come with the spare parts, so the snowmobile has not been repaired, and I didn't leave Vagabond. It is not possible to dive under the hull or to do any CTD cast, but above all, our 3 friends are still standing by on the other side of Spitsbergen. We have been preparing our reunion for a long time, and we are looking forward to get a better weather ! June and May are usually the most quiet and calm months up here... We managed to talk briefly to Fred, Jean and Lucas by phone this morning, they are now well sheltered in a very tiny hut, about 10 km from Svea, and about 40 km from Vagabond. The weather is going to be really bad until Saturday, France and me are hoping to meet them on Sunday, on Edvard glacier, we will go to them with the dogs. Between 5 and 7 o'clock yesterday morning, during the only short calm period, I went to Storfjord, where I saw the icepack slowly disappearing, like eaten by the storm. Inglefield Bay's icepack is still solid, but Vagabond is listing more and more (6°) under wind pressure, like when we are sailing under sails!

Posted May 2005 26 at 15:35 [en - fr]

Mon, 23 May 2005, Fête du nautisme sous la neige

Our access to the sea is ready! We were hoping to dive at once under the hull, it would have been a way to participate to the Nautical Festival in France last week-end, but a storm has been blowing for the last 3 days. Will the helicopter come today, supposed to bring the spare parts needed for the snowmobile? Once repaired, I must drive it and let it in Svea, 40 km west of Vagabond, on the West coast. It is really time to do it, because if we have many new snow drifts here, snow may start missing to reach Svea. Then I must meet my friends Fred, Jean and Lucas, and come back with them on skis to the boat. All is depending on the weather...

Posted May 2005 23 at 11:16 [en - fr]

Thu, 19 May 2005, 4 degrés de gite

New fresh snow, immaculate landscape, -14°C, no wind, great midnight sun warming up enough to keep the temperature inside over 12°C, thanks to all the windows... it is hard to go to sleep so wonderful is the scenery. The heater has been off for the last 3 days, and we even forget about Vagabond listing 4 degrees, which seems not to increase anymore. As a matter of fact, the pack ice is slightly moving around us, with the tides, as we are so close to the shore. But no rush, about 2m thick ice is still trapping us, as we just checked when drilling a large hole to dive under the hull. Not finished yet, to be continued...

Posted May 2005 19 at 02:29 [en - fr]

Fri, 13 May 2005, Panne motoneige

A polar bear, the female with the collar, was back last Tuesday, interested with what is left from the destroyed tent. Not really willing to go away, she played for a long time with one of our bamboo sticks, before sleeping few hours near our 'fresh water reserve' iceberg. At the end of the day, she was starting again tearing up the green cloth, and I decided to use the snowmobile to push her away from our little territory. This morning again, around 3 o'clock, our dog Frost was barking after the polar bear, and we sent her 2 alarm flares. The snowmobile had a break down yesterday (broken bearing), also I had to do a nice 7 hours ski trip to do only half of the CTD measurements we were usually doing in 3 hours. But it is a great pleasure to be alone with the dogs on the wonderful pack ice, especially that we met 2 polar bears on our way, not aggressive at all.

Posted May 2005 13 at 13:29 [en - fr]

Mon, 09 May 2005, Berit et Karl

Yesterday afternoon, few kilometres away from Vagabond, I could follow a reindeer for some time. It was not in so good shape, and I had to hold the dogs very well! As soon as I was back to the boat, we had the happy unexpected visit from Berit and Karl, with their 2 dog teams. They decided to spend the night with us, could you only imagine how excited were our dogs with suddenly 15 more neighbours! Berit and Karl have been living in Svalbard since the seventies, and with their 80 dogs, they organise short and long trips for visitors (www.svalbard-adventure.com). Their season is finishing, they took 10 days holidays... to go together on a dog sledge trip! Short daily distance they say, 50 to 60 km, this show how much they love it. We were really glad to see them again, since Karl suggested us last September to come to Inglefieldbukta for wintering, and it was great to join them this morning, on skis with our 2 dogs.

Posted May 2005 09 at 20:19 [en - fr]

Sat, 07 May 2005, Anniversaire

France had as many SMS as candles (thanks a lot for all your messages), and almost as many visitors! Geir and Peter didn't think about finding here, on this wild and inhabited coast of Spitsbergen, a dinner with basil and cod bread, lemon pie, chestnut bread and good wine ! After one week of bad weather, sun appeared again, around midnight, allowing our two guests to film and interview us as planned, just before going back to Longyearbyen. Few hours later, we woke up when the dogs barked after 3 dog sledges coming to Vagabond. Great sunshine, fresh snow, dogs were very excited and they didn't stop long; it was really nice to see them running. Then we went on the icepack in Storfjord (France and me are doing CTD casts until the ice breaking up), we were happy to see so many seals. And of course, many new polar bears tracks, more or less large prints, sometime with some cub's one, going from one breathing hole to the other.

Posted May 2005 07 at 15:18 [en - fr]

Sun, 01 May 2005, Dernière équipe scientifique

Our dear oceanographers left this morning, after a 24 hours experiment: a base camp was set up on pack ice, 10 km from Vagabond, close to the flow lead which is showing the great activity of the Storfjord. A current meter was then measuring every displacements of the water, very different from the surface to the bottom (-105m), and the CTD was used for hydrographical casts every 30 minutes. 12500 turns with the hand winch for 52 casts total! There was a crew shift every 6 hours, and we had to watch out for polar bears. 3 were seen, far enough. France and me are now keeping the only minimum scientific equipment to carry on the measurements, like during the polar night. With the help of the crew yesterday, the dinghy was taken out from the pack ice, where she was trapped since February: half a day of work!

Posted May 2005 01 at 19:51 [en - fr]

Wed, 27 Apr 2005, Brines par hélico

Perfect weather today to try to reach the centre of the fjord by helicopter, what is still not possible by snowmobile because of hummocks and leads. So Jean-Claude, Hervé, France and me went with all the equipment with Air Lift's Ecureuil to know more about brines in the Storfjord. Fantastic day, very nice ice pack, but very broken, many polynias and a lot of open water. Ice in this area is working a lot, and it was not easy for the 2 pilots to find thick enough ice to land safely at each of the 5 stations we did. We even first landed on an iceberg, to better look at the delicate situation! Excellent results, and unforgettable trip back to Vagabond.

Posted Apr 2005 27 at 22:07 [en - fr]

Sun, 24 Apr 2005, Week-end en ville

I'm in Longyearbyen since Friday. 3 hours by snowmobile with the last team, I'm now briefly back to civilization (left on 3rd October last year...), appointment with the dentist tomorrow. I'm looking forward to meet again with France, Yin, Frost, and Vagabond, tomorrow evening, with the next scientific team. Here is the busy tourist season, hundreds of snowmobiles everywhere! I wanted to escape a bit from so much activity and I went to the dog yard, to greet brothers and cousins of our 2 dogs, some were about to go for a 5 days trip.

Posted Apr 2005 24 at 13:58 [en - fr]

Thu, 21 Apr 2005, Soleil de minuit

From tonight, there will be no more sunset, until August 21st. The permanent day light is a bit disturbing, but now, we cannot be caught by the night (!), and it is easier to check the surroundings. Also we could see last night a polar bear coming to us, with a collar, maybe the same than last Sunday. We scared him away when we thought he was getting too close from us. Little later, a bigger polar bear came, the signal pistol was also enough to make him leave the area. This second polar bear was following the first one, walking with determination, amazing sight appreciated by all of us till the middle of the "night". This morning, while the crew was still sleeping, a polar bear walking towards Vagabond suddenly change his direction when he saw me going out, although I didn't make any noise, and the dogs didn't bark...

Posted Apr 2005 21 at 18:47 [en - fr]

Tue, 19 Apr 2005, Tente

Just before the arrival of the new team, Sunday afternoon, we could watch for a long time a polar bear close to Vagabond: he first destroyed the tent, where is stored some scientific equipment, then he suddenly came towards us. 2 bangers and 2 flares were needed to stop him, but not enough to scare him away. The polar bear was wearing a collar and is probably followed by satellite by some biologists; he finally left, much more serenely than the one last Friday. Our Dutch friends Marina and Mark, who have been living in Longyearbyen for the last ten years, and who wintered on board their sailing boat Jonathan 2 years ago in the north-west part of Spitsbergen, stayed with us until this morning. We are now 5 for the rest of the week, with Florent, ice expert, his guide Stefano, and Anne, artist, who came to Spitsbergen to take her inspiration from the return of the light since the end of the polar night. Temperatures are increasing slowly, sun is warm, and snow is becoming wet.

Posted Apr 2005 19 at 20:26 [en - fr]

Sun, 17 Apr 2005, Visites

Very nice weather for the last 4 days, permanent daylight, pleasant temperatures and great snow, we are going around on skis or with the snowmobile, sometimes with the dogs, sometimes with the scientific equipment, climbing the glaciers and the summits, or going on our preferred icepack in the Storfjord; we are enjoying spring. And not only us, as shown by our dogs, lying in the sun for hours, or by the many foxes prints, such a shy animal, also by the reindeers, crossing now and then the nearby moraine, or by the 9 skiers who visited us yesterday morning... not forgetting this polar bear, the most curious, who went close to Vagabond without scaring the dogs (they didn't bark!), and who woke us up climbing on the front of the boat (8:20 Friday, reasonable time)! The horn didn't disturb him, but when I hit the double window, while he was just behind, he got scared and went down, then towards the back of the boat. Very curious but not aggressive, he came at less than 2 meters from the dogs without worrying them. Anyway France sent him a big banger to scare him, he ran away at once, superbly agile in the deep snow, outline against the sunlight on the moraine. In a few moments, the new team arriving will discover the nice prints he left us along the hull.

Posted Apr 2005 17 at 15:43 [en - fr]

Wed, 13 Apr 2005, Beaucoup de neige

After 3 days of bad weather, temperatures close to zero, and a lot of snow, it was today possible to go for or usual CTD casts. But there is so much snow that our snowmobile can only take one person, and it is also necessary to pull a sledge with the equipment for the experiments. Also I went alone with everything needed, without forgetting snowshoes in case the snowmobile had a breakdown! I still managed to get stuck 3 times, a lot of work to get out and keep going. Results are worth these efforts as we can see brines from 15 m deep till the bottom (about 90 m at each of the 2 visited locations)! To know more about what is going on under sea ice in the middle of the Storfjord, unreachable with snowmobiles because of too many hummocks, a helicopter flight is planned in 2 weeks time, when the oceanographers in charge of the program will be back. For now, it's snowing again!

Posted Apr 2005 13 at 18:47 [en - fr]

Fri, 08 Apr 2005, Science...

Nice weather since yesterday, also we were able to use the CTD again at agreed locations (at 12 and 7 km from the boat), looking for brines (a lot!), and to travel across the icepack with the icemeter. This instrument also allowed us to check the ice thickness (around 70cm) all over the site that welcomed the seismometers last week. Today, a complete snow layer analysis at usual location, 1km from Vagabond, close to the great glacier front. In the same time, France finished setting up our solar panels, which, when it is sunny, are giving more energy than the wind generator, even when strong wind! Nice trip with the dogs then, before hard work to get out from under the snow, dog house, snow shoes, skis, sticks, frozen in ice for some time. Soon we will have to think about our dinghy...

Posted Apr 2005 08 at 21:12 [en - fr]

Tue, 05 Apr 2005, 2 petites semaines

Here we are, alone, France and me, since yesterday morning, until April 17th. The seismic network left the icepack without any other misadventure, and according to Jean-Philippe, the icepack is well deforming, she is cracking, she is resounding, she gave a nice set of data, some seismic signals unexpected, and this is thrilling. Strong wind, low temperature (35 knots and -28°C, which is -64°C with the chilling factor!), no trip out today, unless to feed the dogs and make them run a little bit. Peaceful life on board, being warm inside, with a great view on the storm. Tonight, the sun will not go below 6° under the horizon, which is the definition of twilight; no more northern lights, no more moon shines...

Posted Apr 2005 05 at 19:11 [en - fr]

Sat, 02 Apr 2005, Ours sismologues

Thursday evening, after the storm, we saw a polar bear on the icepack deformations study area... A GPS antenna broken, and a battery up side down. Today, the 2 scientists saw another polar bear interested by the same seismic recorder, the northern one, when there are 7 of them! This second polar bear, bigger according to the tracks, displaced the recorder and the battery, he cut the GPS antenna cable, and he even dug out 2 seismometers from the icepack. After all, damages are not too serious, and sensors recorded the steps of the polar bears on the icepack, probably original. Tomorrow, the seismic network will be packed, the experiment is finishing.

Posted Apr 2005 02 at 20:10 [en - fr]

Wed, 30 Mar 2005, 12 !

The icepack is showing some nice cracks, but is resisting and already offering interesting results. 2 of the 4 scientists left, as well as the IPEV's representative and the guide, while a cameraman joined us for few days. Samuel was on board Vagabond in Greenland in 2001, and in Russia, in the North-Est Passage, in 2002. We are really glad to welcome him again! About our 4 friends mountaineers, Marc, Jacques, Patrick, and Philippe, travelling from Longyearbyen on skis, they made us very happy when they set up their camp next to Vagabond last night. After meeting us in Kamchatka 2 years ago, where the mountain rescue instructors from Chamonix met their Russian equivalents, we already thought about our next appointment... Also we were 12 people on board for a lively evening! The study of the icepack deformations is going on for the next 4 days (we are now 5 on board); France and I are busy with running the boat, insuring safety on ice during scientific work (polar bears watch), filming with Samuel, snow sampling, measurements with the new CTD... Days seem shorter and shorter, although daylight will be soon permanent!

Posted Mar 2005 30 at 20:29 [en - fr]

Sun, 27 Mar 2005, Banquise

The new team arrived Friday, March 25th: 6 people including Franck Delbart from IPEV (French Polar Institute), and Simen, their guide, in charge of polar bear watch and snowmobiles. Before them, we had unexpected visitors for the first time, probably because of the very nice weather and the Easter holidays! First Kjell Tore, from the Norwegian Polar Institute, and his girlfriend, then a journalist from Svalbard Posten. Already the first day, the network was set up on the ice pack, 6 km away from Vagabond, on about 6 weeks old sea ice, where was the large polynia last January. Also the icepack is moving a lot in this area, and this is what the ice experts and geophysicists are interested in. They are finishing today to set up the 27 seismometers and the 7 GPS stations (also many cables and batteries) to study the sea ice deformation. During 5 or 6 days, the sensors will record every little movements of the sea ice over a one square kilometre surface, in order to better constrain sea ice modelling, as well as the role of sea ice on the global climate. Let's hope that the icepack will resist to the bad weather coming, and will not take away all this expensive equipment, unless a polar bear too curious would come first...

Posted Mar 2005 27 at 11:08 [en - fr]

Wed, 23 Mar 2005, Brines

The "Brines" team from the Jussieu Oceanography Laboratory (Paris) left Vagabond this morning, it was snowing. Looking at the last results, Jean-Claude think that the planned objective is about to be reached, and that we will reach it if the weather remain good. We are now 2 on board, France and myself, for 2 days, time to prepare the arrival of the "Banquise" (icepack) team. To be continued!

Posted Mar 2005 23 at 19:31 [en - fr]

Tue, 22 Mar 2005, Souffle

Yesterday, while working on the icepack, a strange grumble surprised us suddenly. We first thought it was a polar bear, but it was only a seal scratching the ice to enlarge its breathing hole, not far from us.

Posted Mar 2005 22 at 19:43 [en - fr]

Mon, 21 Mar 2005, Vagabond sur France Inter

Isabelle Autissier parle de Vagabond dans la chronique Grand Large du 20 mars.

Posted Mar 2005 21 at 19:14 [en - fr]

Sat, 19 Mar 2005, Kvalvagen

To try and reach deeper waters in the Storfjord, not far from Kvalvagen Bay, our small convoy with 4 snowmobiles had to go on glaciers (5 hours, 140 km return trip, wonderful), as the icepack is not practicable. Hummocks also stopped us few kilometres away from the expected location, but we could still do some observations nearby the coast. Many seals on the icepack, each of them taking care of a breathing hole. We even used one of these holes to cast the CTD! When 2 polar bears started running to us, a bit too curious, we had to leave the place quickly...

Posted Mar 2005 19 at 19:44 [en - fr]

Thu, 17 Mar 2005, 50 ans

Great party on board yesterday for Hervé's 50th birthday ! And good working day on the ice of the Storfjord today.

Posted Mar 2005 17 at 19:39 [en - fr]

Wed, 16 Mar 2005, Frost

Jean-Claude, Hervé and Jens, the team 'brines' and their guide, arrived yesterday for one week more studies about the Storfjord. Today, we could analyse the icepack situation from a magnificent summit (500 m), after coming up the very large glacier Beresnikov with snowmobiles. The progression is going to be difficult, the ice is very chaotic and very few areas are accessible with snowmobiles, with all the scientific equipment. Nevertheless, experiments started, we must take advantage of the excellent weather: -28°C, light wind, high pressure (1028 mb), blue sky. Also now we have daylight from 4 am to 8 pm, what a change! Emotion of the day was no doubt when our dog Frost collapsed for a long time. While separating him from his brother he was fighting with, we found him unanimated, non breathing. During long minutes, the icepack became an intensive care unit. Good relief for all of us when he got over, our best friend almost died!

Posted Mar 2005 16 at 19:58 [en - fr]

Sun, 13 Mar 2005, Piste

Despite the persisting cold, we still enjoy going out on skis, with the dogs. Especially since our snowmobile have broken down, about 12 km from Vagabond, which ended in a more than 4 hours ski trip back to the boat, under twilight and northern lights... Yesterday, alone wit the dogs, I decided to follow a recent track of a young polar bear. After some hesitations, Jin and Frost started following carefully the trail meandering towards the bottom of Inglefieldbukta. Less than 1 km from Vagabond, in the middle of the icepack, the polar bear was there, laying down, and let us watch him for about 10 minutes before looking at us. Then he stood up, wondering about us, but laid down again. Back to the boat without disturbing him anymore, hopefully polar bears are not as interesting for dogs as reindeers. Then France went to see our neighbour, but the dogs barked and scared him away. We were disappointed, but the animal seemed more timid than the previous visitors we had, and at least, he should not get closer to Vagabond. We watched him crossing the bay, on the wide white area. Today, impossible to find his track again, the strong wind already wiped them away.

Posted Mar 2005 13 at 14:57 [en - fr]

Thu, 10 Mar 2005, -94m

" Great ", here is what France told me Tuesday morning, when I said it was -33°C. The coldest day of the winter was also the Women's Day (March 8th)! For the last 3 days, despite these low temperatures, the very nice weather is keeping us outside for scientific experiments and to scout the surroundings: climbing a little iceberg to get a better view on the tortured ice pack after the last storms, following reindeers on skis with the dogs excited, discovering our sticks - snow area limits for studies - destroyed by a young polar bear, sampling the last snow falls with hands very cold, climbing quickly a nearby summit (600m) with the snowmobile to locate practicable zones on the icepack, doing some ice thickness measurements pulling the instrument with the dogs... Yesterday, we were really happy to reach 94m depth with the CTD, and to observe some of these famous brines, 5 days before the arrival of Jean-Claude Gascard. It is thanks to him, and to study these very cold and very salty waters, that we are having this fantastic winter adventure.

Posted Mar 2005 10 at 09:30 [en - fr]

Sun, 06 Mar 2005, Parhélie

More than 8 hours were used last Friday to do a CTD profile, a snow bank analysis, and a long ice thickness profile. We are only 2 and temperature is about -20 degrees, also everything is more complicated and takes more time. Deep sleep guarantee then, even a polar bear could have come in the boat without waking us up! Yesterday, first trip on the glacier covered with snow, a nice perihelia remained in the sky for few hours. We had then to start removing few cube meters of snow from the large snow drift becoming too big at the back of Vagabond. Wind and snow today, inside occupations. No need to go to the Arctic to get rid of computer problems, my laptop hard disk just crashed today! At least another PC on board is allowing me to send these news.

Posted Mar 2005 06 at 18:28 [en - fr]

Wed, 02 Mar 2005, Neige

After one week of good weather, cold and dry, snow and northerly wind are keeping us inside Vagabond today. We are happy to relax a bit in fact. The ice expert and his guide Stefano left us yesterday, the next team will come after 2 weeks. Until then, we have more than enough things to do to keep busy all day, with the suggested observations and sampling of snow! And still the CTD, the current meter, the ice meter, the weather reports... Arctic snowpack sampling and oceanography soon will not have any more secret for us!

Posted Mar 2005 02 at 18:55 [en - fr]

Sat, 26 Feb 2005, La totale

Great day yesterday, to welcome Florent Dominé, from Grenoble Ice Laboratory: perfect weather (1032mb), sun on ice pack, polar bear met close to the polynia, and wonderful northern lights in the evening! Today, France and I were learning the basics about snow mantle analyses, in order to study the origin of salt in the snow.

Posted Feb 2005 26 at 19:11 [en - fr]

Thu, 24 Feb 2005, Vagabond au soleil !

The strong wind (wind chill down to -45) today did not stop us getting on our snowmobile to go and watch the sun rise on the Storfjord. We were just back to the boat when the sun entered inside Vagabond! Because of the relief of the moraine, we even got sun on board twice, from 11:11 to 11:46 and from 11:57 to 12:04. We are discovering again our environment!

Posted Feb 2005 24 at 19:09 [en - fr]

Wed, 23 Feb 2005, Contrastes

The strong wind yesterday morning (up to 60 knots) opened a large polynia in front of Inglefield Bay, but too many drifting ice to use the dinghy. Storfjord is still inaccessible... but what a show! The barometer has not been so high since last October (1025 mb), temperature is back to normal for the season (-26), new tracks of fox and polar bear on pack ice, and 3 reindeers enjoying the first sunbeams, as we do. The top of Vagabond's mast was in the sun for few minutes today!

Posted Feb 2005 23 at 19:13 [en - fr]

Tue, 22 Feb 2005, Soleil

Here it is, around noon today, despite a hazy sky, just above the moraine on the south side of Inglefield bay, France and I saw the sun again, after 4 months of absence. Wonderful colours then, the sunset was endless. Now the full moon is taking over, reminding us the magic polar night. Nostalgia... It is hard to believe that in less than 2 months we will see the midnight sun! It is also hard to believe that the French Riviera is snowbound, while we are getting an average temperature of -5 degrees for the last few days, and while a large polynia opened again in front of our bay.

Posted Feb 2005 22 at 18:56 [en - fr]

Sun, 20 Feb 2005, Record

The record of the northern most Samba has just been set! Here we are, 2 of us alone on board again, with the nice melody still in head. We almost saw the sun today!

Posted Feb 2005 20 at 18:27 [en - fr]

Tue, 15 Feb 2005, Storfjord magnifique

It was yesterday the complete weather contrast for our scientific crew : no wind, sky totally clear, between -25 and -30 degrees, pink lights on the summits... the sun was really close under the horizon ! Ideal conditions to go scouting along the shore of the Storfjord, while measuring the ice thickness. We need a good period of cold, wind and snow to get a pack ice more flat; all is now hummocks after very strong pressure due to the wind and the currents. Then we would be able to reach, with snowmobiles and scientific instruments, the area we are interested in.

I'm so please to welcome today my family! They are 8 to take over from the scientific crew, and to celebrate with us the sun about to come back. I let you think about the parties going on in this remote place...

Posted Feb 2005 15 at 18:45 [en - fr]

Tue, 15 Feb 2005, Storfjord magnifique

Posted Feb 2005 15 at 18:33 [en - fr]

Sat, 12 Feb 2005, Storfjord inaccessible

The storm and the just below zero temperatures are not permitting any safe exploration of the great Storfjord, so tests and settings are carried out in our Inglefield Bay for now.

There will not be any new picture online during the next 10 days, because Piem, webmaster, is about to start the long journey up to Vagabond!

Posted Feb 2005 12 at 18:49 [en - fr]

Thu, 10 Feb 2005, Essais concluants

The Doppler current meter (immersed under ice) and the electromagnetic sonar for ice thickness (pulled by a snowmobile at 5 or 10 km/h), tested yesterday (despite the rain !) and today (snow), not far from Vagabond, are offering promising results; maybe soon, the large and complex Storfjord will tell us some of its secrets...

Posted Feb 2005 10 at 18:48 [en - fr]

Tue, 08 Feb 2005, 1ere equipe

Here they are, the first snow scooters arrived today, our isolation is broken! Herve and Thierry are here to set up various scientific experiments (oceanography and climatology), their guide Jens is looking after their safety (3:30 hours trip to do the 110 km from Longyearbyen). New rhythm on board, consignment of fresh food, news from the rest of the world... heated discussions are already going well along.

Posted Feb 2005 08 at 18:39 [en - fr]

Sun, 06 Feb 2005, Vie

Yesterday, while crossing Inglefield Bay, we briefly saw a bird; it is the second living being we met this year, after the polar bear in the distance last week. Life is coming back slowly, announcing the sun!

Posted Feb 2005 06 at 17:59 [en - fr]

Fri, 04 Feb 2005, Reco

The first scientific crew, which is suppose to come in 4 days time, are getting worried about ice conditions. In order to have a look on the ice pack on the north side of Inglefield Bay, from where the snowmobiles must arrive from Longyearbyen, I left this morning with the dogs. Suddenly around 11 o'clock, a strange noise, the governor's helicopter was approaching Vagabond. I guessed he will use this flight to check the packice around, also I just broke one ski stick, so I decided to come back and to forget about reconnaissance. As usual, the trip back was quicker. Very much quicker today, maybe the dogs believe we were being supplied with fresh seal meat? The helicopter didn't stop his rotor, I reached the boat when he was already taking off, I just had time to wave the pilots. France first thought that a bad accident got me to call for rescue, she had just been reassured, it was a reconnaissance flight. But if the helicopter landed nearby Vagabond, it was only to deliver our friend Martine's letter, as she cleverly thought about sending it to Air Lift (helicopters from Longyearbyen)!

Posted Feb 2005 04 at 18:12 [en - fr]

Tue, 01 Feb 2005, Chaos

About 3 days of storm from north-east has been filling in the large polynia. A thick and chaotic ice pack formed quickly, on which it is now more difficult to progress.

Last night, despite the satellite link cutting off, we were happy to answer the questions of the public (including friends and family!) of the polar festival of Saint-Martin-d'Heres (Isere).

Posted Feb 2005 01 at 18:42 [en - fr]

Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Crepuscule

Today, we are celebrating the return of the twilight, meaning that the sun, at midday, is now at less than 6 degrees below the horizon. When the sky is clear, we don't need anymore our cap lamps! Yesterday, when we reached the nice lead found 4 days ago (see photo 91), we discovered a huge polynia, a large area of open water, the packice had disappeared (see photo 92, taken from the same position than 91)! Then we followed the edge of this unexpected lake, preceded by a polar bear which we finally saw not for ahead of us, the first one this year. But he let us use peacefully our CTD instrument, in a sea water more salty and colder than usual...

Posted Jan 2005 29 at 18:42 [en - fr]

Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Igloo

In order to be comfortable in a private moment, we began to build a toilet-igloo. The snow on the ice field was not strong enough, so this igloo became a snow-tipi. Comfort there was perfect, but on the inauguration day, toilet on board Vagabond unfroze. Therefore, the snow-tipi is slowly absorbing into the ice field, as everything situate on top of it...

Yesterday, the surprise was to discover big tracks inside. So the last one to use this place is the first polar bear to visit us this year!

Posted Jan 2005 27 at 18:53 [en - fr]

Wed, 26 Jan 2005, Billard

Great trip last Monday, with the full moon shining from the North, and a red glow from the South, like a perfect studio lighting on this ice pack which is for us a magical stage. A nice lead then offered us a big bunch of frost flowers (see pictures 90 and 91, soon).

Mercury has jumped yesterday from -25 to +2, while the pressure dropped down of 40 millibars within less than 24h hours, the wind blew over 40 knots... after this thaw, the blanket of snow is covered with a layer of ice, and the dogs are pulling us at top speed, despite the weight of the sledge, like on a billiard table! Also we saw a nice polar bear track, so they are not all of them sleeping...

Posted Jan 2005 26 at 18:55 [en - fr]

Sun, 23 Jan 2005, Radio France International

This afternoon, we were able to listen to Arielle Cassim, on Radio France International; in her sea program, she was paying tribute to Sir Peter Blake, and to his last expeditions on board Seamaster, in Antarctica, and in Amazonia where he was killed 4 years ago. This great polar yacht, 36 metres long, ex-Antarctica of Jean-Louis Etienne, wintered in Spitsbergen in 1995 and participated to the same oceanographic studies than we are doing now, with the same scientific leader, Jean-Claude Gascard. Today, Jean-Louis Etienne is at Clipperton Island, with Gerard Guerin, who was our team mate during the 17 months circumnavigation journey of Vagabond, around the Arctic. About Seamaster, she is now Tara, since end of 2003, owned by Etienne Bourgois, who called us yesterday by satellite phone from King William Island, in Antarctic Peninsula! France knows pretty well this island since she sailed there on board Pen Duck III in 98... This is not all, brace yourself, the Captain of Tara is the best friend of France, Celine Ferrier, remember, she was working on board the Grande Hermine before, this long term fishing vessel we met in the Barents sea in June 2002. Here are the 2 mates, who were sailing together during their studies in Marseille, now at 16000km from each other, at north and south ends of the Atlantic Ocean, each one on board a fine polar boat! Few more words were exchanged with Catherine Chabaud, then the communication cut off, letting us back to our peaceful polar night...

Posted Jan 2005 23 at 18:53 [en - fr]

Fri, 21 Jan 2005, Organisation

While the light is more and more every day, announcing the twilight coming back in 8 days, and while the moon almost full is participating to this enchanting display of polar lights, we are discovering the new scenery around Vagabond, designed by the last storm. In 2 weeks will be arriving the first scientific crew, logistics is getting ready.

Posted Jan 2005 21 at 17:58 [en - fr]

Sun, 16 Jan 2005, Effets de la glace

A strange whistle in the fore part of Vagabond was intriguing us. Then we realised that the door of the battery compartment was not anymore rubbing on the floor, meaning that the volume of the tank underneath just decreased. The water left froze at the beginning of the winter, creating an overpressure in the tank, and a small leak suddenly allowed air to go out, simply whistling.

The stem lifted up more than 10 cm. Because of the storm blowing when our icepack was created, early November, we could not get the anchor back. Tension in the chain was increasing, and we were getting worried about it, also we felt like we should loosen some chain. Surprisingly, Vagabond lifted up in her icy cradle, it was time to act! This is because the icepack is sinking gradually, under the weight of the snow, pulling down our chain trapped in ice. About the anchor at the end of the chain, we will see what will happen when pack ice will break up...

When snowing, temperature is increasing, and ice accumulated around every windows (34 total!) start melting. It is then time to remove this ice, before flooding on board. This is what we just have been doing for a while, back from our longest trip (5 hours on skis to do a hydrological survey off the entrance of Inglefield Bay).

Posted Jan 2005 16 at 19:32 [en - fr]

Tue, 11 Jan 2005, Show

Last night, the show was great. Curtains of light, green with sometimes a red border, light beams crossing the sky quickly, night version of rainbows, projectors ballet above Vagabond's mast, the forgotten landscape was suddenly revealed by wonderful northern lights. We were not feeling anymore the -22 degrees, temperature after all very bearable.

Posted Jan 2005 11 at 17:33 [en - fr]

Thu, 06 Jan 2005, Bathysonde

Every 2 days, except if a storm is keeping us inside the boat, we are using the CTD instrument in Inglefield Bay to measure the salinity and the temperature of the sea water depending on depth. We are doing better and better, and each trip looks like a small expedition! First we have to load all the equipment in the sledge, without forgetting the 'safety' case and the gun, to harness the dogs, and then one is breaking the trail in the light of his cap lamp, while the other is pulling the sledge helped by the dogs. Depending on weather conditions, we are going more or less towards the middle of the bay. At chosen location, we then have to shovel up the snow from the ice pack, drill a hole with the ice hand drill, set up the stand with the winch, get down the weight only to check the depth, finally plunge the CTD going up and down twice to guarantee good results. We must not waste any time till this point because the CTD would freeze and would not record anything! Then, a 'homemade' height gauge allows us to know the sea ice thickness (1m today), and the GPS records the precise position of the hydrological survey. The trip back is always quicker, the dogs know very well where are their food...

Posted Jan 2005 06 at 19:05 [en - fr]

Mon, 03 Jan 2005, Clarte

Around noon today, the sky was clear, we were feeling the sun coming back. It is only after one and a half month that he will appear at the horizon. For now, we still need the cap lights to move around on the icepack! Cold is back (-25) and northern lights are superb.

Posted Jan 2005 03 at 19:02 [en - fr]

Sat, 01 Jan 2005, Bonne Annee !

The friends list would be too long: the wonderful table we had last night was only prepared with gifts (including chocolates, wines, candles, plates...)! Thank you very much to you all for having shared our unusual New Year's Eve.

Posted Jan 2005 01 at 18:36 [en - fr]

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