When crossing the fjord with the icemeter, I meet about twenty geese, flying in formation at low altitude. They pass very close and seem watching me, I can see their eyes very well. They are finishing their long migration. Couples, joined for life, are coming here to find again their best nesting place.

On land, flowers start to bloom, beautiful. Rivers have been running for a few days, we don't need to go and get ice anymore to have fresh water. Flies are amusing Aurore and Léonie, who are collecting them!

On board, France finished taking the inventory, she is ordering food for summer, and already for next winter. When fog is clearing, and when sun is warming up, even if the stove is off, temperature can be more than 25°C inside the boat. With thaw, remains of seal fat are appearing, and dogs have to be moved a little bit not to get dirtier. Each one gets a wide plank to lie down dry.

In the fjord, I keep doing hydrographic and ice thickness measurements every three days. The icemeter already did more than 2000km. With thaw, old tracks can be seen, from last November and December. Another track is amazing, from a lost seal: I can follow it for about four kilometers, until I loose it... what happened to this seal?

With the portable sounder, by going from seal to seal, and by plunging every time the sensor inside the hole through which the seal just disappeared, we can get depth data without having to make hole in the ice. Marine charts are not precise here, and it could be interesting to [locate the sill of the fjord. The underwater video, plunged in several holes, shows cloudier and greener water from a few weeks ago.

It might be the last family trip, by snowmobile, to Grise Fiord. Cracks are opening, and it is sometimes necessary to make a detour to find a thinner passage. A few Arctic cods are swimming under the surface, following these icy corridors. There is no more snow in town, snowmobiles must stay on the shore, near packice. The dogs Elvis and Marly came with us, only Bella and Unnuaq will stay at Vagabond until ice breakup. Léonie, and even Aurore, got nice presents at the school, to celebrate the end of school year. A big brunch is organized for everyone in town, in the class rooms. At the shop-bank-post-office, a gift parcel is expecting us: cheese (thanks Ariane)! Also a big sounder, sent by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Nasa), to set up for next summer bathymetric and hydrographic cruise in Melville Bay. Time to answer a phone interview and to fix the icemeter connections, we leave town late in the evening. Lights are beautiful, it is cooler (better for the snowmobile), and snow is not as soft. We arrived at the boat at 1:30am.

Rain! What a surprise to hear drops on the deck, to see them splashing on the windows, to feel water on the face... For the last nine months, we had only snow. The girls are very happy to play outside, and France takes advantage of it to wash the deck and the roof.

Mean temperatures have been positives for the past few days, and snow is melting fast, especially on land. It is hardly possible to make inukshuks, but it is possible to work bare hands outside without having fingers numb with cold, which is quite enjoyable to try to repair the oceanographic buoy Ukiuq (project Ice Sentries), or to set up the new icemeter (EM31) in the blue pulka (the previous one was send to the manufacturer for maintenance).

Season change is also marked by the arrival of wind: our loyal kite (made by France in Svalbard in 2006 with the remains of a tent destroyed by polar bears) could at least get some fresh air! Nothing better to let off steam, while preparing the coming sailing season.

Every year, most Grise Fiord inhabitants are going to a frozen lake for an Arctic charr fishing competition, the Fishing Derby. We are invited to join them for four days of camping, north of Devon Island, on the other side of Jones Sound. Twenty tents for about sixty people, festive and friendly atmosphere under a splendid sun. Holes in the ice are sometimes done inside the tents, to allow fishing under cover and in the warm! People are trying other holes, tasting raw and frozen fish... Some fishermen can show great talent. First prizes this year are for the same person: the biggest catch, 80.5cm, and the biggest number, 28 fishes.

We also learn how to deploy a net, using an amazing device, from Greenland, which can set up a rope under the ice between two holes. But no luck, Larry's net and ours remain empty!

It's a long trip but pleasant, snowmobiles and sleighs caravan is stopping now and then for tea and snacks, to watch wildlife or to search for the best route through broken ice. On the way back, we meet a polar bear quite close, almost not afraid by our machines. Not long after, we find a harpoon head, and then a seal recently killed, both lost by some unlucky hunters. I leave France, Aurore and Léonie at the village, then I keep on my way up to Vagabond. At 10 o'clock this morning, tired after a night (permanent daylight) and 180km of snowmobile driving, I'm almost surprised to see that all is fine on board: the freezer is working fine and boat batteries are correctly charged thanks to the solar panels, dogs are happily welcoming me, the stove is off but it is 15°C inside the boat thanks to the sunroof, generator pipes are not frozen, neither fresh vegetables and fruits. Time to do the weather report and eat something, then I fall asleep for a few hours. What a trip!

The next day, I meet again the girls in Grise Fiord. We watch the prize giving together, where we meet Mike Beedell, and Hubert and Luc Sagnières, they just did a ski trip on Devon Island. Mike, photographer, sailed most of the North-West Passage on a small catamaran with Jeff MasInnis between 1986 and 1988. He remembers well Vagabond'eux, and her Polish crew, then wintering on Gjoa Haven beach.

I was looking forward to put my head under the ice, especially since temperatures are getting milder, which is quite enjoyable when getting ready and when getting out of the water. Through an enlarged seal hole (with the equipment, I have a larger waist than a big ring seal!), I dived under the ice. Despite ice and snow thickness's, my high-intensity light turns out to be useless, sun light going through the ice is enough to get around. Also for microscopic algae to grow, the bottom of the ice is now all brown. Here and there, and more near the hole, large scratches done by the seals. I can't see the seabed, about 100m under my fins, but a lot of plancton, varied and all sizes. At the surface, I can see Léonie and Aurore with their hoods well pulled up, sitting in the snow near the hole. The contrast between the two worlds is fascinating, only separated by a uniform layer of ice.

The following day, I take by snowmobile the cameramen Hugues and Adrien to Grise Fiord, from where their return journey to France will continue by plane, after six weeks of shooting.

It's one year today since Vagabond left her home port, Brest, in France (see pictures of departure). She should be back in a bit more than two years. Main goals so far were reached: work for scientific programs and spend a winter with the family in Nunavut near an Inuit community. I will tell you soon more about the little scientific expedition of this week, from Resolute Bay to Grise Fiord, by snowmobile, organized by Christian Haas (read more about the scientific program). On this spring Sunday (-15°C at night, -4°C during the day), birthday of our departure, some friends from Grise Fiord came to visit us, alone or with their family. Teacher, police officers, hunters... a real pleasure to welcome our neighbours on board Vagabond. All are happy to live in Grise Fiord and to share their stories. Among them, two great grand-children of Robert Flaherty, who made the Inuit famous, in 1922, with his film "Nanook of the North". Our friends don't have a copy of their great grand-father's film, but luckily, we can offer them one! Festive atmosphere on board, everyone is laughing loud when brothers Tom and Jopee are telling how, each one by himself, they once managed to get close and shoot precisely at a seal, ran to the animal and found out that, in both case, it was a garbage bag! Last night, Tom helped his brother Kavavow to bring back two walruses to town, the best food for their dogs, getting ready for another long polar bear hunt.

Tom Kiguktak and I are flying to Grise Fiord with Kenn Borek's Twin Otter. Beautiful flight over Jones Sound, which we will soon survey with the electro- magnetic sensor (EM31) to learn more about the ice thickness. Christian Haas is welcoming us at Resolute Bay airport, and we use the Polar Continental Shelf Program facility to prepare our snowmobiles and our equipment.

Resolute Bay is the nearby village of Grise Fiord (400km as the crow flies!), it is twice as populated (about 240 inhabitants), it was also founded during the High Arctic relocation. Scientific and military bases are here generating an important air traffic, which also benefits tourists and adventurers. We have enthusiastic discussions with Wayne Davidson, passionate French meteorologist, with Kenn Borek leader to whom I send daily weather reports, with a scientist who just set up 45 collars to track polar bear local population... We also look at the brand new arena in the village!

After two days of preparation, we are ready to make our way to Grise Fiord. The objective is to follow part of the track that Christian did by plane last month, in Wellington Channel, to validate measurements of the airborne (DC3) electro-magnetic sensor (EM bird). Then we should cross Jones Sound in its length to Grise Fiord.

A five days expedition, sustained pace, we use our tent only three times. Thick fog, strong wind, very rough ice... but great weather and great snow at times! We are often following Rangers tracks (from end of April trip). Conditions are hard for the EM31, we have to do repair and maintenance once in a while, fortunately the data are good. Many bears on our way, but only one will be observed really close. It is a treat to share this mission with Tom, he loves his region and is an experienced hunter.

France, Leonie and Aurore, as well as Hugues and Adrien are welcoming us aboard Vagabond. The last leg was more than 24 hours. We just have time to sleep and eat a little bit, then get ice cores in the vicinity of the boat. Christian must fly within a few hours, Tom and I are accompanying him to Grise Fiord for the last 50km of our journey, still towing the valiant icemeter. We will long remember this trip!

See all pictures.

Read On thin ice, article by Christian Haas (January 2014).

By France Pinczon du Sel.

Eric is the king to keep surprises. At lunch time for my birthday, Liza's arrival is unexpected... for me. And in addition to the seal skin and the wolf fur she gives me as a present, she is offering me the best: sharing her hunting experience during the afternoon! So we leave both of us looking for seals, who now are more and more laying down on the ice. Several times we stop at some reasonable distance, Liza supports her rifle on the windscreen of the skidoo, aims and shoots. Seals can be as far as 300m. Sometimes the seal dives too quickly in his hole. Once, she succeeds. But the animal, wounded, slides in his hole. So we come very close and wait for the animal to appear again; he needs to breeze. Liza is ready to shoot, and me to pick it up. Five minutes later I can hear blowing and breezing, more and more loudly, through the bloody slush. Then the seal's nose appears. Liza picks then shoot, we loose it, I pick again. Then while Liza is looking for the tuk to secure and put the catch out of the water, I try to hoist it but the skin tears again and this time, the seal sinks! I'm learning by making mistakes... A seal is too heavy to be hoist on the ice with a simple hook. Later on, we wait at a breezing hole. I learn the distance, the shooting position, not to be seen but to be able to shoot enough vertically. And above all, patience and silence. Liza can sea from really far any kind of life on the sea ice. I feel her pleasure and experience... She is hunting since she is 5 years old! Soon, I hope, I will use what I learned with her this day. Even more since this special day brings me the dreamed tool: the ulu, the Inuit women's knife, used to process the seals skins, also to eat the meat. Aksakjuk, Liza's husband, needed three days to make it. So it's Eric's present, in complicity with our best friends in Grise Fiord. The very nice Léonie's draws with so beautiful parcels also marked my 42 years birthday!

Then comes the weed end, at the village. Eric flies with Tom to Resolute, for some measurements on sea ice all the way to Vagabond. They are joining Christian Haas, for who we are working since last summer. After he left, we flew over Vagabond with the film crew, with some Inuit friends. Aurore slept from the beginning but Léonie could admire with us the magic land, colours of the evening, and notice how our four dogs where surprised to see the plane turning so many times around them!

On Sunday, I could join by skidoo a group of people going for a trip to the top of the mountain over Grise Fiord, passing by the glacier behind. Some of them drive with their skidoos on some very vertical tops to run high speed down... Scary! Good and nice escapade... without the children! By 4pm, attaching again the qamutik to my skidoo, I was glad to bring a happy little group of kids to the picnic, at the end of the "ice road". Families are used to fix out nicely and so fast everything they need: stoves, food, snow to melt, frozen seal to eat on ice, pieces of caribou... Everyone is cooking, nice atmosphere, little bit strange on the slippery ice... we are sliding as much as walking. Kids are sliding, playing hockey... Then suddenly food is ready, everybody join around, pray and bless the food, leaded by Aksakjuk. Then, we have the delicious meal. Coming back at 8pm, with all these children, happy in the qamutik.

Aksakjuk told us about his past in Grise Fiord. His history, as well as Liza's, since they are kids, are strong and impressive. They gave to us a new light about all what we could hear about the amazing story of Grise Fiord inuit "relocation".

A salinity and temperature recorder was deployed yesterday, in the middle of South Cape Fiord, five meters under the ice. The instrument was launched in a seal hole, it was easier than drilling a hole by ourselves! Measures occur automatically every two and half minutes, the recorder will be recovered just before ice breaking up, in July. In addition, every three days, the instrument is lower at 10m, 15m, 20m, 30m and 50m to measure water salinity and temperature at these useful depths.

Now, at midnight, the sun is going behind the nearby mountain, but is still high above the horizon! We will have to wait until the end of the summer to see a sunset again. With spring conditions (-22°C in the morning, -10°C during the day), the whole family can now go for longer trips, for scientific measurements, or for picnics, most of the time with the dogs.

Our friends cameramen, on board for two more weeks, didn't hesitate to become temporary baby-sitters to allow France and me to go together for two long rides in the surrounding area. A first one in the mountains: what a pleasure to discover our environment from the closest summits (700m)! Another one up to the end of the fjord, at 30km from the boat, with the icemeter: glaciers are tirelessly pushing the pack ice, which is loosing its shape and rolling in a spectacular way, without disturbing the seals, more and more under the sun.

De plus en plus de tanières de phoques sont ouvertes, beaucoup de traces et de restes témoignent des festins des ours. Et depuis déjà dix jours, on aperçoit des phoques sur la banquise. L'un d'eux s'est même installé au soleil à 500m de Vagabond. Tout en écoutant les résultats du premier tour de l'élection présidentielle, sur RFI, nous comptons une bonne douzaine de phoques aux alentours du bateau !

En attendant un nouveau capteur de température et de salinité, en remplacement de la bathysonde, je tente de dépanner la bouée océanographique Ukiuq qui n'envoie plus ses données aux élèves et enseignants du projet [Sentinelles More and more seal dens are open, many tracks and leftovers are telling about feasts of polar bears. And since about ten days, we can sea seals on the ice. One of them even set up in the sun at about 500m from Vagabond. While listening to RFI, to the results of the first ballot of presidential election, we count about twelve seals in the area around the boat!

While waiting for a new temperature and salinity sensor, to replace the probe, I try to repair the oceanographic buoy Ukiuq which is not sending any more data to the students and teachers of project Ice Sentries.