Vagabond (Ellesmere2012)

Ukiuq at Paris Air Show

Eric Brossier — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Back in France, the buoy Ukiuq is shown at Paris Air Show, at the Youth Space in CNES pavilion.

Grise Fiord

Eric Brossier — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Sunday morning, pushed reluctantly by drifting ice, Vagabond is getting close to Fram's wintering site (1899-1900), in Harbour Fiord. Not far from us, about fifteen muskox, more Arctic hares, and many birds breeding in the cliffs. On board, we are playing cards... All of a sudden, around midday, pressure is decreasing. So much that later in the day, we can drop anchor in front of Grise Fiord ! Villagers are happy to be able to sail, since this afternoon too, and several boats come to greet us, starting with Jeffrey and his family. Dogs and kamutik (sleigh) are going back to them. They will also keep some of the scientific equipment, as we will use it next winter, since we decided to come back to Grise Fiord for another winter. And Léonie is staying in their house for one night, happy to meet more children! Before heading for Greenland, we collect a few boxes of food, we send the last philatelic envelops, we post the rest of the scientific equipment, and comply with formalities to exit Canada. A refuelling is not necessary as we still have more than 25% of the 4000 litres taken on board last September. The stop is short, we just have time to see our friends, briefly, and talk about Vagabond's next winter location. Monday evening, while France is steering between ice, looking for a way out of Jones Sound to Baffin Bay, I spend three hours on the deck to pack and tie everything. Heading for Upernavik! Follow our route here.

Si proche de Grise Fiord

Eric Brossier — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Surrounded with icebergs but protected by shallow water, Vagabond stayed eight days at anchor, at a foot of a glacier, on the other side of South Cape Fiord, seven kilometres from the wintering location. The programme was maintenance, alterations and tidying up on board, and picnics on land.

On 17 July, at the end of the day, we decide to sail towards Grise Fiord, while doing some bathymetry, looking for the sill of the fjord, with the deep water echo sounder freshly installed. Remaining pack ice stop us halfway. We spend the night moored to the ice. While the dogs are eating their seal meat portion, a polar bear is approaching on pack ice, then swimming away. Big bearded seals alone, large groups of harp seals, petrels... this non stop show makes up for our slow progress. On 19, wind starts and ice is pushed against shore. Vagabond is listing and lifted up under pressure, a little too close to East Cape, about ten nautical miles from the village. The net slightly relaxed last night, and Vagabond could move away from the rocks. She is still drifting with ice, waiting for a way to open to the East...

Chronique d'une débâcle

Eric Brossier — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

2 July: launching the solar balloon at the end of the day, but unexpected clouds engender a quick drop of the balloon and the camera!

3 July: wind is too strong to go to the middle of the fjord. But we are still cooking outside, at the back of the boat, which is very nice. The stove, that we use most of the time for cooking, is off during "warm" days in summer.

4 July: with a dog, a dry suit and a kayak, I reach the position of the probe, launched at the end of April in the middle of the fjord. But the strong wind from the day before changed the scenery, ice break-up started. I look for the instrument, drifting with ice, with all data since end of April... I stop searching after a few hours, disappointed.

5 July: a big piece of pack ice, which has been hosting Vagabond since October 2011, come off the coast and is drifting on 500 meters. The anchor is slipping, so we try to get some of the chain back, whenever tension decreases. 25 meters out of 60 are progressively got back. Deck becomes suddenly very cluttered up with all our equipment that was still on the ice.

6 July: first trip to shore with the dinghy. We can pull it easily on the ice up to open water. Most of the huge South Cape Fiord is now navigable. A big bearded seal is setting up near Vagabond. Late in the day, for about four hours, I search for the drifting probe with the dinghy. In vain.

7 July: at 8pm, the anchor is finally up, intact.

8 July: drifting with winds and tidal currents, we are still held prisoner by our winter pack ice which is provisionally getting back to its initial position!

9 July: turn to pack ice around the boat to melt enough to break up, Vagabond is in open water at 11am! But shortly later, drifting ice is pushing her on shallow water, hull is scraping on the seabed, the list is more than twenty degrees. France and I are worried, but the girls are laughing and sliding on the very sloping floor! The boat is up again, at least, time to tidy all up on board, and to turn our winter hut into a ship. We take the two dogs on board, quite scared but happy to be in a dry place. Search for the probe is carried out with Vagabond now.

10 July, 1am: from the crow's nest, between many small icebergs, I see with the binoculars the red and the white buoys supporting the valuable instrument. We can recover it intact at five kilometres from its initial position. What luck!

Bottes en plastique

Eric Brossier — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 20:00:00 GMT

No way to be in Grise Fiord for today's celebration of Canada Day: pack ice is getting too thin to travel by snowmobile, but still too hard to break with Vagabond! I left our vehicle there ten days ago, for summer. It was snowing, on solstice day, when I did the last trip. Pack ice was so flooded that I was soaked! But the engine didn't stop, ice didn't break, and it was still possible to drive around wide cracks. Phew! The next day, Jeffrey offered me a lift back. France and I were happy to have him on board for a couple of hours, we were in touch with him before we came to Grise Fiord, almost one year ago, and he gave us dogs and sledges for the whole winter.

Water drained by seal holes and cracks, ice dried up. Then, in the sun, melt ponds became deeper, and larger. Now, they are connecting together, and only remain white isolated patches surrounded by thin submerged ice. Rubber boots needed! Especially to reach the middle of the fjord, for scientific measurements, every three days. Ice already lost 40% of its thickness. Sun has been shinning non stop for the last eight days, temperature is approaching 10°C, conditions are ideal for small repainting, and for picnics on land or on ice. Going from one to the other is becoming tricky, even with the kayak or the sledge. Fishing shrimps, discovering new flowers, watching ivory gulls, Arctic terns, king eiders, snow geese... Dogs are watching over their piece of seal fat, coveted by many birds, and they are excited by seals, appearing suddenly closer and closer.

During my last stay in town, I could meet Graeme Magor, who spent here winter 1999-2000, further West. I also could see again Evangeline De Pas; she lived for ten years on board V'limeuse, and she worked today on project Iqqaumavara (meaning "I remember"), with Marquise Lepage, film director of a documentary about Martha Flaherty, cousin of Larry. Great evening with all these people together!

Far away, Grise Fiord is attracting rare but amazing people, as this famous hockey player, three days ago, or this rich Mexican family, that came to see polar bears and to fly over Vagabond in a helicopter on 18th of June!

Mosaïque

Eric Brossier — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT

A seal is scratching the hull! It is quiet on board when suddenly we hear bubbles, just under our cabin. Then a few scratches, and a breath. A seal is catching his breath at one or two meters from us. Silence again, he dived. A few minutes later, he is back: big bubbles and powerful breathing. We cannot see it from the deck, but he found a gap between ice and the hull to reach the surface. Happily we didn't dissuade him by cutting up his fellow creature. Remains are attracting more and various birds around Vagabond: glaucous gull, raven, barnacle goose, common eider, red-throated diver, black guillemot, Arctic skua, purple sandpiper, snow bunting. On land, Arctic hares, always white, are easy to see since snow melted. A few trips to the nearest river with the dogs were enough to fill up the fresh water tanks, we now have running water on board! From the nearby summit, also from the top of the mast, packice, spotted with melt ponds, is like a patchwork. It took not much more than two weeks for all snow to melt on packice. The icemeter has been set up in our kayak to keep it dry. The snowmobile which is pulling it, is not far from turning to a jetski! A year ago, we were sailing: Vagabond we finding her way through packice in Melville Bay, similar packice that is surrounding us today...

Phoque et ours

Eric Brossier — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Finally, it is not with the net neither with the blind that France caught a seal, yesterday, but only by surprise, by snowmobile. The foolhardy seal, not like the others, didn't dive when we came to his hole. France just pushed him away from the hole. Then, avoiding scratches from the terrified seal, all the more as the dogs were bitting his tail, she shot at point-blank range. Enough to make mittens for next winter, and to feed the dogs until ice breakup.

Day starts with a quiet picnic and a walk to a big waterfall, then some depth measurements in the fjord. France is driving the snowmobile from hole to hole, the happy girls are in the sleigh, and I'm skiing behind with the dogs following the track. Sometimes I move away to film, while skiing. Besides, I didn't stop filming during the unexpected hunting session (girls were sleeping). When back to the boat, with our blood-stained seal on the sleigh, we discover that a polar bear visited our camp! He brought down a tripod, he opened the dogs box but, strangely, didn't eat their seal meat, then he check the hull very close... a young bear who let many tracks everywhere, but no damage.

Les oies sont de retour

Eric Brossier — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:00:00 GMT

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.

De passage au village les 5 et 6 juin

Eric Brossier — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:30:00 GMT

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.

Vent et pluie !

Eric Brossier — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:00:00 GMT

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.