Vagabond (Groenland2012)

Chez Ole à Savissivik

Eric Brossier — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Dernière escale au Groenland pour Vagabond, Savissivik, à peine 50 habitants; c'est le plus proche village de Grise Fiord, notre destination finale de l'autre côté du détroit de Smith, au Nunavut (Canada). Entourés par d'immenses icebergs, nous jetons l'ancre devant le village enneigé et débarquons tant bien que mal sur la berge balayée par les vagues. Le temps pour Léonie et Aurore de retrouver le square bien apprécié l'été dernier, et nous voilà déjà chez Ole Kristensen, qui nous accueille spontanément dans sa petite maison en bois. Ole est chasseur, et fait vivre sa famille de huit enfants avec les fruits de sa chasse. Ses deux aînés sont à l'école à Qaanaaq et à Aasiaat, trois autres sont à l'école du village (6 élèves au total, de 6 à 13 ans), les plus jeunes sont encore à la maison. Léonie et Aurore sont vite intégrées dans ce monde d'enfants ! Ole nous raconte comment il chasse l'ours (environ cinq par an), le morse, ou le narval (avec les [photos Last stop in Greenland for Vagabond, Savissivik, less than 50 people; it is the closest village from Grise Fiord, our final destination on the other side of Smith Sound, in Nunavut (Canada). Surrounded by many huge icebergs, we drop anchor in front of the village covered in snow, and we land with great difficulty on the beach swept across by waves. Léonie and Aurore are happy to find again the playground they enjoyed last year. Soon we are invited by Ole Kristensen in his little wooden house. Ole is a full time hunter, and is making a leaving for his wife and their eight children. Their two oldest children are studying in Qaanaaq and in Aasiaat, three others are at school in the village (6 pupils total, from 6 to 13 years old), the young ones are still at home. Léonie and Aurore are quickly integrated in this children's world! Ole is telling us how he is hunting polar bears (about five per year), walruses, or narwhals (showing us Nathalie and Alain Antognelli's pictures). He has 25 dogs, but he has to use his boat sometimes in summer, unfortunately because fuel is expensive. At 12 years old, his son Qaaqqutsiannguaq is already hunting with his five dogs.

Very few foreigners are coming to Savissivik, and our visit at the school turns to be a little event! A helicopter is coming twice a week, a cargo ship once a year. No road, no car, few old snowmobiles, but Internet and mobile phone for most people. Somehow, life in the village could change soon: Shell is coming here tomorrow to explain the company's prospecting in the area...

En mission pour la Nasa

Eric Brossier — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Vagabond is slowly going North, sailing into every main glacier fjord. For Eric Rignot and his colleagues of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Nasa), for two weeks, we are doing bathymetry and hydrography, using a deep water echo sounder and a CTD probe. Our friends Gilbert and Annick are joining our family crew from Uummannaq to Augpilagtoq, for the first part to the work. Perfecting equipments and procedures is taking a bit of time, but this will be useful for a more ambitious project next year. We are sometimes sailing along the coast, open to the waves from offshore, and sometimes inside the fjords, very icy. Lights are beautiful in September, gales too! It can be hard to find a place to anchor in the night, in a steep fjord full of drifting ice, when swell, wind and snow come into it. In these conditions, sending down the CTD to 500m depth is not easy as well!

Surprisingly, not far from glacier Kakivfait, we meet four fishing boats, one after the other, all sailing as slow as Vagabond across heavy ice concentrations. The night before, not far from there, I dived to check the transducer: clear water, -1°C, 600m depth!

Villages are often meaning nice encounters, and at times good anchorage. At Augpilagtoq, Thomas is trying to sell us a huge geode, and is fascinating us with dozens of trophies won in dog sledge races. At Naujat, Gabriel is teaching patience to our daughters willing to get close to young dogs; in the meantime in front of the small village, at dusk, two other hunters are training in their kayak. At Nuussuaq, where we are happy to come back (photo 2011), Aurore and Léonie are easily integrating with pupils from the school for some class work.

Cap au nord

Eric Brossier — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Geologists left for Brest. Lightened by 900kg of rocks and equipment, Vagabond has her bow up again! She is already missing René's explanations, pillow lavas, drifting ice pushing her away from anchorage in the middle of the night, exploration of small coves with the dinghy, fresh water collected from waterfalls, lost plastic boxes on beaches useful to store rock samples, lively aperitifs, rough beaching, corer purring...

Before starting the following mission and then heading for Grise Fiord, we get in Uummannaq, biggest town visited since June 2011 (1400 inhabitants), part of the supplies we need for the winter: food, spare parts and equipment are coming from our partners in France or from Denmark. Making the most of the nice weather, I spend about two hours diving under the hull to set up the transducer for next mission. Ann Andreasen, enthusiastic and dynamic leader, is showing us around: she is in charge of the children's home (famous after the film Inuk), she is chairwoman of the Polar Institute, and she helped setting up an exhibit about Jean Malaurie.

Sailing around the world, Coriolis is dropping anchor near Vagabond for an unexpected meeting. We are all invited on board for an evening. The crew is coming from Murmansk, she just gave up the North-East Passage and is about to sail the North-West Passage!

At Illorsuit, our next stop, France is fishing about fifteen cods in twenty minutes! Then Vagabond is sailing again along the entire coast of Svartenhuk, because the geophysicists from last month mission Volcabasin are also interested with our depth measurements. In the fjord Arfertarssuk, former mission base camp, we have appointment with Claudine and Alain Caradec, on board Kotick. We are happy to get to know these great sailors better.

Retour des géologues, lourdement chargés

Eric Brossier — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMT

The weather is beautiful when Vagabond is finding her way between icebergs and leaving Svartenhuk. The scientific expedition Volcabasin is finishing successfully, we are heading for Uummannaq with hundred of kilos of rocks and equipment. Laurent Geoffroy, expedition leader:

"The scientific purpose of this survey is to investigate an about 6 km thick, 50-60 million years old, volcanic field, located almost entirely above the sea level, at a continental / oceanic lithospheric (the upper 50 to 100 km of the inner Earth) boundary. This huge volcanic event was induced by a lithospheric break-up of Eocene age. This event, that divided a former unique tectonic plate into the nowadays Greenland and North American plates, occurred above an exceptionally hot upper Mantle. This specific setting is believed to bring on an unusual type of passive margin: the “Volcanic Passive Margin”. The detailed study of the lavas will allow identifying the depth and composition of the mantle source of these unusual magmas, and linking the melting event to the extensive deformation of the margin. More generally the aim of this program is to further understand the mechanisms of break up of a continental lithosphere under a particularly hot regime."

Expédition Volcabasin, deuxième partie

Eric Brossier — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Swell is still big when Vagabond is dropping anchor, Saturday noon, in front of the old Tartussaq hut. Priscilla, François and Bernard worked and camped there since Tuesday night. They disembarked using dry suits, at midnight, under the rain... but they had three days of nice weather and are coming back very happy about their stay on land. During that time, Vagabond sailed to Qaarsut, about 100 kilometres South of the working area; it is the closest airport. Laurent, the expedition leader, and the four geophysicists left Thursday morning, while a new team with three geologists arrived the following day (René, Arnaud and Philippe). Straight after, Vagabond was heading back to Svartenhuk to pick up the campers and carry on the study of this exceptional area. The numerous helicopter flights done the week before had allow to make endless observations and measures, sometimes in very remote places with difficult access. Everyone could fly, even Aurore et Léonie, to enjoy this basaltic massif and its glaciers. Myself I was requested to do some long pan films from the helicopter, to see and see again later the area.

Between the two teams, Vagabond could do a short stop in Uummannaq. There was many blueberries around town, for the great pleasure of the whole family!

14 personnes à bord !

Eric Brossier — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:00:00 GMT

South coast of Svartenhuk is not much sheltered, landings are sometimes difficult because of the swell. Fortunately, rain and wind are alternating with sun and high temperatures: up to 20°C! On 2 August, Porsild joined Vagabond. She is a Greenlandic boat from Qeqertarsuaq scientific station (Disko Island). On board, four geophysicists from Brest coming to strengthen Laurent Geoffroy's team. Magnetism measurements and gravimetry done by Pascal Tarits' team are completing observations, core and other samplings done by Vagabond's four geologists, to understand the Svartenhuk volcanic margin. On 6 August in the evening, Jim and Svein are landing on the shore nearby with the Air Greenland helicopter, chartered until 14 August. The two pilots set up on board Vagabond. When Porsild has to leave the area on 9th August, we are then fourteen people around the table, for five days! Luckily, in Arfertuarssuk, there is a good shelter for the boat, and a good landing place for the helicopter. Part of the geophysicists equipment can stay on shore (phew!), near the fuel drums brought by and for the helicopter, and six people are sleeping in a nice hut and in a tent. Volcabasin 2012 mission is in full swing!

Svartenhuk via Uummannaq

Eric Brossier — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

On 31st July at 6am, France and I are dropping anchor in the little bay Akunerit, south of Svartenhuk Peninsula. Near the beach, shallow water is protecting us from numerous icebergs. Aurore and Léonie have been sleeping for long in their cabin, as well as the four geologists that we took on board at Qaarsut last night, with about twenty boxes, barrels and bags, for one month field work. Together, under a beautiful sunset, we could watch humpback whales, imperturbable, very busy feeding. Every day since 26 July, here at 71°N, sun is setting again, shortly.

Vagabond just had time to do a short stop in Uummannaq before the start of the mission. We were very warmly welcomed by Pierre Auzias, who has been looking after us since he knows that we intend to spend here winter 2013-2014. Pierre's neighbour is the great traveller Ole Jorgen, and we are very happy to see him again, just before his departure on an expedition to North Greenland. Our stop is also a chance to meet Gambo's crew, sail boat working for a one year oceanographic project in Uummannaq fjord.

Rocks studied by the team of Laurent Geoffroy, who is on board for his fourth time, are about 55 millions years old. Earth is 4,5 billions years old. If the Earth would be one year old on 1st January, man would have arrived on 31st December at 10pm. With the geologists, it is fascinating to learn more about the story of our planet, while trying to protect it.

Upernavik Yacht Club

Eric Brossier — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Little by little we can feel the swell, Vagabond is back to the sea, free of ice, and the crew is slowly accustoming to life at sea while crossing Baffin Bay. Our friend Christian is watching our route and suggest us to follow Canadian coast before heading for Upernavik, this is allowing us to avoid strong head winds. Not a boat is seen during these four days at sea, but many icebergs, each more majestic than the one before. Friday noon, we enter Upernavik harbour, and soon we meet with our friend Bodil: she is watching over a few boxes of supplies that came for us from Quebec on board yacht Arctic Tern 1 chartered by WWF! Other boats are in the harbour, suddenly looking like a marina: Dodo's delight (her skipper Bob Shepton set up in 2009 the Littleton weather station which we repaired in August 2011), [lived on board Vagabond for two months in Svalbard](http://www.markvandeweg.nl>Jonathan (Mark, her skipper, <a

href=)), Billy Budd (her owner Cristina invites us Saturday night for a great evening), Belzebub II (Rana, their film maker, is going aboard Vagabond as passenger all the way to Uummannaq), Arctic Tern... More boats recently passed here, or are sailing in the area: Kotick, Balthazar, Marguerite, La Louise, Polaris... How crowded! Since Vagabond left Upernavik (1200 people, ten times more than Grise Fiord) on 17th July 2011, she didn't see any other yacht, neither any harbour.