"Vagabond, wintering in Spitsbergen" (13 min, Samuel Ducoin) will be presented at the International Mountain Film Festival in Autrans at 2pm.

2 to 12 December 2005: Eric and France at Paris Boat Show, talks on 9 from 10:30 to 11:30 and on 11 from 16:30 to 17:30.

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

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.

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.

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.

31 Oct. - 1 Nov: Eric and France at Mille Sabords, Port Crouesty's boat show

28 to 30 October 2005: Eric and France invited to the Adventure Film Festival of La Rochelle, presentation of "Vagabond, wintering in Spitsbergen" (13 min, Samuel Ducoin) on 30 October at 16:30.

France will participate to Catherine Chabaud's meeting, "Oceans women explorers", from 15:30 to 17:30, at Oceanopolis (Brest)

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.