For the fourth consecutive summer, the science campaign takes us in
front of the spectacular Belcher glacier front, coming straight down
from the ice cap of Devon Island.
The breakup was late this year. Impossible to navigate before the
beginning of August, "as before" said our friends from Grise Fiord. On
August 8, there is still a lot of ice in Jones Sound, we have to be
patient to find a way to Belcher (100km). Luckily we meet two bears in
this dazzling maze.
At first, too much ice to get to the site. But we manage to reach a kind
of shelter from where we observe the ice drift and recover a tide gauge
set up a year ago. It's a no visibility dive: the water is so laden with
sediments that it is already dark at less than 10m depth! Fortunately
the icebergs didn't damage the instrument and the GPS coordinates are
precise enough to find it.
August 11, Vagabond finds his way through the ice, pushing from time to
time. The oceanographic
mooring
site is reached, there is little ice around, the sea is calm, so it's
time to trigger the acoustic release and free the mooring from its
weight. It works! Buoys and instruments gradually appear on the surface,
all connected by a 300-meter-long line. Everything is recovered and
secured on the deck which ends up very cluttered. The cages designed to
protect the instruments from the icebergs are totally destroyed, but the
majority of the sensors recorded properly for a year. The whole team is
satisfied!
A moderate easterly gale is announced. No shelter in the area but the
ice should protect us, as usual. Problem: the winds offshore are much
stronger than expected, it's a very unusual
storm.
As a result, most of the ice is swept away and the swell forms. For
endless hours, Vagabond is trapped between thick and hard ice floes
hitting hard the hull, at every wave. Stress is increasing on board. At
times we have to hold on not to fall, to shout to be heard. Will
Vagabond resist? As the hours pass, we imagine the worst. I remind
everyone where the survival equipment is.
I don't want to think about our crew taking refuge on the large ice floe
that just sank our boat... Would we be able to wait for help? Which
help? This scenario that we have always been prepared for has never
seemed so close to happen.
The wind and the swell are finally decreasing, the pressure of the ice
slackens, we get out of the trap and leave behind the three bears who
kept us company during these thirteen hours of struggle. Exhausted,
aboard a battered Vagabond, we search in vain for a shelter to wait for
better conditions to sail to Grise Fiord. We end up going back into the
ice, but this time in a very small bay filled with brash which dampens
some of the swell.
On August 15, Vagabond is voluntarily stranded on the beach off Grise
Fiord. At low tide, we can see how much Vagabond is damaged, but its
sturdiness still impresses us. The hull is terribly dented, nothing to
do. The rudder is fine, a miracle. The cages, twisted, protected the
propellers; but the starboard cage is so deformed that it blocks the
propeller. Yves helps us to straighten everything with a hydraulic jack,
a blowtorch and an hammer. Inside the boat, cracked walls and broken
pipes are quickly repaired. The science campaign can carry on.
After Belcher's
crevasses,
Belcher's ice...
This episode will haunt us for a long time, we will never finish
learning about sailing in ice, captivating and formidable.
