How are you feeling?
The feeling I get is that physically it's hard. I expected this, but not at this level of danger. It's often present, especially in relation to my world tour, where I didn't feel in mortal danger. Here, if you dismast at the wrong time, you drift towards the rocks, in 30 knots of wind, with the ice everywhere, without having time to make a makeshift rig. There is no margin of safety, no room for error and fatigue is dangerous.
I sailed from Cambridge Bay (for about a week) without autopilot and was at the end of my limits. I slept only a few hours at anchor.
Are you still enjoying yourself?
Don't think, it's not always hostile either. I had moments of pleasure, especially with an exceptional fauna: whales, narwhals, beluga whales, seals... I also passed through the Simpson Strait littered with a hundred islands and bathed in an incredible light.
You explain that for the first time in your life, you're not serene, you've got a lump in your stomach. Is this the hardest thing you've ever done?
I'm sailing under constant tension and God knows if I'm the antithesis of stress! I'm under permanent stress, with knots in my stomach... I have to manage to find moments to relax. I listen to music or try to think of something else to release the tension.
The danger is permanent. It's what I've done and what I'd do the hardest. It's like the mountain climber climbing Everest. I'm in the hardest part of what I can imagine in my sport. It's not the most physically and psychologically committed. I would probably do harder things, but less dangerous. I don't play Russian roulette, but almost!
I'll always have a taste for adventure and it'll never be taken away from me. But you have to know how to lower the level of risk. It's something that comes with age, reflection..
Nevertheless, I am very happy to live it! I'm enjoying it! It's hard, but I'm happy!
What's impressed you the most, what's impressed you the most so far?
The wildness of nature! I have never seen such wild, ruthless nature. There are only 6 villages in the Canadian Far North, thousands of kilometres away. Human life is almost impossible. When I've been around the world, I've seen wild places, but not that wild. Here, there's not a blade of grass, not a bird... From the beginning of September, it snows, it's merciless. It's impressive to feel this atmosphere!
