Taking cover, the priority
On August 17, 2017, Yvan Bourgnon set sail from his anchorage in Taloyoak, Canada to complete his Northwest Passage Record. 1300 miles to go to reach Nuuk in Greenland, and certainly the most difficult of his route. A difficulty that he did not expect as he confided during his live broadcast on August 24th.
With just ten miles to go to pass the biggest zone of ice, Yvan found himself stuck in the ice. So he had to turn back and find refuge in a small bay. After a 2 e two days later, he tried again, again unsuccessfully, to turn back, but was also stuck in that direction, as the ice had drifted. He then found himself anchored 3 times, but in difficult conditions, with only 100 m between him and the pack ice.
During his radio session, you could feel the stress in the sailor's voice as he encountered extremely difficult conditions. Indeed, strong northerly winds are forecast this Sunday 27th August, forcing the sailor to protect himself. And he didn't know if he would be able to return to the bay to take shelter. For other situations are open to him, but none of them are conceivable:
- Run aground on the beach, but then it would be impossible for him to put his boat back in the water
- Going out on the ice, risking damage to your boat.
"These are unimaginable sources of stress and I didn't expect this. It's really hard on the nerves." he explains.
We learned today, this Friday, August 25, that Yvan had managed to reach the bay. But he is now blocked and cannot leave for the moment. This was the case during his first anchorage in this bay, as he had explained before. The northerly wind had completely closed off the bay and for a few hours, the sailor could no longer get out. Even though the anchorages are not restful, he is not in danger, as he may be in the middle of the ice.
"When I woke up, it was already too late! The ice is blocking the way out of the bay, and I'm totally helpless in the face of this situation. I don't have the cards in my hand. If the wind shifts to the south, it might clear the situation. If it continues to blow from the north and gets stronger, the ice masses will drift over me and crush the boat at the coast." said the adventurer.
The 7 most difficult miles of his career
"Can't say I didn't try. I put all the best will in the world and I take huge risks. I'm this close to smashing myself on an ice cube. The storms, the precariousness, the cold seem so insignificant compared to the stress of the ice cubes. The ice moves very fast and it's scary when I go into an estuary I don't know what to expect. I have a permanent stress of being stranded, because the coast is very close as I anchor with 3 or 4 m of depth. And even at anchor, every half an hour I hear an ice cube banging on the hull that could cut my anchorage" explained Yvan during his radio session.
In contact with other boats, he confided that there were still 5 of them (including himself) who wanted to cross over to the other side, to the Tasmania Islands. "For the moment it's reassuring, but when there's not a single sailboat in the area, I won't have a solution in case of distress, it'll be an additional stress." says the sailor.
After covering more than 2000 miles, Yvan is now stuck to cover the 7 miles that cut him off from the Tasmania Islands. "It's nothing compared to what I've been through and it's really hard psychologically. I've never been hit like this before in my sporting career. I have the stress of feeling like I'm on the verge of spitting myself out. That's why no boat like mine has managed to get through. I hope I haven't set the bar too high." explains the adventurer.
