"It's the first time in my career that I've turned back, and also the first time I've had to rely on chance or luck. I was out of the hand, and it's totally new to me. The cold, the frost, the snow even, made this waiting complicated and very hard, physically and mentally. Nature wants to put me in my place and show me who's in charge." explained Yvan Bourgnon, at anchor in Weld Bay, since August 22nd...
An interminable wait, made difficult by the freezing cold, forcing him to sleep with his drinking water and his stove to prevent it from freezing. Waking up in transit, to discover the deck of "Ma louloute" covered with frost... But a bit of warmth, thanks to the few long-distance yachts, the anchorage alongside her and their VHF exchanges...
But since then, the situation has evolved and Yvan has made a fourth attempt. At 1100 hours French time on Saturday, Yvan weighed anchor from his anchorage in Weld Bay, to the south of the Tasmania Islands. Satellite views of the day suggested that the ice block had cracked, leaving a possibility of slaloming through the ice to pass Bellot Strait.
After 12 hours of navigation, and his arrival in front of Bellot Passage, he had two options:
- Waiting for the tide to come in to this narrow corridor
- Get directly involved
This is the second option that Yvan chose and it paid off since the Strait proved to be ice-free. In 3 hours, the sailor had swallowed the tightest part of the Strait with a speed of more than 8 knots! Other boats that had chosen to pass through from the west (against the east for Yvan) found themselves stuck on the edge of the ice pack.
The uncertainty that reigned over Yvan Bourgnon's Northwest Passage has therefore momentarily dissipated. Even though Yvan is going to encounter some particularly difficult conditions, as the Arctic winter will be the same on 1st September, as the sailor explained so well. So there isn't much margin left to reach Greenland. If he manages to get through, he will have about ten days of sailing left to reach Nuuk.
