Satellite telephone link with Yvan Bourgnon on Friday 8 September 2017 8pm Paris time
What's your state of mind right now? How are you feeling?
I had a terrible night! I had to secure myself because I'm facing two successive storms, one that passed during the night of Thursday 7 September and another one that arrived on Saturday 9. I almost turned around twice and in front of me ( Editor's note: at anchor ) two other boats - a 23-metre sailboat and the barge carrying the wreck of Amundsen's boat ( Editor's note: First Norwegian sailor and polar explorer to cross the Northwest Passage in 1905) almost fell on me! The anchor of the tugboat skidded which deflected it onto the sailboat, which itself almost crashed against me..
Last night I had another 10 cm of snow, it's not the heat! And Saturday's storm is forecasting winds of 100 km/h! I'm apprehensive because I'm on the verge of turning around.
But the good news is that on Monday (September 11th) I should have good northerly wind conditions to cross the Baffin Sea (about 500 miles to go). If it goes well, I should be able to finish in a week and arrive in Nuuk (Editor's note: his final destination) around September 18-19. I had been advised not to cross in September, but with these many days of waiting, I had to.
Two days ago, when I learned that two storms were coming towards me, after having already spent a lot of time at anchor, I had a big blow to my morale. I'd just come out of the ice... it knocked me out... Today I'm a bit more in the mood even though I'm apprehensive about these moments. For now, my only option is to stay at anchor and protect myself.
How do you spend your days at anchor? Isn't it too long?
Yesterday I managed to tinker, I repaired my gennaker that I had torn. But it's clearly taking a long time... I'm reading a bit and keeping busy between 9 and 6 and then I take refuge in my sleeping bag. Of course, for me, who's active all the time, it changes. So I think about it, I think about the storms that are coming..
I tell myself that even if the tug has skidded with an anchor which must weigh a tonne, for me it's going to be complicated... My mainsail is rolled up, I have 3 reefs ready.
How do you see the end of your journey?
I think I should be able to take pleasure in this end stage. I've had 300 times the opportunity to hit an iceberg... When you're tired, you can easily hit an obstacle. But right now I clearly need to indulge myself. In my round-the-world tour, the pleasure was enormous. As much as it wasn't easy sometimes, it's much more random.
To succeed in my challenge, I must cross the Arctic Circle. I also had another option in case I couldn't get through. I could go down along Canada, but with Monday's weather, I won't have to.
What's keeping you going?
I'm getting a little slack. I said to myself: "You keep your course: be serious, reasonable, sail like a good sailor". I had 18 days waiting for the ice. I could have told myself it would pass, but I refused to take the risk. I allowed myself to turn back, to take shelter... I'm not going to do anything and put myself in danger. That's the key to success. I may be 46 and I may be too old for this kind of thing, but at 30 I couldn't have. I would have been too much of a mad dog, taken too many risks, I wouldn't have gone all the way... Today I know how to balance this mixture of envy, ardour and extremes. I refuse to do anything.
Yet, there were times when I told myself that it wasn't possible, that everything was against you! As far as the weather is concerned, this year is catastrophic! I don't have any sun, so my solar panels don't recharge and I don't have a pilot. I've been steering almost 18 hours a day. There's snow, ice, negative temperature, but I'm dealing with it.
Today, do you think you set the bar too high?
Of course, if I had been told that the Northwest Passage was -5 degrees, that there were storms, snow... I don't think I would have gone there. When I go on an expedition like that, I don't want to know everything in advance and find out things on the spot... But clearly, that's a lot!
What about the cold, the sleep?
It's sure a constant struggle even in my sleeping bag, I'm cold. The sun has just arrived, it's still -2 degrees, but it feels good. It's been 10 days since the sun has been out. I have cracks all over my hands... It's a physical struggle, but I'm not complaining. In my head I had prepared myself. I just didn't expect to have so many obstacles. Sometimes I get a bit of a blow to my morale, but I've decided to come here on my own and I'm going to come out with images that I'll always keep in my mind.
