The first men to circumnavigate the Canadian islands from the north
For 20 years, Sébastien Roubinet has been passionate about the Arctic, which he loves to explore. After the successful passage of the North-West under sail in 2007, Sébastien and his two crew members, Jimmy Hery and Eric André, have set themselves a new challenge: to be the first men to open a new Arctic route without a motor.
Ãeuros aboard Babouch'ty, a 7 m long and 2.40 m wide ice catamaran designed and built by Sébastien Roubinet, they had the ambition to reach Greenland from Banks Island in northern Canada without assistance and in autonomy .
After 90 days of expedition and more than 2,500 km covered, it is a successful bet for the crew. They are the first adventurers to have circumnavigated all the Canadian islands, eight in number, by the North. This is a first for seven of them. Although they would have liked to sail more, only 20% of the journey was done under sail. The remaining 80% was done on foot, towing their boat, an intense challenge for the organizations.
A successful bet and incredible meetings
Reaching the Nares Strait, between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, on September 11, 2022, the three team members were quickly stopped by extreme conditions. Blocked for several days at the bottom of a fjord west of Greenland, and having succeeded in their objective, they put an end to the expedition on September 25 at 80° North. Already forced to ration their food, the weather forecasted to be dangerous to reach the south, this decision was the wisest one as Sébastien Roubinet explains:
"Wanting to go further would have been against the marine sense. We succeeded in passing north of all the islands with our prototype catamaran. Nobody had been there before us!"
They will remember from this expedition the incredible unexplored wild landscapes, but also the numerous and "dangerous" fauna: belugas, whales, polar bears, wolves, foxes or even walrusesâ?¦
8 environmental DNA samples
In addition to the human feat, the Nagalaqa expedition has brought back scientific data in the form of environmental DNA surveys. These surveys will allow us to obtain a variety of precise information on the life in these little explored waters. These different measurements were taken along the way, in different places, from rivers to glacier melts, alongside ice measurements.
