The Arctic melts Canada arctic

Photographs by Matthieu Alexandre

Through The Eye

Cambridge Bay & Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada arctic (august 2003)

On assignement for the French weekly magazine Le Figaro, I step onboard the French polar sailboat Vagabond for part of the crossing of the famous Northwest Passage. Eric Brossier, the captain left with two years to live to deal with a possible wintering stuck in the ice. However, the boat will make the crossing in a few weeks, the ice are not there, it is already a sad observation regarding global warming.

The polar boat Vagabond makes its way through the Northwest Passage.

Vagabond is a sailing boat with a reinforced bow designed by G. Caroff, 15.30 metres long and with a draught of 1.20 metres.

In August the ice was supposed to be more important.

Eric, the captain, left with two years of provisions, just in case of a possible wintering period stuck in the ice.

Eric, the captain, shares information about his route and the ice conditions with the few ships around.

France, on the other hand, gets her information from the Inuits.

We come across ice that is sometimes surprisingly shaped.

Vagabond passes by the shores of King William Island, where the wrecks of Sir Franklin, the Terror and The Erebus will be found in 2015.

Eric dives on the wreck of the Baymaud, formerly Amundsen's, which was caught in the ice in 1926. (Cambridge Bay)

I took my very first photo in the Northern Canada when I was 15 years old, and since then I have never stopped dreaming of returning. (photograph taken through the panoramic window of Vagabond on August 2003)

Vagabond continues to criss-cross the Arctic ice.

Vagabond website

www.vagabond.fr

I was invited on board at the same time as the director Jacques Lainé. The beginning of a long friendship.

A report commissioned and published on September 2003 in Le Figaro magazine.

Created By

Matthieu Alexandre

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