The Board and the whole team of the Fondation Pacifique send you their best wishes for 2021 and thank you for your support throughout the past year. And what a year... Despite the very exceptional circumstances we all experimented in 2020, we were able to launch a new Arctic expedition focused on climate change, [...]
The emotion was palpable when the "special mention" of the Éric Tabarly 2020 prize for best sea book was awarded to the book Dans le miroir de Magellan, le rétrécissement du monde (In the Mirror of Magellan, the Shrinking of the World) on Tuesday, September 29 in Paris. Awarded by the Naval Academy Alumni Association, [...]
Newsletter of the Fondation Pacifique Nr 1, November 2020 Let's stay on course! To hell with the Covid and its procession of shrinking horizons! At the end of this year 2020 marked by the pandemic, we are pleased to send you the first issue of Expeditions, the [...]
A great moment of emotion for the whole crew of the Fondation Pacifique. After three months of sailing, the Swiss schooner Mauritius arrived in Keflavík at the end of its first year of expedition in early September. The data collected for the scientific programmes Arctic Change (greenhouse gas monitoring led by Daniel McGinnis and [...]
Between Greenland and Iceland, the calm sea and milder weather allowed the crew of the Mauritius to capture these magnificent images of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). A sanctuary for cetaceans, this whale gratified us with a nice dive to regain the serenity of the depths.
September 1, 2020 (Day 86) "After our difficult journey through the Greenlandic ice, we finally see the Icelandic coast and are happy to find a smooth and calm sea again. It is Pierre who sees the land first! We arrive at the end of the evening in the western fjords, and more specifically in [...]
We are trying to reach the east coast of Greenland, but sailing between pieces of pack ice is a difficult exercise, which requires constant concentration and a lookout at the front of the boat. When the fog falls to 150 meters, we take the zodiac to open the way. Yves impresses us all by [...]
Still in the framework of the socio-educational programme "Jeunes en Mer", the Mauritius continues to welcome young people on board. And what better way for our new sailor James to learn, in front of the Esmark glacier, the common manoeuvres and other ropes necessary for the good navigation of the sailboat. [...]
July 31, 2020 (54th day) "We set sails for Barentsburg, a mining town still in activity located in the middle of the Svalbard archipelago. On our way, we see walruses and whales. To observe them in more detail, we have to brave the biting cold on the deck. Arriving in Barentsburg, we discover a [...]
So many encounters with wildlife in Svalbard. After the polar bears, the crew had the chance to observe two whales in the north of Spitsbergen. These fleeting moments are a reminder of the importance of preserving these wild places, threatened by increasing climate changes.
