Since the beginning of Green Edge, a very particular boat has been collaborating with the scientific research team studying the algal bloom near Qikiqtarjuaq, Baffin Island (Nunavut, Canada). It is the Vagabond, an expedition yacht designed to sail in icy waters.
The polar yacht Vagabond has a special crew, a family who decided to leave the comforts of city life to start an adventure sailing on the Vagabond. Éric Brossier, and his wife France Pinczon du Sel, accompanied by their two daughters, live in the region north of the polar circle aboard the yacht.
They are the main intermediaries between researchers and the Inuit community in Qikiqtarjuaq, where they haven been based for three winters.
Trained as an ocean engineer, Éric Brossier, captain of Vagabond with his wife France Pinczon du Sel, gained extensive experience in geophysics from 1995 to 2002, working in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Botswana, Venezuela, South Africa and Russia. After working around the world, he has travelled across the Far North in the Vagabond since the early 2000s.
Éric Brossier provides essential support for the Green Edge Project and is one of the pillars of the ice camp. He plays a major role in the construction and organization of experimental campaigns in Qikiqtarjuaq, contributing to logistical, security and scientific operations.
Discovering the Vagabond
Since 2000, Éric Brossier has employed the Vagabond as a unique logistical support for research activities, a floating and movable base for scientists (collaboration with the Institut Polaire Français, IPEV), adventurers, sportsmen or artists fond of polar regions.
During a five year period, for eight months each year, he participated in the DAMOCLES scientific program, studying the evolution of the ice on the East Coast of Spitzberg. After this unique experience, beginning in 2011, the Vagabond began sailing and wintering for science projects in Greenland and Nunavut (Canada). In 2013, he decided to drop anchor at Northern Canada, in Qikiqtarjuaq (Baffin Island, Nunavut), to the benefit of Takuvik.
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