After a week of rest in Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island in Greenland, we raise anchor early in the morning on Sunday, September 8. It snowed on the heights during the night, Libertaire's deck is frozen, the sun shines on the giant icebergs... We would have liked to enjoy the landscapes a bit more, but the journey back to France is still long, and we prefer not to have to navigate through deep depressions to cross the North Atlantic. So, we first sail along the Greenland coast, constantly watching out for icebergs, which makes the watches particularly tiring and stressful now that the night has returned for long hours. However, we are rewarded with beautiful northern lights and finally leave the ice limit zone after 6 days, accompanied by an impressive pod of pilot whales and dolphins around the boat!
The different weather models lead us to favor a more southerly route, which is more comfortable for progressing between the successive depressions. We thought about docking in Ireland, but a final depression system deeper than initially forecast makes us change course, and we finally divert towards Brittany, still with strong gusts of over 40 knots, but downwind it's more manageable! After 20 days of quite grueling navigation, we finally arrive on September 28 in Camaret-sur-Mer at the entrance to the Brest harbor!
Having left Locmiquélic in October 2016, it has been 8 years since Libertaire last returned to French waters!
We have some sleep to catch up on before enjoying the month of October to coast between the English and French coasts and then head to the Norman port of Dieppe for the winter.
