ODYSSEY OF AION
Logbook
Preparation, sailing techniques, difficult passages, the expedition from the inside, from the Marseille shipyard to the Southern Ocean.
Killer whales are not one species, they are peoples
The essentials. We speak of "the killer whale" as if it were one animal. That is a mistake. Within the same ocean there are populations that do not mix, do not hunt the same prey, …
Read articleMarseille → Ushuaia on a polar expedition sailboat, the solo transatlantic toward Patagonia and Antarctica
The essentials. Three months, 9,000 miles, four legs. The Act 1 transatlantic is not an exploit, it is a full-scale audit before the Drake. Marseille in August, Ushuaia in November…
ReadSailing the Sixties — the reality of the Southern Ocean
There is an invisible line around 60°S. You don't see it. You feel it first in the behaviour of the boat, then in the light, then in the body.
ReadWhat sailboat for Antarctica?
It's the question I get most often since announcing the expedition. It implies another, more honest question: could my boat do this? The answer, in most cases, is no. Not because s…
ReadThe Drake Passage by sailboat, weather windows, duration, preparation
The Drake Passage is the most feared stretch on the route to Antarctica. Between the southern tip of Patagonia and the South Shetland Islands: 800 miles of nothing. No shelter, no …
ReadSailing in Antarctica, what it actually means
Marseille, April 2026. Four months to departure. I've spent the last few weeks answering the same question, phrased differently each time: how do you actually sail in Antarctica? H…
ReadArion, four months from departure, where things stand
Marseille, early April 2026. Departure is set for August 2026. Around four months away. Four months to turn a yacht into a machine capable of holding its own south of 60°S, where t…
ReadARION, sea trials: what we tested, what we learned
Marseille, December 2025. Departure for Antarctica is eight months away. Before heading offshore, we needed to push ARION hard, not in cruising conditions, but in real operational …
ReadFollow the expedition
Departure Marseille, August 2026. Regular updates all the way to 60°S.