Yann Quenet: Microsailor continues second circumnavigation of the Pacific

After a five-month winter break in a log cabin in the Quebec region of Canada, Yann Quenet brought his 4.30 metre-long boat "Baluchon" on a trailer over the Rocky Mountains to the Canadian west coast. He has been travelling again since the beginning of the month - heading west. His destination: via Mexico and Polynesia to Australia and finally back to France.

Without a motor through British Columbia

In a recent YouTube video, Quenet reports on his passage through the Haro Strait south of Vancouver Island. Due to the lack of wind, the minimalist allows himself to drift with the current or wring long distances with a paddle at the stern. The "Baluchon" does not have an engine. He has to cover 120 nautical miles to leave the sheltered waters of British Columbia and reach the open Pacific. He reckons it will take him four to five days.

The crossing is not entirely stress-free:

"You have to watch out all the time. It's like northern Brittany: you navigate with the tides, you're a plaything of the currents."

Yann Quenet in calm Canadian waters:

From Brittany across the Atlantic to Canada

Yann Quenet set off from Brittany in June 2024. He sailed across the Atlantic to Newfoundland via Cape Verde. From there he travelled up the St. Lawrence River to Québec - without an engine, using only the wind and the current. It took him two months to complete this stage. He spent the winter snowed in with his boat in a log cabin.

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The plan now is to travel via Mexico and Polynesia to Australia and on around the world. Quenet expects to reach Polynesia in 40 to 50 days.

Second circumnavigation after shipwreck

Yann Quenet is no ordinary sailor. The self-taught boat builder from Brittany specialises in small boat projects and quit his job in his early 50s to dedicate his life to sailing on microboats.

More about Quenet's boatbuilding projects you will find here.

His circumnavigation story was anything but straightforward: on his first attempt in 2016 with his self-built boat "Skrowl", he capsized around 450 nautical miles off Madeira and was rescued by a cargo ship.

More articles on the daring adventures of the microsailors

• Adventure: sailing around the world on four metres: Yann Quenet has reached his destination!
• Microsailor: What does Yann Quenet actually do?
• Adventure: North Atlantic in a one-metre boat - the crazy Brit gets serious
• Microsailor: What does Andrew Bedwell actually do?
• Sven Yrvind: The whirlwind publishes his illustrated autobiography
• Microsailor: What does Sven Yrvind actually do?

Giving up was not an option for Quenet. He built the "Baluchon", improved errors in the previous design and set off again in 2019. After three years, he successfully completed his first circumnavigation. He wrote a book about his experiences, which was published by Delius Klasing Verlag (available here).

He is now travelling for the second time.