Nord Hus Greenland sailing expedition put on ice until spring

After four months aboard Nord Hus, Pascale Marceau and Lonnie Dupre are back on dry land. For now.

The pair are the leaders of an expedition that took the sailboat Nord Hus from Grand Marais to Greenland. Throughout the journey, they, along with a rotating crew of sailors, navigated a variety of landscapes and mechanical issues. While their original plan was to complete the expedition this year, they have opted to pause the journey.

“We decided that we’ve been going so hard and so fast for so long, four months, pretty much steady, that we were missing some opportunities in some of the past locations to stay and absorb the culture, study the wildlife, do our science, and stuff like that,” Dupre explained. He added that they left the boat at a point roughly two-thirds of the way through the planned expedition.

Dupre and Marceau plan to pick up where they left off next summer. Marceau said they will head back to Greenland in June, with the hope of setting sail again on July 1, 2026.

Along with making the voyage by sailboat, part of the objective of the trip was to make observations on behalf of partner scientists. Marceau described the relationship, saying, “We’re like the eyes for them to collect data to see if they have enough substance to go because, of course, these projects up there are pretty expensive, so it’s really nice to work with them.”

The data collection and observations focus on marine mammals, and surveying the nesting areas of little auk. Marceau said observing the little auk is an effort to update data collected in the 1980s, and evaluate whether climate change has impacted their territory. Whether they are searching for little auk colonies, or running water tests and making observations on mammals, collecting this information can be time consuming.

According to Marceau, taking this break in the expedition will mean devoting more time to the scientific objectives. She said, “The beauty of resuming next year is it will give us plenty of time to do justice to this research and really look at these colonies, and give it the time it needs to do the proper observations.”

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Lonnie Dupre and Pascale Marceau about their expedition to Greenland. Audio of that interview is below.

Kirsten Wisniewski September 8, 2025