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Preparatory Adventures
ADVENTURES ON THE HORIZON
Before setting out on her solo crossing, Mylène readies herself for the incredible journey by undertaking a number of preparatory expeditions. An initial rowing trip from Morocco to Barbados allows her to encounter the ocean. Next, she heads out in her own boat and makes her way down the Saint Lawrence River to the Magdalen Islands. Lastly, she is invited to join a sailing crew in Noirmoutier, France, and travels to Matane by way of Greenland. All these adventures provide her with inestimable experience and enable her to prepare for what lays ahead.
FROM MOROCCO TO BARBADOS (2010)
ENCOUNTERING THE ATLANTIC
Aware that she needs to acquire experience if she is to fulfill her dream of a solo Atlantic crossing, Mylène decides to undertake a first crossing as a member of a team. After doing some research on the Web, she joins five Irish and British men planning to cross the South Atlantic.
Mylène leaves Montreal for Morocco on Christmas Day 2010. She meets up with her teammates in Agadir, and it instantly dawns on her that speaking French will prove to be an asset. She feels useful and helps the team overcome the numerous administrative hurdles. Mylène is put in her place several times; and while the dynamic of gender inequality is striking, team spirit wins the day. The Atlantic beckons, but the crew experience two false starts due to extreme weather conditions. The crossing takes 58 days, from January 12 to March 10, 2010.
DEPARTURE FROM AGADIR
The first days of rowing are gruelling. Life on board is not always a picnic and consists of rowing, resting, taking care of the boat and of the others, eating, and communicating with people on dry land. Mylène, as the sole ambassador of her people, and the sole woman aboard, discovers the meaning of brotherhood and freedom. The camaraderie of her crewmates helps her overcome her fear of the water during their dips. Mylène notices just how important an issue marine pollution is; being already well aware of environmental issues, she is all the more outraged. In the middle of the ocean, she holds her own and comes to realize just how much she is in her element.
ITINERARY
FROM MONTREAL TO THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS (2011)
THE MAJESTIC SAINT LAWRENCE
Winter 2011. While she trains to be an ambassador of the Saint Lawrence River for the David Suzuki Foundation, Mylène decides to set herself another challenge: an expedition along the Saint Lawrence from Montreal to the Magdalen Islands. This 76-day solo voyage affords her more long-distance training and finds her rowing some 1,400 km on the turbulent waters of the Saint Lawrence.
During this adventure that may seem of minor importance, she familiarizes herself with the boat that will take her to Europe; decides to leave her job in order to dedicate herself to the pursuit of her dream; and experiences extreme solitude for the first time. Above all, this is the time she solidifies her relationship with a man who will go on to become an indispensable mentor: Hermel Lavoie.
ENCOUNTERING SOLITUDE
Mylène leaves the Gaspé Peninsula and finds herself alone in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for nine days. She keeps busy with daily tasks, such as installing and removing the sea anchor, establishing communications, rowing and rowing some more, calculating her drift, better reading the waves, and above all, honing her ability to anticipate events. She grows more confident and is attuned with herself.
ITINERARY
FROM NOIRMOUTIER TO MATANE (2012)
BAPTISM IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC
In response to a friend’s invitation, Mylène joins a family adventure and crosses the Atlantic by sailboat as a crew member. The trek enables her to perfect her knowledge of satellite telephone communications and to put her meteorology and navigation knowledge to the test.
They set out from Noirmoutier, France. Mylène boards the Namasté, a small, 34-foot sailboat, and they cross from Noirmoutier to Greenland before heading southwest to Canada, Labrador and Newfoundland.
The crossing teaches Mylène how to handle time and solitude.
ITINERARY
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