The 28-year-old British woman is preparing to set sail into the Arctic solo loop to break records that have become potentially possible by melting sea ice.
Elahivet, a Sorrento-based yachtmaster sailing instructor, leaves the Hustler Marines in Gosport on Saturday afternoon and travels towards Iceland and Norway, where she begins her 10,000-mile journey alone on the boat Yeva.
The route, which is expected to take five months, will pass through northern Iceland, southern Greenland, Canada, north of Alaska, and through Russian waters before returning to Norway.
bittersweet
Ms Hibert is considered the first person to attempt a solo trip to the Arctic, completing both the northwest and northeasterly passages on one trip.
The 28-year-old said the prospect of making history is “exciting,” but works with the disturbing reality that the journey should not be feasible.
“If it’s spinning all the way through a single season, it’s a bittersweet record to achieve, as the Arctic proves that the ice it is supposed to be out of stock,” she told PA News Agency.
“I’m trying to accomplish things I don’t actually want to achieve. It’s difficult to wrap my brain around.
“I won’t sail over the finish line that pops out a bottle of champagne.”
mapping
Reflecting the scientific prediction that by 2050 there will be no Arctic ice during the summer, Hibbert said:
“The Arctic wasn’t physically there anymore. It’s miserable and crazy,” she said. “We wanted to see it ourselves before we lost it.”
Ms Hibert plans to auction her boat off her trip, and will donate proceeds to conservation charities as a way to give back to the Arctic for the time she spent there.
This trip has also been used as a research opportunity to showcase the impacts of climate change. It is supported by the British Association for Scientific Exploration and the International Association of Marine Keepers.
Ms Hibbert records the echoes of the seabed depth when collecting data on areas where depth measurements for the Submarine 2030 Ocean Mapping Project are currently not available.
iceberg
Documentary production company Ocean Films is setting up cameras on the boat to help Ms Hibbert film the decline of the sea ice that she encounters for her travels highs and lowest levels, and features.
On the voyage, the 28-year-old is likely to face a serious lack of sleep, and only sleeps for 20 minutes at a time when he hits the Arctic.
Other challenges she prepared include hostile wildlife such as polar bears, unpredictable conditions, huge waves, windy cold 30c, deck snow accumulation, icebergs and fast moving sea ice.
“It’s not something you can prepare until you’re there. There’s all sorts of weather around the Arctic. It’s unpredictable and extreme,” she said.
campaign
Ahead of the “line slip” on Saturday from noon to 1pm, Hibbert said it was “all hands-on decks” in the final arrangement.
“We’re happy to go on Saturday. Unfortunately the weather doesn’t look great, but we’re really looking forward to not leaving there,” she said.
“It took a long time to be made, so I feel very prepared and not stressed too much and I look forward to it.”
For three years, Ms Hibbert has been hoping to find Yeva’s discovery, crowdfunding, buying and fitting, seeking campaigns, training, sponsors, and seeking advice from seafarers such as Kirsten Neuschafer and Ben Shepton.
Buzz
However, her sailing journey returns to childhood when her father first places her in the dim near Ipswich, when the family travels south of the South of France, where she spends the summer sailing to Corsica.
Hibbert first worked on super-yachts, but at the age of 24 he began his full-scale sailing career, completing qualifications such as Yacht Master Offshore, Yacht Master Instructor and Cruising Instructor Certificate.
“I always know that if I have an idea about what I want to do, give me 110% and throw myself in,” she said.
“I’m sure I’m nervous and scared at some point in the trip itself, but at this point, it’s a really lively excitement.”
This author
Rebecca Speare-Cole is a PA sustainability reporter.
