Sailing the legendary 32ft cruiser, Damien from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica

Typically a circumnavigation around the world from Europe is westbound, with many cruisers choosing to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean and then through the Panama Canal to the Pacific.

Those looking for a more challenging option usually follow in the wake of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Bernard Moitessier, rounding the Great Capes along the way.

But neither of these routes was chosen by school friends Jérôme Poncet and Gérard Janichon during their epic adventure aboard Damien.

The trip on the 32ft wooden cutter – which is now a historic monument based at the La Rochelle Maritime Museum – included places that a small sailboat had never reached before.

From 1969 to 1973 Jérôme and Gérard went as far north as the Norwegian Arctic (at Latitude 80°N) to its extreme opposite, the Antarctic Peninsula (at 68°S), visiting remote places such as the Amazon and some of the sub-Antarctic islands along the way.

These were the days before chart plotters, AIS and GPS. Neither High nor Very High Frequency (VHF) radios were carried on board.

Instead, Jérôme and Gérard used celestial navigation, utilising paper charts, compasses, a wrist watch and a sextant bought for £20 from a second-hand shop in London.

“We sailed in peace,” recalled Jérôme 50 years later from his home in the Falkland Islands.

As for keeping friends and family updated, they sent messages via the French Embassies or took advantage of a method nearly extinct in the 21st Century: they wrote a letter and sent it via the post.

For most high school students, once exams are out of the way, the focus is on the next step towards a career.

In France, Damien’s crew had one main concern, which had nothing to do with academic doubts; their goal in 1965 was to start their voyage within five years (they left in 1969 when they were both 22 years old).

But first, they needed a boat.

English naval architect Robert Tucker was chosen and commissioned in 1967 to design Damien, which was cold-moulded.

The boat had to accommodate three people and cope with occasional harsh seas and bad weather expected while sailing further south.

Jérôme´s idea was inspired by a previous project of Jean-Sebastien made for the Lederlin brothers, back in Grenoble.

The Nautic-Saintonge shipyard in Saujon built the bare hull out of four 5mm layers of laminated mahogany; Damien was designed to be robust but not heavy, and when finished the boat weighed five tons.

The rest of the work – rigging, building the interior, and painting – was completed by Jérôme and Gérard due to their limited finances.

Many people also offered their services free of charge, so deeply touched were they by the spirit of adventure echoed by Jérôme, Gérard and Jean-François, the last mate to join.

As their departure date neared, Damien’s crew faced bureaucratic difficulties; the lack of watertight bulkheads and a liferaft meant they were delayed until these matters were resolved.

On 29 May 1969, the La Rochelle port authority gave the boat the green light, although stressed that Damien should not go beyond 30 miles of the coast.

It didn’t stop them.

Damien heads to high latitudes

Arrival at the Norwegian city of Bergen happened after the first storm.

Damien coped well in the heavy weather, so they continued north to Spitsbergen in Svalbard, sailing through Lofoten and Tromsø.

Everyone was impressed that such a small boat was going so far north.

They aimed for Longyearbyen fjord, but constant fog and compass malfunction resulted in a course deviation further north, at 80°.

On the way down, Damien successfully went through Forlandsundet Strait, between the west coast of Spitsbergen and Prince Karl Forland Island; good visibility and Damien’s draught of 1.45m/4.7ft made the narrow 100-mile passage possible.

To cope with the cold of the Arctic Circle, Damien’s crew wore all of the winter clothes they had on board and drank coffee, tea, whisky, rum and ate apple pies.

A stove was eventually installed two years later, in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, before sailing into the Southern Ocean; this also solved Damien’s condensation problem.

They also fitted a dome made of Plexiglass above the companionway, so they could steer from inside the boat, sheltered from the elements.

Iceland then around Greenland

Although quick, the stop in Iceland was relaxing for Damien’s crew, with swims in cold and hot pools, a popular attraction of this volcanic island.

They also obtained accurate navigation information for Greenland and Canada’s east coast.

The dense pack ice near Greenland prevented them from going ashore. Still, they enjoyed special moments near the world’s biggest island, sailing close to glaciers, icebergs and watching memorable northern light ‘performances’.

The early September crossing from Greenland to Canada was marked by constant low pressure and their first knockdown, near Cape Farewell.

Under sunshine, and 1,500 miles later, Cape Bonavista was sighted. They made landfall at St John’s in the Canadian province of Newfoundland.

But their arrival was not without incident.

While Jérôme, Gérard and Jean-François were ashore intruders broke into Damien, stealing both the radio and tape recorder.

These were swiftly returned after the trio’s voyage from Greenland was covered by the local media; they also received presents of food from sympathetic residents.

Hard times on board Damien

Damien’s crew dearly remember the days spent cruising the East Coast of the United States.

From Marblehead in Massachusetts to New York, Delaware, Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk and finally Morehead City, there were many stops before their worst leg: the West Indies.

Reading Gérard’s book, Damien, 55 Thousand Miles Around the World, it’s clear this part of their voyage tested the crew physically and psychologically.

In the US Virgin Islands, Jérôme suffered from kidney stones and then an infection which left him hospitalised in Saint Croix for three months; he eventually had to have one of his kidneys removed.

Keeping fouling growth on Damien’s hull at bay was a constant battle, and while at anchor the cutter was struck by a stolen power boat being driven by a drunk skipper.

To add to the wounds, Jean-François packed up and left.

As Gérard summed up, they had “physical, technical and psychological accidents.”

“Being just the two, however, contributed to a solid and ever-intact friendship among us”, declared Poncet.

Over the years, the pair took on other non-human crew, including cats, monkeys, chickens and even coconut crabs.

From Martinique, Damien reached the Salvation Islands in French Guiana, then Kourou.

On the mainland, they stayed longer than planned due to the kind support from new friends who worked at the National Centre of Space Studies.

“Kourou was an important boost in our circumnavigation”, wrote Gérard.

Damien and crew were then more than ready for the upcoming moment they’d wished for, for so long… the Amazon rainforest.

The months in the Amazon were meaningful for both of them, especially visiting remote villages having come up through the State of Amapá to continue towards Manaus; 1,000 miles sailing in freshwater.

Close to the city of Oriximiná in the Para state, they found a calm spot by Sapucuá Lake which was “a green paradise” for them.

Anchored at the protected spot, they took part in the daily life of the locals;

Gérard became a ‘bush doctor’ providing medical care with the first aid kits available on Damien.

Decades later, he wrote about that experience in another book, Atalaya, one season in the Amazon.

In 2021, it was republished as The Initiation. “It was a simple, grandiose sharing of life. An experience that has accompanied my entire life, even today”, said Gérard.

Back on salt water, they sailed to Fortaleza, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.

A postcard depicting an aerial view of Guanabara’s Bay was all they used to navigate their approach to Brazil´s second-biggest city.

From there, Damien continued south where, according to Jérôme, “their life would finally begin.”

After Argentina, Damien and her crew were blessed by the weather gods with calm seas and good conditions, enabling them to round Cape Horn via an untraditional route, from east to west.

They went on towards Ushuaia before heading east to the higher latitudes.

“In two years, it was the most beautiful achievement”, wrote Gérard about their epic approach to South America’s southernmost tip.

The toughest moments were on the way to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, in the last days of March 1971.

In confused seas and winds gusting 60-70 knots, Damien capsized three times, with both Jérôme and Gérard trapped down below for several minutes.

On the final time, the boat was dismasted, although the mast was salvaged.

The pair used the wooden spinnaker pole to set up a jury rig and sailed Damien to the port of Grytviken, where the staff of the British Antarctic Survey welcomed them.

In South Georgia, Jérôme and Gérard installed the original salvaged aluminium mast, albeit shorter, and made other repairs before leaving for Cape Town.

A few more knockdowns and 3,000 miles later, Damien limped into the South African city, again under jury rig.

Their priority on arrival was to ship a new aluminium mast from Europe and to prepare the boat for Antarctica.

They headed south again in December 1971, visiting the remote islands of Crozet, Kergulelen (known as the Desolation Islands), Heard and Macquarie, but bad weather, ice and their compass being affected by magnetic disturbances meant cutting short their voyage and sailing to Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia.

In Tahiti, they caught up with Bernard Moitessier, who they greatly admired.

“Our trip would have not been complete if we had missed this meeting”, said Gérard.

Damien in Antarctica, at last

The second longest leg of the entire voyage was from Tahiti to the Antarctic Peninsula, the 4,500-mile trip being completed in 37 days when they made landfall at Adelaide Island; it was the first time such a small sailing boat had moored this far south in the Antarctic Circle (Solo sailor David Lewis on Ice Bird arrived several weeks earlier, but did not go as far south as Jérôme and Gérard on Damien).

Despite the hardships and testing conditions of the Southern Ocean, it was always Jérôme and Gérard’s favourite place to sail; even after so many difficulties, they never gave up on their dream to sail there.

“The southern world is still a free place”, notes Gérard.

After visiting the South Shetland archipelago, Damien continued north for South Georgia, where Jérôme and Gérard rekindled friendships from a year before.

By May 1973, Damien was in Argentina and then onwards to Brazil; the circle was almost complete.

Future plans

Throughout the voyage, Jérôme and Gérard had already begun making plans to build two bigger vessels, strong enough to winter in the Polar regions.

Thus, their sadness on returning to La Rochelle, on 22 September 1973, was eased by the excitement of starting another new chapter.

France would be just another leg before they could return to living at sea, each on his own boat – Jérôme and his wife, Sally, on Damien II and Gérard and his wife, Jacquie on Damien 3 (later renamed Kotick).

Both were identical steel schooners with a hull length of 46ft 4in/14.14m and a lifting keel.

Although frequently seen as heroes, Jérôme and Gérard´s goal was never fame, being an example for others or breaking any world record.

Their adventure was not an escape either.

Damien meant more than just a yacht; the boat was a companion which allowed them a lifestyle they most appreciated: total freedom.

Where is Damien today?

In September 2002, following a request by Gérard Janichon, Damien was classified as a Historic Monument in France.

Years later, the boat was restored and put on display at the Musée Maritime La Rochelle (La Rochelle Maritime Museum), alongside Moitessier’s Joshua.

No booking is necessary to visit unless a group is large. Members of the Association des Amis du Musée Maritime de La Rochelle (Friends of the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle Association) can still sail on Damien and Joshua, usually between April and the beginning of November.

The former president of the association, Marie Guélain, said that when Gérard discovered Damien languishing in La Rochelle, the boat was a wreck.

“He asked a friend to buy him, and have him restored by the La Rochelle Maritime Museum, but there was no money. He then launched a crowdfunding campaign and the association was required to help because of its commitment and skills to maintaining Joshua and also restoring old wooden dinghies.”

The job was not an easy one.

“After estimates from shipyards, maritime consultants’ advice, and availability of volunteers-members, the association benefited from funding from the Ministry of Culture, the department and the city. Later, two private sponsors enabled the work to be completed. Gérard validated all the stages of the restoration. The association’s objective is to promote Damien’s philosophy among young people: adventures, exchanges and respect,” said Guélain.

Following seven years of work, Damien was relaunched on 18 September 2019; Jérôme Poncet and Gérard Janichon were both on board for the inaugural sail.

“Damien was not a boat, but like a twin of each one of us, our extension,” explained Gérard.

“My daughter, Lucie, was also with us that day. When I handed her the tiller, so that she could discover the ‘Damien sensation’, I wanted to cry. It was very moving, and the transmission was successful. The association, who dedicated themselves to restoring the boat, did a fantastic job.”

Further reading

• Originally written in French, Damien, 55 Thousand Miles Around the World by Gérard Janichon (Transboreal, 2010) has been translated into Portuguese, Polish and Italian… but never English.
• In 2022, it was published as a graphic novel under the title Damien, L’empreinte du Vent (Glénat – Vents d’Ouest, 2022)
• A film, Damien Around the World, is available in French and English, part of the Collection Adventures Maritimes, (Fac Télévisions, Equator Éditions, 2003)

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