Southern Greenland

Once we got into Prins Christian Sound things got a lot easier. The scenery was not as raw but a softer, greener place and there were way less icebergs to deal with.  37 miles got us to our first village, Augpilagtoq, tucked away in a tiny natural harbor. We anchored with 2 stern lines to the dock and were happy to visit the other 4 yachts there. People were friendly and it was a nice introduction to the Greenland way of life.

We heard that  the crew off one of the yachts had swum with pilot whales just south of the village the day before so we set off the next day hoping to have the same luck (seeing not swimming) but just got to enjoy the scenery along the way, followed by a very fun evening with the mob on Visions of Johanna.

 

                                               Whale meat anyone???

 

 This has been our favorite village so far. Sardrloq has 32 permanent residents, a nice wee shop and very friendly people.

As we have made our way up a long arm to the airport at Narssarssuaq we are back amongst the icebergs. There are a lot of glaciers carving nearby and the currents are bringing them down to the sea. It means being aware of the wind direction when anchoring for the night but so far we have been lucky.

Across from the airport is the site where Eric the Red settled and we had a tour of a replica longhouse and the first Christian chapel which was built for his wife. There are sheep here and large fields of potatoes, but still no trees. We had met a very nice Danish policeman finishing a 5 month stint in a village and he turned up again so hitched a ride with us to the airport, staying a night onboard, borrowing the local police car and taking us out and about. The locals thought we must have been in trouble!!
 

After waving Baz and Claire off, we stayed another night at the dock and woke to find this rather large cruise ship tied up. Makes Windora look tiny. The weather is not looking good to sail to the southern part of Labrador for a few more days so we will just hang about this area until it changes. Been on the move most days for a while now so it will be good just stay in one spot for a few days and slowly work our way down the arm closer to the open sea, ready to head off on the next leg.

 

Greenland's east coast

We had a good trip across to Greenland from Iceland, 566 miles in 4 days, motoring the last 180 miles. Our friends Baz and Claire were seasick for the first few days but soon came right and haven't been put off sailing. The first icebergs appeared about 30 miles from the Greenland coast and we ended up visiting a few on our way to the first anchorage....

              Land ahoy!      Icebergs!

To get to the abandoned weather station at Uvforstutit (62.31N) we had to wind our way in amongst some pretty big bergs and there was not a lot of space between some of them, a taste of how it was going to be on the east coast - not a place for the faint-hearted. Carrying flares in case we saw a polar bear, we had a good wander through the remains of the station and tried to imagine how it would be to live there in the long, dark winters. The next morning was foggy and wondering if the bergs had moved at all overnight added an extra edge to our leaving....

It was 68 miles to the next anchorage and once again we played around the icebergs getting some great photos. Qulleq has an abandoned Loran station which Baz and Phil explored, returning to the boat 3 hours later at midnight (still very light).

After visiting 2 glaciers on the way we had to weave our way through a pile of icebergs then spend ages getting the anchor to set. Managed to hit a rock in the process but luckily we were going very slow. It was a very stunning spot....

The days are long, motoring around 50 miles amongst bergs, keeping a good lookout, visiting a few of the more spectacular ones along the way, exploring ashore and enjoying the company of our friends. It was a rare treat to find this ice free anchorage with an easy entrance!

As we wound our way down one channel we found some huge, wonderfully shaped bergs. The scale of the place is impossible to photograph but the tiny speck which is Windora gives you a hint. (Just to the left of the middle berg)

We actually got to sail part of the day  as we left the east coast and entered Prins Christian Sound where we tied up to the old weather station. Two yachts, Visions of Johanna and Diomedea, who had made landfall further north, sailed past, the first boats we have seen. It was good to know we would catch up with them in a day or two.

Iceland in summer

We left for Iceland on June 27 and had a bit of a rough trip of 38 hours, probably had too much sail up. David and Andrea (yacht Diomedea), an nice Australian couple we have met all over the place in the last 10 years, were next to us the whole way.... not that we could see them in the fog. We tied up to the public wharf at Neskaupstadur on the east coast and, even though it was very late at night, Thomas, the Customs officer drove 1.5 hours to do our paperwork. The police gave us a stamp and we finally fell into bed for a good nights sleep.

It was a great first stop. People were very friendly and we got to know a local family really well. They invited us to dinner, answered all of our questions about life in Iceland and drove us around. We hope to return the hospitality when they come to NZ.

 

 David and Andrea hired a car and invited us along for a drive inland, snowy mountains, huge lake, barren land and gravel roads, very beautiful...

 

 

 After 5 days we said our goodbyes and did an overnight sail, 174 miles up the east coast and around to Grimsey Island .

Grimsey Island has over 60 species of birds so walking around the island was a real treat, especially since it was breeding season. The top half of the island is over the Arctic Circle so it's very popular with the tourists although it didn't seem too busy on the days we were there, tied up in the snug little harbour.

Next stop was Husavik where we hired a car for a day and joined the hundreds of tourists driving the ring road circuit which takes in 2 waterfalls, mudpools, a crater lake, canyons and more. We are used to having places to ourselves so it was a bit of a shock having to struggle to take a photo without people in it, but well worth it. Absolutely stunning.....

 

Back in town we got a few jobs done on the boat. Somewhere, somehow, we had bent our anchor so Phil found a workshop where he was able to straighten it. The job took only took him a few minutes but he ended up chatting for an hour or two, something that happens a lot around here (or maybe it's just Phil)

We got to know the owner of a whale-watching company and were invited out one afternoon so joined 30+ other people and went out into the bay where we were lucky enough to see some action. Sometimes we sailed and the silence was so nice. Of course if a whale was spotted all the boats in the area rushed over. Watching the people was as much fun as seeing the whales. I think cruising spoils you for normal tourist activities. There is nothing like having a visit from a whale while you are sailing along or becalmed mid-ocean.

Before we went around to the west coast we stopped at Flatey Island for a few nights. Once again the birdlife was amazing and we enjoyed several good walks and chats with the locals along the way. The houses are only used in the summer but we met people who had grown up there so got some local history which always adds to the visit.

We didn't see anything of the north coast as we sailed then motored along in the fog. As we rounded the NW corner at midnight the fog lifted, and I got to see some of the magnificent cliffs (Phil was sleeping) as we found an anchorage for the night.

We picked up friends  Baz and Claire in Isafjordur, stocked up on fresh fruit, veges and fuel. There were 7 boats in the harbour so happy hour was very social that night. Most boats were heading to Greenland, some to make landfall more north than we are planning so we may not see them again. Baz and Claire are with us for 3 weeks and about to experience their first ocean passage. Weather looks good. Iceland was an easy and enjoyable place to cruise and well worth more than the 3 weeks we had. If only the summers up here were a little longer......