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.