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.