The night on our way to Paamiut was calm and quite. Even though we had to keep a careful watch since it still gets dark at night at that latitude we have enjoyed the sight.
Quite night in the Arctic Ocean
Arsukfjord
Before we set out to the sea again we have explored the Arsuk fjord which has a glacier on its end. We discovered that it must have receded considerably since on our maps the glacier front was three miles further out to the sea than on our findings.
At the glacier’s edge we have been confronted with ice-cold katabatic wind falling down from the inland ice and reaching gale force close to the ice. Further down the fjord the wind dropped considerably.Furthermore, we have refuelled in Arsuk, a small village at the entrance of the fjord.
This village has definitely been another example of the remoteness of communities in the North.
Grønnedal, Arsuk Fjord
We enjoyed our first good sleep after the crossing over from Iceland before we explored Grønnedal in the Arsuk Fjord. We have sought shelter here before the storm even though it is a restricted area by the Danish military. Formerly cryolithe has been found in Ivittuut in the surroundings which apparently has been strategically important. It is an ore which is used for the production of aluminium. Therefore, this has been the site of the Royal Danish Navy Headquarter of the Admiral Island Commander of Greenland. According to our information this has been now moved to Nuuk but we discovered that it will operative again albeit on a much lower scale soon.
The place itself looked quite deserted but there was some work going on. Especially impressive were the amount of musk oxen that we have observed all over the deserted harbour premises. They were said to be quite aggressive so we stayed away from them.
Disconnected…
In Greenland our access to the internet and speedy connection is very infrequent. Continue reading “Disconnected…”
Landfall in Greenland
We have made it to Greenland!
Chased by the storm and negotiating ice in our way we are happy to make a successful landfall in the Arsukfjord, Greenland.
Behold the heroic video of the landfall:
Negotiating the ice
The reports of the Ice Patrol have already shown us that our landfall could be difficult because of the amount of storis, the sea ice brought around the Cape by the current and accumulating in the large bay Northwest of Kap Farvel.
We, therefore, decided that it will not be possible for us to go directly into Quqortoq and we had to take the longer route to the Arsuk fjord. But even here we found our way blocked by sea ice. Sea ice “happens” quickly. First we have seen a few bergy bits and growlers until we all of the sudden we’re faced with a solid barrier of ice impenetrable for us. So we needed to turn west again and again and still were not sure of our landfall. This was the more worrying as we were chased by the storm.
Chased by the storm
We have picked an adequate window of opportunity for the crossing of the Denmark Strait to Greenland. Wind in the rear quarter allowed for a quick journey. And we had to be swift as there has been a low pressure system with strong wind right behind us. Negotiating the ice before us has been another challenge.
The weather forecast of these days show our small boat in yellow while the storm is approaching the west coast of Greenland (the colourful figures).
Voyage to Grindavik, Iceland
We still cannot sail to Greenland because of the impending stormforce wind in the days to come. We have decided to sail to Grindavik, the southwestern tip of the mainland of Iceland to wait for better conditions there.
At least it is some miles in the right direction.
Unfortunately there will be nasty weather in the days to come and we might be grounded for some time here…
The Northabout who we have met in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, and who had come to Vestmannaeyjar as well continued today in the direction of Greenland. We hope to meet them there again.
Heimaey
We have now been on Heimaey for a few days as we still can not move on to Greenland due to the weather conditions.
The island is known for its interesting geography as in 1973 a volcano destroyed half of the town and threatened to close off the harbour for ever. Its imposing mountains that rise steeply out of the sea, however, have been invisible to us most of the time because of the low hanging clouds and a miserable drizzle.
Ice!
We are still on the Vestmanneyjar and try to decide on a good window of opportunity for the crossing to Greenland.
Icecharts show the presence of a lot of ice around Cape Farewell. This means that we will give the area a wide berth in order to arrive safely on the west coast of Greenland.
The page of the Danish meteorological institute which issues information about the ice situation warns:
The waters around Cape Farewell are amongst the most dangerous in the world for navigation. This is due to the sometimes extremely harsh weather conditions combined with the existence of both icebergs and meter-thick ice floes.
That sounds truly promising, doesn’t it?