A Glimpse At A Greenlandic Community

Icebergs At The Entrance To Zakarias Havn

The thickening fog dissuaded us from going around the top of Unartoq and sailing past the icebergs we had been admiring from the hot springs. Making the ice free passage a the bottom of the island a safer navigational decision. We motored a short distance to Akuliaruseq, a small community with a lovely anchorage that looked ideal until we realized that a house sized iceberg had taken up residence in the middle of the bay. It was probably grounded but we were not sure and decided to continue instead of testing out luck.

As we neared Zakarias Havn (60' 28N 45' 34W), our next potential anchorage, we could see several large bergs sitting in front of the entrance. The chart showed a shallow patch of 1.5 meters sticking out on the starboard side. We gently made our way over to where the icebergs were guarding the deeper water, being careful not to tangle with their underwater ledges. The closest berg left us just enough room to wiggle by without pushing us into shallow water. It did cross our minds that the icebergs could move and block our exit. If that happened we knew that the well protected bay was a safe place to wait until the entrance cleared.

On our way in, Frances tried to pick up a small chunk of ice with the collapsible net. As she pulled her catch out of the water the net fell apart, leaving her with only the metal handle. Krystina passed her the boathook but the net was already well submerged. Luckily we still had a piece from a previous berg sitting in the freezer and did not need to go chasing ice cubes.

Sydproven

The next day we walked to Sydproven, a small community situated on the headland. From where we left the dinghy we could see various trails but were not sure which one led to the village. Instead we kept to the granite ridges which gave us the best visibility in the foggy conditions. We entered the town just above the heliport and the graveyard. After looking at the dock and finding it suitable for Snow Dragon if we decided to come back for another visit, we followed a path that led through the community. There was a small amount of rough asphalt but it was mostly gravel. All the water, sewer and electrical lines were above ground in various types of insulated housings. Most of the homes were small single story wood buildings perched on the rocky promontory with rooms in the attic. They were painted bright colors and almost all had white trim.

In the center was the remains of a burned down church which appeared to be the chosen spot for the guys in the village to hangout. After we waved, one of them came over to shake our hands. When we told him we were from Alaska, he embraced us both. Through mime we learned he was a seal hunter and sometimes needed to swim to retrieve the seals he shot. He was also able to make us understand what had happened to the church and share a little bit about his family. It was amazing how much information we were able to glean with noverbal communication.

As we began to leave the settlement we walked past a group of kids who were playing, one of them had fallen and was sitting on the ground crying. Our first instinct was to comfort the boy but refrained when we noticed that none of the adults or other children were acknowledging the crying child. On the way back we decided to take advantage of the break in the rain and move to a nearby anchorage. The icebergs were still mainly where we had left them the previous night, the only noticeable difference was an increase in brash ice which Snow Dragon had to push aside as she inched her way out.

For more photos please click on Sydproven Album.