Week To Greenland

By the time Gerd joined us in Isafjordur on Sunday, July 4th, our plans were completely up in the air. The additional navigational charts and topographical maps that we needed for the east coast of Greenland did not arrive. Nor did the ice situation look encouraging, the updated Danish ice chart for east Greenland showed that most of the east coast including Ammassalik was still blocked by ice.

F359 Vaedderen Leaving Isafjordur

We decided to see if the Danish navy vessel, F359 Vaedderen, had any additional information about the ice situation. They had recently come into port and were on their way to Greenland. On Sunday they were having an open ship so we decided to pay them a visit. After explaining our situation, we were taken into the depths of the vessel and introduced to the operations officer Jens who showed us the ice charts they use and was able to explain the symbols we had only been able to find the key to in Danish. He spent a long time showing us weather and ice information and felt that Ammassalik was taking longer than normal to clear and it was going to take a month to clear enough for us to be able to get in. Before we left Jens introduced us to the commanding officer of the ship and invited us to brunch onboard the following morning where we met a number of the officers and talked about their experience in Greenland and our time in Svalbard. That evening three of them joined us for dinner on Snow Dragon. It was a wonderful encounter and we were reminded of the great camaraderie among sailors who spend time in places that are more difficult to reach.

On Tuesday we had an interesting encounter with Tony Fleming who designs Venture power boats, he was on a trip from England to Iceland in a new 72ft boat. He gave us a tour, including the fantastic engine room. His boat is the testing ground for a number of new ideas. The oil filled shaft bearing that eliminates the need for both a stuffing box and cutlass bearings was impressive. An interesting connection for Frances was that Tony had worked as an engineer for Grand Banks in Hong Kong for twenty years, she has done woodwork on a number of Grand banks from the period.

On Thursday morning the wind had dropped to 20 knots and we were ready to head back across to the glacier fjords for a change of scenery while we waited for a good weather window to make the 660 mile crossing to Prins Christian Sund. Before we left we decided to do another weather check and were surprised to find that a window had opened up. At first we thought we would leave Friday or Saturday but the more we looked at the conditions, we realized that we needed to leave almost immediately otherwise we would risk running directly into a strong low that was already beginning to form.

We quickly changed gears from our intended day sail and began preparing for an ocean crossing. Frances and Gerd headed to the grocery store to buy our final provisions, while Krystina checked for updated ice charts. Then we returned to the boat, got the dinghy on deck and deflated before heading over to the fuel dock to top up our tanks. Since the fuel dock was not in demand at that moment, we stayed long enough to have dinner before untying our dock lines and heading for the Danish Straight. Just as we were ready to leave, Frida who knitted Frances sweater came by the boat with her husband to wish us a good trip.

The sea was still turbulent from the low that had just passed through, making the first twenty-four hours of our crossing not the most comfortable. Eventually the waves became more civilized as the wind dropped and Snow Dragon settled into a more sensible rhythm. At times the wind disappeared completely and we needed to motor to keep making forward progress until it filled back in. By the third day we were almost completely acclimated, even Gerd was starting to venture beyond his yogurt and ginger pill diet and had moved on to mashed potato sandwiches and a few bites of pizza.

Birds, manly fulmars were our main source of traffic but did not pose any threat to navigation. Once we were off the Icelandic coast, ship traffic was nonexistent and we did not pickup another vessel until we neared the Greenlandic coast. A few whales and dolphins made distant appearances but were not really interested in coming over to see us. Off Greenland, the florescent orange afterglow from the sunset filled the horizon, illuminating the clouds and the jagged, teeth like peaks of Greenland's southeast shore. Almost seamlessly the orange turned to pink as the sun crept back above the horizon. The interval between the two increased by the day but the sky had yet to darken beyond twilight. The spectacular color of the sky including the elusive green flash, surprising lack of ice and warm weather gave us the feeling that we were heading somewhere more tropical than Greenland. When we had not seen any ice by the end of day five and Gerd began sunbathing on deck, we really began to wonder.

First Iceberg Off Greenland

Finally at 2:30am on day six, Snow Dragon got her first glimpse of Greenlandic ice. Krystina was on watch, tacking towards the shore when a dense band of drift ice came into view underneath the low-lying fog that had settled along the shore. She tacked before evaluating the distance but the ice could have been anywhere from half a mile to two miles away. The next morning the first iceberg came into view, its massive size made it easy to see even though it was eight miles away. Frances was on watch and woke Krystina and Gerd up so they could admire the largest iceberg that Snow Dragon had ever seen. She was hoping that out next tack would take us closer but we ended up getting a lift from the wind and decided not to detour. Later that morning we picked up F359 Vaedderen on AIS. They called on the VHF to welcome us to Greenland and said they would make a circle around us. As they went by, Jens photographed us sailing and kindly emailed the photo to our friend David who was able to put it up with this post. Their warm welcome made our arrival in Greenland even more special.

 Snow Dragon off Greenland from F359 Vaedderen

Icebergs continued to be a prevalent part of the scenery as we followed the southeast coast. The density increased at the entrance to Prins Christian Sund where their sculptural shape blended in well with the fog covered smooth, rocky islands. Once in the sound we began looking for a piece of glacier ice to use for drinks that was small enough to fit into out net. Gerd decided to do the honors and got a little carried away. The piece he went for was the largest that our collapsible net has ever landed.

We anchored at the Ikerasassuaq Weather Station (60' 04N 43" 11W), just inside the entrance of the sound and began unwinding form the passage. Before going to bed, we checked to make sure that the icebergs that were sitting outside our anchorage were behaving. Everything seemed normal but we made several checks during the night just to make sure. The northeast wind from the gale started to increase, sending swell into the anchorage. Nothing seemed out of place until Gerd got up to check and discovered that a sizable iceberg had moved in next to us. It appeared to be grounded but we were not sure and decided that the anchorage was not the safest place to be ridding out the gale if it continued to fill with icebergs that were larger than Snow Dragon.

For more photos please click on Arrival In Greenland Album.