Greenland: Prins Christian Sund

Even in rain and cloaked in gray cloud, Ikerasassuaq (Prins Christian Sund) is a beautiful and enchanting place. With its colorful granite, bold patches of green vegetation and ever changing mountain shape. We have so many fond memories of this special place that returning to Ikerasassuaq (Prins Christian Sund) felt like returning home to an old friend.

We debated where to anchor as we entered the east end of the sound. The two most suitable choices were the Weather Station on the south side or Aqigssiat on the north. Both of us still remember being chased out of the Weather Station anchorage by an iceberg during our first trip to Greenland and opted for Aqigssiat even though the Weather Station was currently free of ice.

As we passed icebergs and two low lying pink and smoky gray granite islands at the entrance of Aqigssiat, we fondly remembered our walk on them 3 years ago and planned a pre-dinner dinghy ride out to see them. By the time we got the anchor set in the deep but tight bay, the rain had returned and we retreated to the pilothouse. When Frances looked at the log she realized we had been anchored at Aqigssiat, 3 years ago on the same date and we opened a bottle of wine to celebrate our return to Ikerasassuaq (Prins Christian Sund).

It continued to rain and we left a water tank open overnight. Collecting 100 gallons of rainwater, putting off our need to fill up on chlorinated municipal water when we reach Nanortalik. It was still raining in the morning and we decided to continue along the sound. When we went to pull the anchor, it wouldn't budge. Eventually we dislodged it by turning Snow Dragon in a tight circle with the engine to put force on the anchor. Clearly the anchor had found something to dig into and came up with a few new scratches on its flukes and full of kelp.

With east winds we sailed the 15 miles to Kangerdluk under jib alone, gybing our way through the sound and dodging the occasional piece of ice. We anchored in a hooked bay off the entrance to a Kangerdluk fjord . With a smooth granite wall on once side and bold green vegetation covered mountain on the other. It took a bit of time to find suitable anchoring depth that wasn't too close to shore and we eventually anchored in 30 meters.

We were too lazy to drop the dinghy in the water to fetch a piece of glacier ice for drinks and resorted to trying to catch a piece from Snow Dragon instead. Frances used a boathook to prod ice towards the bucket that Krystina was dangling in the water. Our second attempted worked and we had enough ice for our 2 tonics with lemon and a splash of gin for Frances.

While Frances was keeping an eye on the vegetarian pot stickers we made for dinner. Krystina created a lettuce free salad to give our plants the night off. She decided on shaved carrot, pineapple and cranberries with orange vinaigrette. When she got the can of pineapple out she asked Frances if Snow Dragon still had a can opener, as she couldn't remember the last time we needed it. With the exception of a can of maple syrup that a friend brought from Canada, we hadn't used a can opener for 2-3 years.

It was tempting just to curl up on the settee with a book and enjoy the view of the artistically placed erratics from the pilothouse window but somehow we managed to motivate ourselves to go for an after dinner walk. The first thing we noticed once we reached the vegetation was the wild blueberries. Frances volunteered to go back to Snow Dragon to fetch a bag but Krystina suggested using the dinghy bailer instead. After washing the salt off the bailer in the stream we began picking our first blueberries of the season. They weren't quite ripe but it didn't matter, we would use them in our breakfast smoothies and salads until we found riper ones later in the week to make jam.

Since it was cold, we would stop and pick for a few minutes and then continue walking until we warmed up enough to start picking again. We walked up one valley and then turned and walked along the top of the granite wall protecting our anchorage. Taking in the stunning view into the sound and the magnificent erratic boulders before heading down a different valley.

Our after dinner walk was perfect with the exception of the tiny mosquitoes that found us on our way back to the dinghy. They were the most vicious mosquitoes we had encountered in Greenland, sadly preventing us from picking anymore blueberries. We walked briskly trying to get rid of the cloud swarming around us trying to get into our eyes, nose and mouth as they chewed.

Just to prove nature has a sense of humor, we returned with our bailer full of blueberries to find our dinghy full of water. A piece of ice must have pulled the plug out when it brushed up against the transom. Without even discussing it, we unanimously agreed to save the berries. Frances perched on the pontoon and Krystina on the gas tank as we slowly motored back in the swell to Snow Dragon. Every sporadic yoga class Krystina had ever taken paid off when she managed to extricate herself and the rifle onto Snow Dragon's swim ladder from her unique position on top of the gas tank. While Frances exited the dinghy in a more normal fashion since she was already balancing on the pontoon, impressed and amused by Krystina's unique exit.

Posted by satellite email, photos will be added when we next have internet access.