With our outboard motor returned, we were free to leave Qaqortoq and head for Kap Desolation. While untying our numerous lines form the dock, Frances happened to notice that the side cabin hatch was cracked. The drunk must have dropped the outboard on it as he carried it forward to the ladder on the quay. Krystina took one look at the broken Plexiglas and said, "I'll get the duct tape". We don't usually cross oceans with Snow Dragon held together with duct tape but even if we found Plexiglas in Qaqortoq it would still take 2 days for the sealant to cure. The weather wasn't going to wait for the repair.
After taping both sides of the cracked Plexiglas and wedging a piece of thick plastic between the Plexiglas and the hatch hardware for good measure. We started the engine and resumed untying our lines when a young Spanish guy stopped by to say hello. He turned out to be the skipper of a small Canadian flagged sailboat we saw sailing into Nanortalik. Figuring the knowledge gained would be worth the brief delay. We decided to shut down the engine and invite him on board for a quick cup of tea and picked his brain on sailing eastern Canada.
Fog surrounded us once we left Qaqortoq Harbour, reducing the visibility to less than an 1/8 mile at times. We didn't have enough daylight left to make it to our intended anchorage at Kap Desolation and ended up anchoring in a marginally charted cove just off the marked channel. Unlike the sporadic depths in the channel, the bay was remarkably even and provided excellent protection. In the morning, before continuing, we switched propane tanks to insure we didn't run out of propane while at sea. Then winched the dinghy on deck with the main halyard and secured it to the aft deck. By 7.30am we were ready to pull anchor and head for sea.
Before leaving the protection of the sound that runs past Kap Desolation, we pulled in the latest 5 day weather report off the satellite phone to double check the crossing conditions. The wind strength and direction was much more optimist than we had seen while watching the weather over the previous weeks. We were going to encounter some strong headwinds that would make it uncomfortable at times but nothing sinister was on the forecast. With less than 500 miles between us and Labrador, we exited the protected waters of the sound and made our way past a string of small islands and submerged rocks into open water.
There wasn't much wind but the sea was turbulent, making it difficult to adjust to the motion. Reading, eating and drinking were not appealing during our first night at sea. In the morning Krystina was woken by Frances. Thinking it was her turn to come on watch she gently started waking up until she heard Frances say, "I need your help". Which meant foregoing the waking up part and she sleepily rolled off the settee to find Frances hugging the stove in the galley. Frances had gone into the galley to put the kettle on for tea when she noticed that the stove was trying to make a run for it. One of the gimbals had sheared off and Frances needed help stabilizing it before the other gimbal gave out. Krystina stuffed a towel underneath and then took over holding the stove in place while Frances rummaged for a thick piece of plastic to wedge in between the stove and the counter. An inventive field fix that left only the stovetop useable but at least Snow Dragon was no longer in danger of her interior being attacked by a loose stove with very sharp corners.
Later that day we got a crashing indication that this wasn't going to be the smoothest passage when three of our plates went flying. Followed by the oven racks trying to escape. With the stove no longer gimbaled the racks slid forward and pushed the oven door open. Krystina grabbed a piece of string and tied it shut and then helped Frances sweep up the numerous plate shards, not and easy task when being bounced around. Then we properly secured our dishes for storm conditions. The wind wasn't excessive but the sea didn't seem to agree.
At 3 am on the 3rd day, Krystina heard a staysail sheet snap while she was on watch. She woke Frances up to assist furling in the sail and replacing the sheet. When we rolled the sail back out we noticed a tear in the center, making it unusable until we could repair it. We sailed under the mainsail alone until it got light and then put up the storm staysail for extra drive. It was alarming to have a new sheet snap in only 20 knots of wind but when you are at sea you can't exactly call the company to complain.
The sea finally calmed down on day 3 long enough for us to cook something that resembled a real meal after living off of a few bights of packaged snack food during the first few days while we adjusted to the motion. It was only pasta with jarred sundried tomato pesto and grated cheese but under the circumstances it was a gourmet meal.
Then the strong headwinds we were expecting finally arrived on day 4 and we spent the day riding out 35-40 plus knots of westerly winds. The steep waves were uneven and at times it felt as if Snow Dragon was being picked up and dropped off the top of a high-rise building when she would fall off a wave before another one came along and picked her up again.
As promised by the weather report, the wind began subside by evening and we enjoyed our first smooth sailing of the passage. When Frances went out to check the sail trim she noticed that the aft second reef line had chafed through the grommet. She lowered the sail and re-ran the line, while Krystina held her around the waist so that she could use both hands in the rough seas. The Northern Lights were putting on an impressive show as we worked, a rare sight at sea that made it easy to forget the hours of discomfort. However, the comfortable sailing was short lived and Snow Dragon soon resumed her wild ride. At least we had long enough in the calm to have a much needed shower and eat another meal.
The unrelenting west wind was disheartening. Labrador was right in front of us but we had to tack back and forth, adding a lot of additional millage to make little progress in the right direction. Not having the staysail also hindered our progress, as we were underpowered with the storm sail. Unfortunately there was too much wind to use the jib and we did not want to risk further damage to the staysail by taking it down in over 20 knots of wind to repair. After clawing our way across the Labrador Sea we finally dropped anchor in Makkovik Bay, a week after leaving Greenland. It wasn't our favorite crossing but not our worst either, though we did break more than usual. We seem to have a history of easy passages to Greenland and then paying our dues when we leave. At some point we might skip the difficult leaving and just spend the winter in Greenland. We just need to settle on a location.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Photos Added
The photos from our passage to Greenland and our attempt to get into Tasiilaq are up. Please click on Tasiilaq Album for photos
Monday, September 9, 2013
Greenland: Qaqortoq, Return Of MR. M
Frances noticed a British registered Challenge Business boat docked behind us, one of 60 built for round the world racing. When she mentioned to them that a friend of ours had sold one just like it called Jonathan IV, they said it was the same boat renamed Nashackata II. Now Polish owned and sailed by a group of friends sharing expenses and changing crews as their work and vacation schedules permit. A fantastic way of keeping such a seaworthy boat in regular use. They invited us over for coffee later that morning giving us time to finish boat tasks while Nashackata refueled.
While Frances was in the middle of epoxying a broken oarlock on the dinghy, a crewmember from the neighboring navy ship told us that both Snow Dragon and Nashackata needed to move to make room for a large ship arriving within the hour. Frances frantically finished epoxying, a task one can't stop in the middle of, before figuring out if there was anywhere else in the crowded harbour we could go.
The Danish survey vessels that were rafted together at the dock, invited both of us to raft up to them. After re-docking we stepped over our lifelines and onto Nashackata for coffee. It was strange walking on to a boat we knew and not having to think were to put our feet as we descended the steps into the cabin. Though we hadn't been on board "Jonathan IV" for 4 years, it felt like yesterday we were sitting around the table in Norway drinking tea with Mark, the boat's previous owner. Coffee turned out to be a generous brunch of eggs, sausage, bread, salad and pastries with nonstop conversation. It was a fantastic group of 10 people and we hope that some of them join us on Snow Dragon when we are back in Alaskan waters.
Nashackata was in the middle and we untied from them so that they could continue on their way and then we moored directly alongside the survey vessel A12. The same vessel we rafted to 3 years ago when we were in Qaqortoq. Two of the crew remembered us and when we set off for our hike around the lake we joked with them about not letting anyone take our main engine. They kindly assured us they would only allow Snow Dragon's sails to be stolen, to which we all laughed.
Tourist information had told us that the locals walk around the lake in 2 hours so we thought it would take us a similar amount of time. We also thought that the trail would be fairly level. Walking out to the lake was easy along a gravel road that took us through an industrial storage area to the trail. A group of teenagers on dirt bikes came up behind us and courteously waited until we were out of the way before continuing their exploration of the granite mountain on two wheels.
The more we climbed, the more we wondered if the woman at tourist information was right about the time. 45 minutes into our slow scramble along trail, an older local man overtook us, powerwalking at high speed over the rocky terrain. His red jacket quickly disappearing into the distance. So much for the deceiving leisurely walk the locals had in town, these people were tough and extremely fit. The second half of the trail was level but even so it took us over 3 hours. There is no way we could have come close to finishing the walk in 2 hours even if we hadn't stopped for short breaks to take in the view and ingest a few calories. Thanks to hunting, fishing and other traditional occupations, there won't be a need for Crossfit in Greenland anytime soon.
The weekend passed quickly and early Monday morning we were ready to head over to the police station to deliver brownies as a thank you for their help and check if they had any new information before going over to the chandlery and asking them to deliver the 5hp outboard. Before we got the chance, a police car pulled up to Snow Dragon and 3 officers stepped out with big smiles and said we have your motor. They apologized for not being able to find the battery, the thief could not remember where he hid it. We were so happy to have Mr. M., our 6 month old Mercury outboard back that a missing battery was irrelevant.
Not only did the police officers help us get the motor back onboard, they took the time to help us get it lifted and clamped onto the stern-rail where it would ride for the crossing to Canada. We gave them their well-deserved brownies and the policewoman who had handled the case of our stolen outboard from the beginning, gave Frances a big hug. Now when was the last time you were hugged by the police? A harbour official came out of his office and cheered when he saw that our motor had been returned. And the chandlery was glad to hear we wouldn't be needing the 5hp outboard after all. A happy ending to our time in Qaqortoq.
While Frances was in the middle of epoxying a broken oarlock on the dinghy, a crewmember from the neighboring navy ship told us that both Snow Dragon and Nashackata needed to move to make room for a large ship arriving within the hour. Frances frantically finished epoxying, a task one can't stop in the middle of, before figuring out if there was anywhere else in the crowded harbour we could go.
The Danish survey vessels that were rafted together at the dock, invited both of us to raft up to them. After re-docking we stepped over our lifelines and onto Nashackata for coffee. It was strange walking on to a boat we knew and not having to think were to put our feet as we descended the steps into the cabin. Though we hadn't been on board "Jonathan IV" for 4 years, it felt like yesterday we were sitting around the table in Norway drinking tea with Mark, the boat's previous owner. Coffee turned out to be a generous brunch of eggs, sausage, bread, salad and pastries with nonstop conversation. It was a fantastic group of 10 people and we hope that some of them join us on Snow Dragon when we are back in Alaskan waters.
Nashackata was in the middle and we untied from them so that they could continue on their way and then we moored directly alongside the survey vessel A12. The same vessel we rafted to 3 years ago when we were in Qaqortoq. Two of the crew remembered us and when we set off for our hike around the lake we joked with them about not letting anyone take our main engine. They kindly assured us they would only allow Snow Dragon's sails to be stolen, to which we all laughed.
Tourist information had told us that the locals walk around the lake in 2 hours so we thought it would take us a similar amount of time. We also thought that the trail would be fairly level. Walking out to the lake was easy along a gravel road that took us through an industrial storage area to the trail. A group of teenagers on dirt bikes came up behind us and courteously waited until we were out of the way before continuing their exploration of the granite mountain on two wheels.
The more we climbed, the more we wondered if the woman at tourist information was right about the time. 45 minutes into our slow scramble along trail, an older local man overtook us, powerwalking at high speed over the rocky terrain. His red jacket quickly disappearing into the distance. So much for the deceiving leisurely walk the locals had in town, these people were tough and extremely fit. The second half of the trail was level but even so it took us over 3 hours. There is no way we could have come close to finishing the walk in 2 hours even if we hadn't stopped for short breaks to take in the view and ingest a few calories. Thanks to hunting, fishing and other traditional occupations, there won't be a need for Crossfit in Greenland anytime soon.
The weekend passed quickly and early Monday morning we were ready to head over to the police station to deliver brownies as a thank you for their help and check if they had any new information before going over to the chandlery and asking them to deliver the 5hp outboard. Before we got the chance, a police car pulled up to Snow Dragon and 3 officers stepped out with big smiles and said we have your motor. They apologized for not being able to find the battery, the thief could not remember where he hid it. We were so happy to have Mr. M., our 6 month old Mercury outboard back that a missing battery was irrelevant.
Not only did the police officers help us get the motor back onboard, they took the time to help us get it lifted and clamped onto the stern-rail where it would ride for the crossing to Canada. We gave them their well-deserved brownies and the policewoman who had handled the case of our stolen outboard from the beginning, gave Frances a big hug. Now when was the last time you were hugged by the police? A harbour official came out of his office and cheered when he saw that our motor had been returned. And the chandlery was glad to hear we wouldn't be needing the 5hp outboard after all. A happy ending to our time in Qaqortoq.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Greenland: Qaqortoq, Drinks And Theft
Before we could manage to cross the street in Qaqortoq and head into town, we were almost run over by a large black Cadillac Escalade SUV, not exactly the type of car you expect to see speeding down one of the few pieces of road in Greenland. From the way people dress, the cars they drive, and the Starbucks drinks lining the supermarket shelves it's easy to forget where we are. Even polar bears seem to be a foreign concept. When Krystina asked if we needed to bring a rifle along on a hike outside town, the woman at tourist information laughed, she had never seen a polar bear.
Qaqortoq was intended to be a 2-day stop, just long enough to enjoy our last Greenlandic town, buy fresh provisions for our crossing to Labrador and upload blog photos. Sadly the hotel where we had previously used Wi-Fi was no longer offering the service and only source of Internet access was the public computer at tourist information. At 50 Danish Kroners for 20 minutes, it was only usable for quick email and weather checks.
A German registered boat, Morning Haze, pulled into the space behind us. They had planned to do the Northwest Passage but when the ice didn't clear they decided to make their way down the west coast of Greenland. Along the way they had a serious steering malfunction, which resulted in being towed by a tanker. In the process of getting the tow lines sorted their forward looking depth sounder was ripped off by one of the tanker's lines, sending water spraying into the boat. With strong winds, heavy seas and being towed at a strange angle by the tanker, they decided to shut the watertight door and deal with the problem when they got into port. Now the boat was heading back to Holland for repairs. We invited the crew over for drinks and they brought over a bottle of Islay Whiskey and the key ingredient, glacier ice. It was a special experience to be sitting in Greenland with new friends drinking whisky from a place we had both been and were very fond of.
The next day was warm and sunny. After admiring the beautiful sealskin bags and clothing at the Great Greenland Furhouse we followed the road outside town to a trail that took us across to a view of the next fjord. When we returned to town, the weather was still exceptionally warm justifying a stop at an outside café. The only probably was there really isn't an outside café in Qaqortoq but we knew the hotel had an outside deck. Though the hotel's café seating was inside, they had no probably bringing our order out to the deck where we were sitting enjoying the view over the harbour.
In the evening we went over to Morning Haze for drinks. Both of us were planning to leave in the morning, we exchanged anchorage information as we were heading in opposite directions each having been where the other was going. While we were sitting around chatting we kept hearing strange noises but could see nothing unusual so we thought it had something to do with the tide and the boat moving against the dock.
A drunk man on the dock made getting back to Snow Dragon an interesting experience and the crew of Morning Haze ended up making sure we got back safely. Once on board, we bolted the pilothouse door, happy to be away from the drunk. While Krystina was lying in bed she heard the dinghy move and thought it was either bumping the dock or rubbing up against Morning Haze and asked Frances who was still up to have a look. When Frances went out, she discovered our 15hp outboard motor, battery and fuel take had been stolen.
Krystina immediately got on the VHF to Costal Radio and asked to be put through to the Qaqortoq police. They patched her through to the wrong person but they were able to give her the phone number of the local police. Within minutes of our call, a policewoman was standing on the dock. Krystina explained what was missing while Frances and a crewmember from Morning Haze walked around to see if they could spot anything obvious.
Our motor weighs 55kg and we thought it would have taken 2-3 people to steal it but hadn't heard a boat or a car that would have been needed to transport it. From our description, the police woman was certain she new the identity of the drunk man we met on the dock and that he had single handedly taken our motor. She asked us to come by the police station at 8am to file a report. It was already well into the early hours of the morning when we finally got to bed and managed to get a few hours of sleep.
In the morning it was raining, the policewoman picked us up and drove us the short distance to the station were she filled out an official report detailing the model, serial number and cost of the engine. She also brought out a black book full of Polaroid photos and pointed to a guy and asked us if that was the drunk who had been hassling us on the dock. Sure enough it was the guy. The police spent the day searching the town and found our fuel tank but had yet to locate the engine or the guy that stole it.
The police were optimistic that they were going to get our motor back it was just a question of how long it was going to take. We had planned to leave that morning for an anchorage near Kap Desolation our last stop before crossing to Canada. However, leaving without an outboard would not have only made it difficult at times to get to shore, it's also our way of towing Snow Dragon with the dinghy if her main engine fails. It really wasn't prudent for us to leave without one. The policewoman kindly dropped us off at the local chandlery so we could find out what outboards were available. They had a 15hp but that would have been a strain on our budget since we just purchased a new one 6 months ago and there was the chance our outboard would be waiting for us when we returned to Greenland next summer. Instead we decided that if the police couldn't find our motor by Monday morning, we would purchase a 5hp to get us through until we came back to Greenland and hopefully pick up our motor from the police who were happy to hold it for us. We were already planning to buy a 5hp outboard as a backup and to use when we wanted less weight than the 15hp for beach landings. It jut would have been nice to make the purchase when we were ready and not when we didn't have much of a choice.
With the unexpected weekend in Qaqortoq, we headed to the café at the Qaqortoq Hotel to gather our thoughts over 2 half pints of local beer and an order of nachos. Given the unusual circumstances and that it was still raining we decided to lift the ban we put on Ben and Jerry's ice cream after our slight indulgence in Nanortalik. With a pint of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup in hand, we went back to Snow Dragon and watched a movie to take our minds off worrying whether or not we were ever going to see our motor again and if our decision to stay an wait meant we were going to miss the right conditions for crossing to Labrador.
Qaqortoq was intended to be a 2-day stop, just long enough to enjoy our last Greenlandic town, buy fresh provisions for our crossing to Labrador and upload blog photos. Sadly the hotel where we had previously used Wi-Fi was no longer offering the service and only source of Internet access was the public computer at tourist information. At 50 Danish Kroners for 20 minutes, it was only usable for quick email and weather checks.
A German registered boat, Morning Haze, pulled into the space behind us. They had planned to do the Northwest Passage but when the ice didn't clear they decided to make their way down the west coast of Greenland. Along the way they had a serious steering malfunction, which resulted in being towed by a tanker. In the process of getting the tow lines sorted their forward looking depth sounder was ripped off by one of the tanker's lines, sending water spraying into the boat. With strong winds, heavy seas and being towed at a strange angle by the tanker, they decided to shut the watertight door and deal with the problem when they got into port. Now the boat was heading back to Holland for repairs. We invited the crew over for drinks and they brought over a bottle of Islay Whiskey and the key ingredient, glacier ice. It was a special experience to be sitting in Greenland with new friends drinking whisky from a place we had both been and were very fond of.
The next day was warm and sunny. After admiring the beautiful sealskin bags and clothing at the Great Greenland Furhouse we followed the road outside town to a trail that took us across to a view of the next fjord. When we returned to town, the weather was still exceptionally warm justifying a stop at an outside café. The only probably was there really isn't an outside café in Qaqortoq but we knew the hotel had an outside deck. Though the hotel's café seating was inside, they had no probably bringing our order out to the deck where we were sitting enjoying the view over the harbour.
In the evening we went over to Morning Haze for drinks. Both of us were planning to leave in the morning, we exchanged anchorage information as we were heading in opposite directions each having been where the other was going. While we were sitting around chatting we kept hearing strange noises but could see nothing unusual so we thought it had something to do with the tide and the boat moving against the dock.
A drunk man on the dock made getting back to Snow Dragon an interesting experience and the crew of Morning Haze ended up making sure we got back safely. Once on board, we bolted the pilothouse door, happy to be away from the drunk. While Krystina was lying in bed she heard the dinghy move and thought it was either bumping the dock or rubbing up against Morning Haze and asked Frances who was still up to have a look. When Frances went out, she discovered our 15hp outboard motor, battery and fuel take had been stolen.
Krystina immediately got on the VHF to Costal Radio and asked to be put through to the Qaqortoq police. They patched her through to the wrong person but they were able to give her the phone number of the local police. Within minutes of our call, a policewoman was standing on the dock. Krystina explained what was missing while Frances and a crewmember from Morning Haze walked around to see if they could spot anything obvious.
Our motor weighs 55kg and we thought it would have taken 2-3 people to steal it but hadn't heard a boat or a car that would have been needed to transport it. From our description, the police woman was certain she new the identity of the drunk man we met on the dock and that he had single handedly taken our motor. She asked us to come by the police station at 8am to file a report. It was already well into the early hours of the morning when we finally got to bed and managed to get a few hours of sleep.
In the morning it was raining, the policewoman picked us up and drove us the short distance to the station were she filled out an official report detailing the model, serial number and cost of the engine. She also brought out a black book full of Polaroid photos and pointed to a guy and asked us if that was the drunk who had been hassling us on the dock. Sure enough it was the guy. The police spent the day searching the town and found our fuel tank but had yet to locate the engine or the guy that stole it.
The police were optimistic that they were going to get our motor back it was just a question of how long it was going to take. We had planned to leave that morning for an anchorage near Kap Desolation our last stop before crossing to Canada. However, leaving without an outboard would not have only made it difficult at times to get to shore, it's also our way of towing Snow Dragon with the dinghy if her main engine fails. It really wasn't prudent for us to leave without one. The policewoman kindly dropped us off at the local chandlery so we could find out what outboards were available. They had a 15hp but that would have been a strain on our budget since we just purchased a new one 6 months ago and there was the chance our outboard would be waiting for us when we returned to Greenland next summer. Instead we decided that if the police couldn't find our motor by Monday morning, we would purchase a 5hp to get us through until we came back to Greenland and hopefully pick up our motor from the police who were happy to hold it for us. We were already planning to buy a 5hp outboard as a backup and to use when we wanted less weight than the 15hp for beach landings. It jut would have been nice to make the purchase when we were ready and not when we didn't have much of a choice.
With the unexpected weekend in Qaqortoq, we headed to the café at the Qaqortoq Hotel to gather our thoughts over 2 half pints of local beer and an order of nachos. Given the unusual circumstances and that it was still raining we decided to lift the ban we put on Ben and Jerry's ice cream after our slight indulgence in Nanortalik. With a pint of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup in hand, we went back to Snow Dragon and watched a movie to take our minds off worrying whether or not we were ever going to see our motor again and if our decision to stay an wait meant we were going to miss the right conditions for crossing to Labrador.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Greenland: Unartoq, Sardloq And Agricultural Station
One of the most special places in Southwest Greenland is Unartoq Island where you can sit in a natural hot spring and look out over the iceberg filled fjord. Though the water is only just warm enough to brave the cold air, its spectacular setting makes the slight discomfort worth it. When we arrived in the evening it was still raining and we opted not to visit the springs until morning. The weather and darkness did not stop a group from the anchored navy ship having a dip before moving on.
The weather was slightly better in the morning and we headed to shore for a walk before visiting the spring. We scanned the vegetation for blueberries; Frances found one and popped it into her mouth before Krystina could notice. After careful searching we found a handful of blueberries, just enough to make it worth collecting to add to a salad. At least we didn't bother to carry the pink berry fork Frances picked up in Nanortalik.
A Greenlandic family was just leaving the pool and as we exchanged greetings, we realized it was the same family we had met at the hot spring 3 years ago. While Frances got ready for a dip in the pool. Krystina continued the search for blueberries, the odds of being able to make Greenlandic blueberry jam not looking good.
In the afternoon we moved on to the village of Sardloq, anchoring just as the sun was setting. Onshore a group of kids were playing a ball game and waved and said hello before finishing their game and heading home. The village and the hills were bright from the afterglow and Frances did a quick painting, trying to capture the intense light before it faded. Though we needed to get an early start in the morning to have enough time to stop at the Agricultural Station before heading into Qaqortoq, we thought it rude to spend the night at Sardloq and not go to shore. To make sure we didn't get carried away we decided to go ashore before breakfast that way our stomachs would encourage us not to linger. The village was just waking up and we used hand language to ask if it was OK for us to walk along the path through their village, we were given a shy smile and a gesture that showed we were welcome.
At the Agricultural Station a Greenlandic woman tending the greenhouses and outside gardens gave us a tour of the trees, flowers and vegetables they were growing. Their tomatoes looked better than many growing further south and their strawberry plants were enormous. They were also cultivating the local thyme, which is used in tea and cooking. Besides plants, the station keeps chickens and trains a few new sheep breeders every year. Krystina hoped to photograph the horses that she remembered grazing in the fields but they were no longer there. Neither our Greenlandic nor our Danish was up to asking where the horses had been moved.
We returned to the dinghy just as the swell from the afternoon onshore wind began rolling into the open anchorage. It was clearly time for us to move on to Qaqortoq where we hoped to be able to buy some of the station's produce that is sold in the local stores. We arrived just in time to purchase a beautiful local lettuce before the supermarket closed, expensive but well worth the price.
Posted by satellite email, photos will be added when we next have internet access.
The weather was slightly better in the morning and we headed to shore for a walk before visiting the spring. We scanned the vegetation for blueberries; Frances found one and popped it into her mouth before Krystina could notice. After careful searching we found a handful of blueberries, just enough to make it worth collecting to add to a salad. At least we didn't bother to carry the pink berry fork Frances picked up in Nanortalik.
A Greenlandic family was just leaving the pool and as we exchanged greetings, we realized it was the same family we had met at the hot spring 3 years ago. While Frances got ready for a dip in the pool. Krystina continued the search for blueberries, the odds of being able to make Greenlandic blueberry jam not looking good.
In the afternoon we moved on to the village of Sardloq, anchoring just as the sun was setting. Onshore a group of kids were playing a ball game and waved and said hello before finishing their game and heading home. The village and the hills were bright from the afterglow and Frances did a quick painting, trying to capture the intense light before it faded. Though we needed to get an early start in the morning to have enough time to stop at the Agricultural Station before heading into Qaqortoq, we thought it rude to spend the night at Sardloq and not go to shore. To make sure we didn't get carried away we decided to go ashore before breakfast that way our stomachs would encourage us not to linger. The village was just waking up and we used hand language to ask if it was OK for us to walk along the path through their village, we were given a shy smile and a gesture that showed we were welcome.
At the Agricultural Station a Greenlandic woman tending the greenhouses and outside gardens gave us a tour of the trees, flowers and vegetables they were growing. Their tomatoes looked better than many growing further south and their strawberry plants were enormous. They were also cultivating the local thyme, which is used in tea and cooking. Besides plants, the station keeps chickens and trains a few new sheep breeders every year. Krystina hoped to photograph the horses that she remembered grazing in the fields but they were no longer there. Neither our Greenlandic nor our Danish was up to asking where the horses had been moved.
We returned to the dinghy just as the swell from the afternoon onshore wind began rolling into the open anchorage. It was clearly time for us to move on to Qaqortoq where we hoped to be able to buy some of the station's produce that is sold in the local stores. We arrived just in time to purchase a beautiful local lettuce before the supermarket closed, expensive but well worth the price.
Posted by satellite email, photos will be added when we next have internet access.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Greenland: Nanortalik
The first thing we did when we arrived in Nanortalik was to organize a fuel truck to feed Snow Dragon. Then we went over to tourist information to double-checked the exchange rate before pulling out large amounts of Danish Kroner from the ATM to pay for the fuel delivery. The woman at Tourist Information remembered us from our last visit 3 years ago and offered to loan us money if we couldn't get enough out of the ATM, a very kind gesture often only found in remote places.
Then we went to the supermarket to purchase a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, another Snow Dragon Greenlandic tradition. We still don't know why this popular brand of American ice cream is sold in Greenland but are happy to help eat it. Once we agreed on Phish Food (chocolate ice cream, chocolate shaped fish pieces and marshmallows), a fitting flavor to eat on a boat. We headed back to Snow Dragon to eat it, half before dinner and the rest after. Our freezer won't hold ice cream for more than a couple hours, so what else where we supposed to do?
In the morning while we waited for the fuel truck, a crewmember of Viking Diver asked us if we needed water. They had a water truck delivering to their vessel and we were welcome to top up our tanks free of charge if we needed less than 250 gallons. We took them up on the offer and put on 100 gallons just incase we were unable to collect more rain water before leaving Greenland.
When the fuel truck arrived, the driver insisted on doing the fueling for us. Nanortalik is the only place we have ever had this happen and greatly appreciated the service. The hose was leaking where it attached to the nozzel and Frances was able to remedy the situation by placing a large funnel in Snow Dragon's fuel fill to catch the drips. After feeding Snow Dragon 200 gallons of diesel, the driver grave Frances the print out from the pump and asked her to pay at the station when she was ready, another refreshingly trusting quality of Nanortalik.
In the afternoon we headed back to the grocery store to buy fruit and vegetables. A pint of Ben and Jerry's Caramel Chew Chew also managed to make its way into our basket. After all someone needs to support the store for carrying 4 flavors of Ben and Jerry's.
The following afternoon an American sailboat, Paragon, came into Nanortalik. When we met the crew of Paragon in town, we invited them over to Snow Dragon for brownies. We had also planned on inviting the crew of Viking Diver over but they moved on before we got the chance. They are responsible for checking on and replacing the navigational markers along the Greenlandic coast and it was fantastic to see the crew was entirely local Greenlanders. They had just finished a 5-year project of replacing 550 wooden day markers with metal ones. The wooden markers were held up with wires that tended to break, the new ones are bolted to the rocks through welded bases.
When Paragon came over they told us more about their plans. Their trip started in North Carolina and we picked their brains for information on Canada. Since we were thinking about going south of St Johns they traded their guide to Nova Scotia for our Outer Hebrides. They where trying to decide where to spend the winter and were considering Ireland. We suggested Norway which another friend of theirs also had been trying to convince them of. During the winter they will spend their time editing the footage from their trip into episodes for their site The DrakeParagon Channel (youtube.com/drakeparagon). We look forward to checking out their work next time we have internet.
In the morning, a group of locals on their coffee break lined up to watch us leave. The wind had started to come up and we decided we needed to leave before we got pinned on the high dock. Krystina started the engine, which strangely sounded like it was under load and then noticed that Snow Dragon was moving forward. Sure enough our inside controls had been bumped, Krystina rapidly put Snow Dragon in reverse to keep her from leaving without Frances who had already untied all the lines thinking it was too calm for Snow Dragon to go anywhere. Then wondering how Snow Dragon was managing to leave the dock without her or anyone behind the helm. Of course something embarrassing and unusual is bound to happen when you have a group of people watching you.
We saw another sailboat coming in as we left, a Swedish vessel named Relax. They called us on the radio as we passed and asked, are you the same Snow Dragon we met in Bodo 3 years ago? It took us a moment to place them and then we remembered having dinner with them on their boat in Bodo, Norway. We decided not to miss the opportunity to catch up with old friends, dropped our sail and returned to the dock. Relax rafted to Paragon and we pulled into the space behind them, the crew of both boats kindly helping us tie to the high quay. Then everyone came over to Snow Dragon for tea and coffee. Relax was on their way back to Bodo via Greenland and Iceland after spending time sailing in the western Caribbean, eastern U.S. and Canada.
Relax had been trying to convince Paragon to follow them to Norway and to help their effort we gave Paragon our cursing guide to Norway. Not a guide we would normally part with but felt Paragon needed the extra temptation to steer them in the right direction. We told them the only problem with Norway is that the landscape is so inspiring that they might spend too much time filming and not enough editing.
When we finally left the dock, it was in a more elegant fashion. Happy that we made the choice to turn around and spend a bit more time with friends. Who knows where in their world we will see them next but this probably won't be our last visit with Paragon or Relax.
Posted by satellite email, photos will be added when we next have internet access.
Then we went to the supermarket to purchase a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, another Snow Dragon Greenlandic tradition. We still don't know why this popular brand of American ice cream is sold in Greenland but are happy to help eat it. Once we agreed on Phish Food (chocolate ice cream, chocolate shaped fish pieces and marshmallows), a fitting flavor to eat on a boat. We headed back to Snow Dragon to eat it, half before dinner and the rest after. Our freezer won't hold ice cream for more than a couple hours, so what else where we supposed to do?
In the morning while we waited for the fuel truck, a crewmember of Viking Diver asked us if we needed water. They had a water truck delivering to their vessel and we were welcome to top up our tanks free of charge if we needed less than 250 gallons. We took them up on the offer and put on 100 gallons just incase we were unable to collect more rain water before leaving Greenland.
When the fuel truck arrived, the driver insisted on doing the fueling for us. Nanortalik is the only place we have ever had this happen and greatly appreciated the service. The hose was leaking where it attached to the nozzel and Frances was able to remedy the situation by placing a large funnel in Snow Dragon's fuel fill to catch the drips. After feeding Snow Dragon 200 gallons of diesel, the driver grave Frances the print out from the pump and asked her to pay at the station when she was ready, another refreshingly trusting quality of Nanortalik.
In the afternoon we headed back to the grocery store to buy fruit and vegetables. A pint of Ben and Jerry's Caramel Chew Chew also managed to make its way into our basket. After all someone needs to support the store for carrying 4 flavors of Ben and Jerry's.
The following afternoon an American sailboat, Paragon, came into Nanortalik. When we met the crew of Paragon in town, we invited them over to Snow Dragon for brownies. We had also planned on inviting the crew of Viking Diver over but they moved on before we got the chance. They are responsible for checking on and replacing the navigational markers along the Greenlandic coast and it was fantastic to see the crew was entirely local Greenlanders. They had just finished a 5-year project of replacing 550 wooden day markers with metal ones. The wooden markers were held up with wires that tended to break, the new ones are bolted to the rocks through welded bases.
When Paragon came over they told us more about their plans. Their trip started in North Carolina and we picked their brains for information on Canada. Since we were thinking about going south of St Johns they traded their guide to Nova Scotia for our Outer Hebrides. They where trying to decide where to spend the winter and were considering Ireland. We suggested Norway which another friend of theirs also had been trying to convince them of. During the winter they will spend their time editing the footage from their trip into episodes for their site The DrakeParagon Channel (youtube.com/drakeparagon). We look forward to checking out their work next time we have internet.
In the morning, a group of locals on their coffee break lined up to watch us leave. The wind had started to come up and we decided we needed to leave before we got pinned on the high dock. Krystina started the engine, which strangely sounded like it was under load and then noticed that Snow Dragon was moving forward. Sure enough our inside controls had been bumped, Krystina rapidly put Snow Dragon in reverse to keep her from leaving without Frances who had already untied all the lines thinking it was too calm for Snow Dragon to go anywhere. Then wondering how Snow Dragon was managing to leave the dock without her or anyone behind the helm. Of course something embarrassing and unusual is bound to happen when you have a group of people watching you.
We saw another sailboat coming in as we left, a Swedish vessel named Relax. They called us on the radio as we passed and asked, are you the same Snow Dragon we met in Bodo 3 years ago? It took us a moment to place them and then we remembered having dinner with them on their boat in Bodo, Norway. We decided not to miss the opportunity to catch up with old friends, dropped our sail and returned to the dock. Relax rafted to Paragon and we pulled into the space behind them, the crew of both boats kindly helping us tie to the high quay. Then everyone came over to Snow Dragon for tea and coffee. Relax was on their way back to Bodo via Greenland and Iceland after spending time sailing in the western Caribbean, eastern U.S. and Canada.
Relax had been trying to convince Paragon to follow them to Norway and to help their effort we gave Paragon our cursing guide to Norway. Not a guide we would normally part with but felt Paragon needed the extra temptation to steer them in the right direction. We told them the only problem with Norway is that the landscape is so inspiring that they might spend too much time filming and not enough editing.
When we finally left the dock, it was in a more elegant fashion. Happy that we made the choice to turn around and spend a bit more time with friends. Who knows where in their world we will see them next but this probably won't be our last visit with Paragon or Relax.
Posted by satellite email, photos will be added when we next have internet access.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Greenland: Iglukasik Havn
It would have been nice to spend 2 more days in Ikerasassuaq (Prins Christian Sund) but the forecast showed
several days of west wind and the sensible thing for us to do was to start
working our way along the southwest coast before the wind filled in, cutting
our time in Ikerasassuaq (Prins Christian Sund) short. Though the sky was gray,
we could still see the glaciers and towering rounded mountains lining the sound.
We passed Igdlorssuit Havn, our favorite anchorage in Ikerasassuaq (Prins
Christian Sund), with its black, blue and white snaking glacier. The anchorage gave us
refuge from a gale during our first trip to Greenland.
Frances Winching
Glacier, Igdlorssuit Havn
Under sail, it was a little tricky
avoiding the increasing number of icebergs as the passage narrowed. While we
were approaching the final turn out of the sound, Hanseatic, a cruise ship
overtook us. Blowing its horn in greeting while its passengers stood on deck
taking photos of Snow Dragon sailing passed an iceberg.
Hanseatic
Next we went through Ilua and passed
the small fishing community of Aappilattoq with its narrow entrance and shallow
harbour. It was the first time we had been near the community in calm enough
conditions to bring Snow Dragon safely into the harbour. We briefly considered
stopping but it would have meant having to push into strong headwinds the next
day.
Snow Dragon, Ilua
Torsukattak
The mountains lost their smooth
contours and became jagged as we passed through Torsukattak, the last area of
protected water before starting up the west coast. A light west wind began to
fill in and we decided to motor in order to give ourselves enough time to find
an anchorage before dark. Once we left Torsukattak and were out in open water,
we regretted not having the mainsail up for stability as Snow Dragon rolled in
the 2m westerly swell. The first 2 anchorage possibilities were full of
icebergs and would not have provided enough protection from the swell. We ended
up having just enough light to push on until Iglukasik Havn, a protected bay
off the inner passage to Nanortalik that we had anchored in before.
The motion rapidly subsided when we reached
the entrance to the passage and were once again in flat water. At Iglukasik
Havn, we snuggled Snow Dragon into the bay’s northwest corner in preparation
for the stronger west winds that was forecast to begin in the early morning.
After a peaceful night, we woke up to a cold, windy and rainy day but the weather
briefly improved in the afternoon with blue sky and we went ashore to take
advantage of the break in the weather before it returned to gray.
We headed for a cracked boulder
perched on top of a hill that we had been admiring from the Snow Dragon.
Walking in the relentless wind, our cold gloved fingers we were relieved not to
find any blueberries to pick along the way. The giant boulder was well worth
the effort and Krystina had to restrain Frances from climbing it before
retreating back to Snow Dragon.
Iglukasik Havn
The weather was still stormy during
our second morning at Iglukasik Havn, and we spent it much like we did our
first, secluded in the warm pilothouse. Only venturing outside to hang our
laundry, running the clothes line through our garments so they wouldn’t blow
away before using our normal method of clothes pegs to hold them in place. We even
got cunning enough to bring the washing line inside to prep the clothes before
making a quick dash outside to hang it.
Late in the afternoon we finally
ventured to shore in search of blueberries, finding a grand total of 2. Though
we remember picking dense large blueberries at Iglukasik Havn, this time the
plants were still flowering. Instead, we walked on the soft and at times wet
vegetation until we had a view of the next fjord. With the occasional rest
break behind a large boulder to get out of the wind. By the time we got back to
Snow Dragon, the wind had laid down. The gray cloud cleared in time for sunset
and we could finally see the high mountains beyond the low bubbly hills.
For more photos please click on Iglukasik Havn Album
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