We left Sisimiut the next morning and we were on our way to Disko Bay.
The sky was gray and a low fog obscured the hills as we motored out of the harbour. A strong southerly was blowing, a very welcome change from the northerlies we’d had for the past couple of weeks. We were flying along at 6 knots, when I noticed a large rip appearing in the bottom panel of the mainsail. It was too cold and wet for any adhesive to stick, and we’d already used up most of our spare insignia and Dacron anyway. So I took in a reef to take the load off the damaged section and we continued on our way.
Flying along to Disko Bay with one reef in
A fog had settled in as we approached Disko Bay the next evening. Ghostly shapes of icebergs emerged and receded all around us. Soon we found ourselves picking our way through brash ice. At 3 am we dropped anchor in a small bay just south of the Ilulissat Isfjord.
Saumure at anchor in Ilulissat Isfjord.
The Fjord was a spectacular sight. Massive icebergs, some the size of apartment blocks formed an impenetrable wall of ice to the north.
All around us were smaller icebergs, drifting with the wind. The silence was broken by loud cracks and roars as the internal pressure of trapped gasses in the icebergs became too much and blew them apart, leaving long trails of floating brash ice.
Brash ice
The nights never got dark, with the sun just dipping below the horizon for a couple of hours each night. This was very handy for navigating through the ice as we don’t have radar. It also makes hiking excursions easier as you don’t have to worry about finding your way back in the dark.
Cianan on night watch
We took a short nap, then went ashore.
Cianan and the dinghy
We were making our way across a point of land between us and the icefjord when Callum spotted some qiviut snagged on a bush. Qiviut is the inner wool from muskox and is greatly prized for its warmth. In the summer, the muskox shed their inner coat by rubbing it on rocks and shrubs,
Callum collecting qiviut
Callum with a qiviut beard
Cianan at an old graveyard
The views at the end of the hike were spectacular. A solid river of ice, 2.5 miles wide, with jagged ice pinnacles and shear walls jutting into the air.
Cianan and a wall of ice
A sea of ice
Callum tasting the ice
The next day we refilled on water from a small stream,then went out qiviut hunting.
Cianan refilling water
As I was walking over a hill I spotted a large furry shape just 30 feet in front of me. It was two of the very creatures whose fur we were collecting! We spent a good hour watching them as they made their way up a nearby rocky outcrop. Occasionally stopping to butt heads or scratch themselves on the rocks.
Muskox, the qiviut machines
Saumure in Disko Bay
Disko Bay
We cleared out of Greenland in the small town of Qasigiannuit,.
Large iceberg on way to Qasigiannuit to check out
Clearing out was a relatively easy process with another trip to the local police station. I got the impression that not too many boats had cleared customs in that town. The police had lost the stamp for our passports, then when they found it a long phone call ensued to figure out proper procedure. With that sorted they took our passports upstairs and the room was filled with the thwack thwack thwack of repeated stamping. After a couple minutes of this I said to Callum that at this rate we wouldn’t have any pages left! But all was well, evidently the stamp had been malfunctioning. The police couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful.
As we walked back down to the harbour we saw a large iceberg drifting into Saumure! Luckily it missed the boat by about 10 feet!
Iceberg drifting into Saumure while we were in the police station
And with that we left Greenland, made our way back out through the icebergs, bound for Baffin Island!