Up the Greenland Coast
0900 EDT Wednesday July 23, 2014 (70o 33’N, 55o 21’W): Up the Greenland Coast
Following our brisk sail on Sunday, we arrived in Aasiaat (Egedesminde) around 5:00 am Monday morning and dropped anchor in the far corner of the harbor, over by a cluster of large petroleum tanks. Exhausted, we slept in, rising around noon, and noting with interest that Arctic Tern and a second boat had joined us as we slept. For the rest of the day, we did nothing other than sleep, read, eat and drink, including a toast to our arrival in the Arctic We debated putting the dinghy in the water and motoring to the town dock, but that was deemed to require too much effort, so instead we experienced the small working village of Aasiaat from our restricted vantage point near the fuel depot.
Our only contact with the locals was waving as they sped close-by in small power boats, at near full throttle, on their way to and from a neighboring channel. Nor did we socialize with the other yachts, in part for lack of a dinghy, compounded by our low energy levels. The next morning, after a full night’s sleep, we raised anchor and motored out, calling out good-bye to Les (of Arctic Tern) on the way, telling him of our decision to head further up the coast of Greenland before turning west towards Pond Inlet. Pond Inlet is on the northeastern point of Baffin Island, Canada, and is our planned last refueling stop before entering the Northwest Passage.
Our interim destination Upernavik, is now 130 nautical mile away. This last leg up the coast has been uneventful, but spectacular. Snow capped mountains, sculpted by glaciers, continue to dominate the coastline, and the icebergs provide endless photo opportunities. Unfortunately, the clear, sixty degree skies of yesterday have just turned to cold rain, so looks as if we’ll have to earn some of that beauty.