Hello Again!

We’ve been quiet on the blog side of things the last few days, the blog is great but We arrived in Nuuk late last Thursday after a lively sail around Cape Farvell. Into Nuuk harbour we took the southern approach through the Narsaq Lob and continued through the narrows. Full of small islands, we saw some very small settlements in some very exposed sites although many of which looked abandoned. Arriving late in the evening the setting was a bit eery, windy and foggy the sharp peaked black mountains speckled with white snow provided a backdrop of rugged beauty.

The marina there is for small fishing boats only and it is advised not to anchor in the harbour as there is a lot of rubbish (old fishing gear, anchor chains etc) on the bottom. We went along side boats lying on the Kutterkaj, a timber quay lying on the West side. We were the 5th boat out from the dock so a bit of a movable feast as the days went on. Inside us was a good mix of vessels, a working steel barge with a crane, a tug boat owned by one of the bigger companies Masik, a research boat called the Kisaq and a stunning black yacht (a Baltic 55). The French pair on board the Baltic 55 had salvaged the yacht after a hurricane wrecked it off Reunion Island and after a year’s worth of repairs they were now sailing it around the world. 

The working barge we are along side

Chokablock with working boats along the dock

As we arrived in Nuuk last Thurs a hot shower, pizza and beers were strong on the minds of all as we rounded the narrows. After heading to the Seaman’s House we found out it was just too later for showers and after a stroll into town the pizza place had just closed. Instead we headed back to the boat and cooked a feast of carbonara. All was well in the world!

We ended up staying in Nuuk for a bit longer than expected, we (Ciaran and a Danish man called Bo) had to trouble shoot the network of batteries and the chaotic wiring of the Killary Flyer to figure out why the alternator wasn’t recharging the batteries. After a frustrating few days for Ciaran with little rest and his head stuck in the inner workings of the boat, plus a lot of running around town sourcing parts, he got it sorted and we have finally left Nuuk to head to Aasiaat.

We’re currently at position 65:06:43N 053:42:44W

Nuuk was certainly not the worst place to be stuck. Full of tall apartment blocks and quite industrial, after initial frustration staying longer actually turned out to be a really good thing, we got to know quite a few people. Ciaran, Pauline and I were fairly social day and night and ended up meeting so many really interesting and helpful people. Initially quite reserved, after chatting socially and sharing stories we found people to be very enthusiastic about what we are trying to do, sharing contacts, inviting us to their homes and generally wanting help out or be a part of it. Very motivating and great craic was had along the way, Greenlanders know how to have a laugh! Nuuk by weekends, still bright through night the streets are busy with kids on the pitch

playing soccer still at 3am. 

Apartment blocks in Nuuk

Sibeal Turaoin with Danish style houses on the hill

Nuuk is the height of modernization here and draws so many people away from the smaller towns and villages. The one thing that every single person said was that Nuuk is not the real Greenland and we needed to explore outside. So North we go!

We also met three English climbers Gabriel, James and Sam from Cornwall who had sailed Gabriel’s boat ‘A Safe Arrival’ (a Rival 32) from Scotland direct to Greenland. Pretty much at the same time as us. As we were siting to the south that storm of Cape Farewell they were sitting North of it at the same time. Gabriel lives in the boat back in Cornwall and boat is super cosy. Absolute legends who we’d hope to see again, if you’ve any interest they have a blog asafearrival {CHANGE TO AT} wordpress {DOT} com. Should be interesting to see how their climbing goes up there.

Ciaran and I also went to meet the head of the company Masik, they are a commercial diving company headquartered in Nuuk and they have the only hypobaric chamber in Greenland. We picked up some very useful tips and locations for diving in Greenland.

I think that’s it for the moment, all calm here on the way up to Aasiaat, hence the long blog!

Thick low band of fog as we left Nuuk

I hope all is well back in Ireland, we certainly didn’t bring the weather with us, it’s been toasty with clear skies here during the days. Although now in very cold dense fog on ice watch duty, my new fisherman’s gloves appreciated.

Cheers,

Vincent