Cath and Phil arrived in Nuuk last night and today we’re on our way North again up the coast of Greenland. It’s been a great morning for them so far; we’ve passed icebergs (with their attendant bergy bits and growlers), large groups of feeding seals and some solitary puffins. It’s good to have company on board after 4 weeks of solo sailing. The weather remains good for now but we have SE gales forecast. I’ve been asked to write more in this blog.

 

So here goes. Cath:  Its beautiful here! A really impressive coastline with steep mountain sides with the back drop of blue water strewn with small ice bergs. To get technical....a “growler” is defined as a lump of ice no higher than 1m and up to 5m in diameter and a “bergy bit” is between 1m and 5m high and 5m to 15m in diameter. The growlers are more difficult to see and can be quite watery making them the same colour as the sea but can be large enough to cause damage- so when we have been passing through icy strewn areas eyes a continuous lookout is required. Its a bit like picking your way through an area strewn with lobster pots without the flags.

 

The Journey to Nuuk by Phil

An easy start facilitated by Gay taking us to the station. Fair winds tracked the train to London, a brief squall south of Milton Keynes easily weathered by the Virgin Intercity. The stroll from Euston to St Panceras was gentle, with standing room only out to Luton. The Luton Ibis had predictably expensive beer but is a genuine 10 minute walk to the airport. The Easyjet check in was unnervingly calm, the calm before the storm, a 1 hour delay is predicted. With only a three hour window in Iceland the margin is getting slimmer. The replacement plane is smaller we survive the seating cull. Pilot informs us we will have to stop at Glasgow to refuel, it’s getting tighter. We arrive in Iceland at 1230 local the exact time our next plane is due to leave but hopefully the airline has managed to warn them of our plight. We are first out the door rushing through the terminal we cannot find a desk for Iceland Air we spot an Easyjet info desk where we discover that there are two airports and our flight goes from the other we also discover i left my wallet on the plane. However the Iceland Air flight is delayed! The Easyjet staff retrieve my wallet using the staff push along scooter (yes really). Probably the most expensive taxi ride we have ever taken (we will know when we see the Credit Card bill) whisks us to the other airport risking speed cameras and phoning his mate to get an update on our flight. Sighs of relief the delay is now three hours we are going to make it. 3hr 20min flight to Nuuk we spot our first icebergs from the plane. On the bus we spot an English chap carrying provisions do you know Dai and his boat Catryn yes and he guides us there, turns out he wrote the book literally as he is Anrew Wilkes, author of the latest pilot book: Arctic & Northern Water. Seat of the pants stuff but no where near as epic as Dai’s journey here. It’s great to be on our way.