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| Today's satellite photo of the Davis Strait and our planned summer voyage. The red line marks our planned route which starts in Aasiaat (top right), circumnavigates Disko Island at 70 degrees North and then hugs the west Greenland coast south until the ice in the Davis Strait allows us to cross to Labrador. We then plan to cruise south east down the coast of Labrador before finally crossing to Newfoundland which is swathed in cloud on today's satellite photograph. |
The picture above is today's ice conditions in Greenland, the Davis Strait and Labrador. A week tomorrow we fly from the UK to Copenhagen where we will spend the night prior to flying onto Kangerlusak in Greenland. If the weather is good we will then fly onto Aasiaat and then we will start the slow business of getting Shimshal ready for the sea and her 1600 mile voyage to Lewisporte in Newfoundand, Canada. I have traced the route we hope to sail in red in the picture above. The observant will notice that much of where we plan to sail is still ice!
There are many uncertainties on this trip. Will the boat have survived the cruel arctic winter unscathed? Will we be able to patch together any gear failures to get us safely on our way? Will we be able to launch at all? Will the weather be kind? Will the ice to the south and west of us clear in time and let us have a safe passage over the next two months?
As the tension mounts we can only be sure of one thing this summer. It will be an adventure!