Idyllic anchorage but with a rock hard bottom -Harefjord 70 57N 28 06W

Tonight we are perched at anchor precariously between bergs and boulders. We had our first drama of the trip trying to creep into a bay to make us less exposed to drifting bergs. Unfortunately the bottom shot up from 24m to 2.3m in seconds even though we were just nosing in at less than a knot and had spotters at the bow. Then came the inevitable, sick making, grunch as lead keel and hard granite meet. We pivoted to port towards the deeper water we had just come from and managed to push ourselves off with the engine but not before some more grinding and, even louder, nashing of teeth.

We retreated and put out the dinghy and sounder to avoid a repeat but still managed to find some alarming shallows. Thin mud didn't give us the holding we needed but, at the third attempt, the anchor dug in hard. We then had to shorten the chain as we found yet more underwater granite within swinging range.

That drama is now over and we are enjoying a splendid sunny evening on the boat whilst Rod and Denzil wander around ashore. Mirror calm with red mountains in the evening sun and with the, now familiar, glistening icebergs casually littering the fjord around us. A seal kept a respectful distance as he swam around the bow of the boat and earlier we saw musk ox high on the hills as we approached. Every now and again an explosive crack punctuates the tranquil evening as an iceberg splits off another chunk of ice.

We are now about as remote as we can be tucked in Harefjord to the north west of Milneland a very long way (140 miles) from the open sea. Not the place to go aground!