Blog Archive

Wednesday 28 December 2016

The new kevlar kayak



Paddling south on the early morning ebb from Oban to Arduaine

Sunday 18 December 2016

Our Greenland article just published in Flying Fish

Our account of our Arctic Summer has just been published in Flying Fish together with some professional mapping graphics. https://issuu.com/oceancruisingclub1954/docs/ff2016-2_issuu_7bd90bfc49b087/42

There are some other good accounts in there too of cruises in South Georgia and Scoresby Sound.

Saturday 3 December 2016

Plans for 2017

We had originally planned to push on in 2017 to Canada pausing only briefly in Greenland. That plan was driven by historical ice and weather patterns. Prince Christian Sund, described by some as one of the finest cruises on the planet, is usually blocked by ice until the end of July which means we would emerge on Greenland's West coast in early August. There would then be a lot of pressure to push on to Newfoundland to avoid the lashings by the southerlies that predominate later in the season. With the clock ticking exploration on Greenland's West Coast would have to be rushed.

We therefore changed the plan. With the help of Clive Woodman (S/V Cosmic Dance V) and John Andrews (S/V Suilven) we began exploring the possibility of hauling out and over wintering on Greenland's West Coast. This now means that when we emerge from Prince Christian Sund we will be able to hook north and potter, at a leisurely pace, up the western seaboard of Greenland. There is a crane at Nuuk that could haul us out but we have been advised against this due to security issues. Thus we will push on up to Aasiaat at 68 40N where we have booked with a shipyard to be slipped and stored ashore in one of their steel cradles from the end of August until May 2018. As the ice clears early on this coast we will then be able to have an extended cruise during the summer of 2018 and enjoy some boat based ski mountaineering and climbing trips before crossing the Davis Strait and cruising south down the Baffin and Labrador coasts to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

So our itinerary for 2017 will hopefully look something like this:

  • May 2017 sail north from Reykjavik to Isafjordur with ski touring along the way 
  • mid May to mid June we will leave the boat on a mooring in Isafjordur 
  • July 15th fly back to Isafjordur and, when weather and ice allow, re-cross the Denmark Strait to Tasilaq Late July cruise south from Tasilaq to the entrance of Price Christian Sund Last week of July. 
  • First week of August transit Prince Christian Sund to emerge on Greenland's West Coast August 2017 sail north visiting Nuuk and Sisimut to arrive in Aasiaat at 68N at around 21st August 
  • End of August haul out, winterise and fly home. 
  • May 2018 re-launch and head into the fjords to find a ski mountaineering adventure 
  • Early July 2018 team up with some climbers to attempt a big wall climb from the boat 
  • Mid July when weather and ice allow cross the Davis Strait and begin cruising south down the coasts of Baffin and Labrador to reach Newfoundland by mid August and Nova Scotia by early September when we will haul out for the winter of 2018/19. 


It's not going to be the fastest circumnavigation but the above programme should make for some fantastic adventures!