Blog Archive

Thursday 3 August 2017

Adrift

Adrift



We hove to 5 miles off the coast of Greenland to await clearance of the fog and the arrival of daylight to attempt a 2 mile passage up a narrow fjord to find an anchorage and rest after a long passage from Iceland.

Adrift off shore we were away from most of the ice dangers as, what ice there was, was propelled by the same current. What surprised us was the speed of that current. The East Greenland Polar Current flows down the whole coast from north to south bringing with it it's cargo of icebergs and frigid polar water. The cold water chills the air and forms the fog that besets this coast. And so it was that we found ourselves rocketing south amongst the fog and the ice. Sometimes at over 2 knots.
Periodically we motored back north in the gloaming, with a watch on the bow to spot the bergs, just to regain the latitude of 'our' fjord.

Just before sunset the mist rolled away exposing a perfect sun (and moon) set behind this wonderous and wild coast. The sea was oily calm. A fulmar drifted along with us into the night.

By 0430 the north eastern sky was on fire with the first sign of day so we motored back through the belts of icebergs and growlers towards 'our' fjord and our long awaited anchorage and rest.