North from Nuuk
Two full days of shore leave in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, came to an end today as we headed, once more for the open sea. As we crept past the new container port a Russian shrimp trawler was manoeuvring mid channel so we paused and then followed in her wake.
The explosion we had heard on entering the port had, we have since discovered, been a catastrophic accident. Much dynamite had been used to create the new container dock and, it seems, not all of it had been accounted for. For, on the day of handover to the Harbour operator, a digger applying the finishing touches, set off an unexposed stick of dynamite which blew off it's wheel. The driver was said to be "shocked" but OK!
Unusually for Sally in Nuuk she became a culture vulture as she spent much time in the museum. In recent months she has read extensively about the Inuit, the Danish colonisation and their history and exploits. It was great that the museum added colour to the mental images she had conjured from her readings.
I, on the other hand, hooked into the web with a frenzy of internet. The harbour master and the fisherman's hostel, now re-branded as a 3 star hotel, were all most helpful. There was a splendid fisherman's chandler a few yards from the dock but everything on board is working well at the moment and so, for once, there was no need to flash the plastic. I hope we don't regret that boast!
We managed too to Skype the Aasiaat Shipyard that will be taking care of Shimshal until next season. We had been getting a little nervous as they hadn't answered a couple of emails and both Sally and I were starting to fear that we were going to find ourselves with no home for the boat with the imminent end of the sailing season. Needless to say the call put our minds at rest. Yes they were expecting us and yes Jens will be in charge of haul out and decommissioning. The only slight surprise was that the haul out will be after we have flown on 2/9/17.
After leaving the bustle of Nuuk we are now heading due north about 8 miles off shore. We did not attempt to follow the notoriously rocky and shallow inner lead and have opted for open water passage making. It's more relaxing. The snow splattered mountains are to starboard and, though overcast, there's no fog! A gentle breeze from the south is helping the motor but it's too light to get us into our chosen anchorage before dark so we continue to burn diesel.
Tonight we plan stay at Tovqussaq which looks to be a very sheltered anchorage of manageable depth. As I write it is 25 miles away so we should be anchored by 1800.
Sally and Simon left Scotland in 2015 on board Shimshal to begin a slow circumnavigation taking in various high latitude destinations. After 3 seasons in Greenland we sailed south to Lewisporte in northern Newfoundland. In 2019 we cruised the Canadian Maritimes. In 2022 & 23 we cruised via New England, Chesapeake, Florida, Cuba, Cayman, Providencia to Bocas del Toro. In late 2023 we transited the Panama Canal in readiness of a Pacific crossing in 2024.