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Wednesday 16 August 2017

The Passage to Nuuk

The Passage to Nuuk




We decided to abandon the complex inner lead and head offshore for an overnight passage to Nuuk. Out to sea, in better charted waters, there would be less need for the intense concentration  that had characterised our voyage thus far. 





The plan worked and at these latitudes we found much less ice off shore and so we were even able to maintain reasonable progress through the the brief hours of darkness. 





The passage to Nuuk turned out to be a memorable and enjoyable one during which the fog rolled away revealing a perfect half moon and a northern sky that never lost its luminous glow. The northern lights made an appearance and so did porpoise and whales. The narrow southern approach to Nuuk threaded many mountainous islands each of which looked their best in the slanting morning sun. Mist daubed much of the landscape further enhancing the already exotic landscape.


We closed the harbour just as a tanker was leaving and as a large cruise liner was arriving. There was too a flurry of work boats, water taxis and open fishing boats. It was clear that we were arriving in Greenland's capital after weeks in the wilderness.


Our search for a berth was punctuated by a loud explosion as the builders put their finishing touches to the new cargo dock. We selected an ancient whaling boat, beset by a port list and copious weed below the water, to tie up against as clearly that boat wasn't going anywhere in the next coupe of days.





Great to be briefly back in civilisation with showers, Internet and laundry - the luxuries of a wilderness cruise!