Thursday, September 22, 2016

Sailing Scoresby Sound, Greenland

This is very approximately the route we took on the schooner Opal into Scoresby Sound.

Scoresby Sound is said to be one of the longest fjord systems in the word, if not the longest, extending around 300 - 350 km from the opening.

The opening itself is nearly 30 km, so similar to the closest point of the English channel. But the other side is much clearer as the fjord is surrounded by staggering high mountains. Cliffs drop from 1,900 m down to the sea and keep going under water for a couple of hundred metres more.

The scenery is spectacular, so much that even when the weather was 7 layers cold it was hard not to be on deck. I can see why so often would meet yachts at Reykjavik either on their way there or back.

The typical route is to do a circumnavigation of Milne Land, as in the Google Earth picture above, which is about 700 km or 375 NM over the week.

Top highlights included:

  • Inuit dinner at Ittoqqortoormiit
  • Uncountable number of icebergs
  • Countable but unknown number of glaciers
  • One polar bear
  • Many muskoxs
  • Several arctic hare
  • Lots of seals
  • One icy dip
  • Two trips up the mast
  • Sailing on three days
  • Five nights saw the northern lights
  • A wealth of geology
  • One bonfire
  • A couple of BBQs
  • Lots of good food
  • Fresh bread
  • The Wall pancake and whisky party

... and much more. I'll have to groups these by topics, starting with sailing...

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