Riding a Growler

Ilulissat as a town and anchorage doesn’t speak to me much. After a grocery run, we head out to sea and aim for Oqaatsut, a picturesque village with a well sheltered anchorage. The 14 NM trip leads us through icebergs with good open water in between.

As we arrive in the anchorage we are greeted by Coro Coro and following a brief conversation from boat to boat, we drop our anchor. After a bit of boat cleaning and dinner we have a restful night. Next morning the order is to replace the second trampoline. Now with 4 people, the job goes brisk. After the work comes the fun, let’s go swim! The weather is perfect, sun is shining, wind is down. Coincidentally a nice, dense, glassy growler drifts by. To our surprise it takes the weight of Richard, Jörg and myself. Well, it did flip but it stayed afloat all times.

After the refreshing bath and a hot shower we visit the village. We find Oqaatsut difficult to comprehend: it is beautiful, it tries to be a touristic location but at the same time has hardly any infrastructure. However construction is ongoing, water tanks are being installed and a harbor is being constructed. The craftsmen are from Denmark and residing in the local “Hotel”, which is a self-service facility. There is a shop, fuel, postbox and a restaurant. No streets. The houses are located on elevated rocks, presumably to keep them dry and as free of snow as possible. The settlement was established in the 17th century and was used by Dutch whalers. The Danes eventually drove out the Dutch in a naval battle.Read more