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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage

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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Adventure in Burnett Inlet
August 8 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
We have some time to spend on Devon Island but not too much either. The western arctic of Canada is beginning to open up! We decide to make one more stop on Devon Island after Cuming Inlet, it shall be Burnett Inlet. Without any wind at all we do the 50-NM passage in eco-mode: one engine, 5 knots. About mid-way, I spot a solitary Musk Ox roaming the Devon’s shore. We change course to reduce distance and take some photos of the animal. Another creature of a fairy tale. Musk Oxen relate to sheep and when you know this, you see the sheep in them. But they are known to be aggressive.

When we arrive in Burnett Inlet, Vanuily and Coro Coro are already there. They plan to depart next morning, whereas we intend to spend a day in this magnificent place, scale a mountain top and then continue directly to Fort Ross at the Bellot Strait. That day in Burnett Inlet shall become a well-spent one!

As we wake up, an entire group of Musk Oxen is grazing the green patches ashore. Wow! Following a rather splendid breakfast, Yann and me head out to climb to a protruding mountain peak towering above the anchorage. We take a bit of a detour around the oxen and make good progress. It is warm, we are breaking a sweat but no mosquitos. Atop the mesa, an endless, monotonous, rocky surface awaits us. As we reach the target area, I radio to the mothership that we are about to arrive and Jörg starts the drone and captures some outrageous footage, which I later try to cut into something viewable - once again, I see that I am not a video editor.

The way back doesn’t go as smoothly as the ascend. In an effort to take an easier way down than we took up, we chose a wrong turn and have to back up to the mesa to take a second effort, which eventually works alright. We called for drone assistance from the mothership but communication on the VHF with us sitting in a creek is so bad that that wasn’t very helpful in the end.

Back aboard we are exhausted but happy. Tomorrow morning we shall leave this beautiful island.

Link to movie in better quality: https://youtu.be/AIWaJE4fxJgRead more
TravelerJ'adore 😍 ça vous fera de magnifiques souvenirs. Magnifiques photos, les paysages sont incroyable. Avec le drone, ont s'aperçoit que c'est beaucoup plus haut en altitude. 👍
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Polar bear where we didn't expect it
August 6 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We sleep well and after a splendid breakfast and relaxed morning we launch the dinghy to go climb to a mountain top. On the way out, we stop by Coro Coro for a chat with Jeri. Just in case, we exchange VHF channels: we carry two handhelds on ch 72.

The hike, as always, is awesome. Also hardly any mosquitos here, a nice change from Greenland! No sign of mammalian live anywhere, we feel alone and our guard decreases. We spread out as we scale the mountain. Yann is carrying the rifle, I am well ahead, others behind. When back at the shore we hand out on the beach when the VHF cracks to live: it is Jeri. There is a polar bear on the beach next to where Hafiz is anchored. Wow!

Even though I try to steer our dinghy to our anchorage in a subtle way, the bear reacts and increases distance. It is very shy. We take a few photos with the zoom lens on the big camera. The bear is both curious and cautious. It reacts to every move we make, keen to keep safe distance.

In retrospect we have been a bit laisser fair on our hike: the bears are around - whether we see them or not. In the future we shall stay together!

The weather is very calm, sunny and warm. Tomorrow we will make a short hop west to a neighboring inlet: Burnett Inlet.Read more
TravelerA bit scary but great pictures of the bear ! 👍
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Crossing to Cuming Inlet, Devon Island
August 5 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
We left the hunting armada of motor boats of Pond Inlet behind and continued west and then north in economy mode: one engine, 5-6 knots. The sea is glassy, zero wind. By evening we turn north into Navy Board Inlet, during the night the typical fog sets in and light northerly breeze establishes, which later in the night accelerates into a proper 20-knot breeze - a channeling effect of the fjord. Early morning we reach Lancaster Sound. A big name, that I have heard so many times already and now we’re finally here. The easterly wind builds as promised and what ensues is a perfect crossing to Cuming Inlet on Devon Island. Full main and gennaker. In the evening we turn into Cuming Inlet, drop sails, and motor the final 6 miles up the inlet to the anchorage.

Cuming Inlet can be described as a Grand Canyon at the ocean. The dimensions are staggering. What seems to be a km away actually is 4 km away. The walls left and right rise 600 meters from the water. wow. We drop anchor and fall to beds. In the middle of night Coro Coro joins the anchorage but I only notice them the next morning.Read more
TravelerBeautiful sailing in Lancaster Sound 🤩
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Hunting frenzy and departure from Pond
August 4 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Today - again - was a day of surprises. I expected a sober grocery run before leaving Pond Inlet on engine on a calm day. Well, both happened, only that additionally a Narwhal hunt unfolded directly in front on Pond Inlet. Yet another face of this little town revealed itself.

Together with Anne and Hugues we visit the Canada Park center to learn about the national parks and what that means for our voyage. Very informative. On the way we meet an elderly couple at their house and strike up a conversation on the topic of hunting. As usual, the question for what they hunt is answered with “everything”. The conversation develops and culminates in the presentation of a 3-meter long narwhal tusk. An enormous piece of 10,000 CAD value - 1,000 CAD per foot is the market price. The elderly woman is the hunter of this particular narwhal and says that it was her “first and last” narwhal to kill. While being proud of it, she didn’t like it. Never again for her. It seems like it is a must-have in an Inuit live.

We then continue to the Co-op to reprovision primarily on fresh produce. In terms of freshness the Co-op beats the Pisifiks we had in Greenland, but the prices are hefty—double to triple compared to Halifax. As we walk down from the Co-op towards the harbor, a 15-minute walk, we notice narwhals out on the water. Pretty soon we have cars and quads pulling boats on trailers at breakneck speed past us to the harbor. As we arrive in the harbor, there are already about 50 boats out on the water, typically crewed with 2-3 people, a driver and a harpoonist. We hear that about 20 pods of each around 5 narwhals are nearing the town. Work in town is paused as many people either hunt or watch the spectacle. The intensity is enormous. As we arrive in the harbor, there are already about 50 boats out on the water, typically crewed with 2-3 people, a driver and an harpoonist / rifle shooter.

It is not pretty. The name of the game is “get as much as possible” as opposed to “get as much as you need”. First, the animal is either shot but not killed or harpooned. Once it is harpooned with one or two properly stuck harpoons with lines attached to floating buoys, the animal is killed with rifle shots when it surfaces to breathe. Killing before harpooning would lose the Narwhal to the bottom of the sea. Mothers with their young ones swimming next to them are harpooned together. Water turns red. During the half hour we watch about 8 narwhals fall prey. But the hunt continues….

The event has the character of a sportive event: on shore, spectators applause when a narwhal was successfully harpooned by a friend or a good shot was placed. And the more hits, the better. The first narwhal has been towed into harbor and is being cut up. The majority though is left hanging on their buoys to be collected once as many as possible have been harpooned.

We motor out on glassy water westwards and leave the hunting game behind. Reservation territories for sure aren’t healthy for narwhals.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Pond Inlet: Beauty upon second sight
August 3 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 6 °C
Pond Inlet surprises in many ways. Having arrived on Sunday afternoon, we were prepared to wait on the boat for Monday morning for the RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to do the immigration. But no, as word about our arrival spread, they showed up on the dock on Sunday 16:00.

By tying up to the dock as opposed to anchoring outside, what most yachts do due to the rough dock wall, and then on top of everything unfurling our large red sail to dry it, our arrival was noted by many people. Kids, families in cars, quads show up to greet us. Very different to Greenland. Whereas in Greenland we had the impression of being invisible, here people seem to lust on getting in touch with people from outside. Very openly they share details about their lifes. Whether it is the alcoholic father or the interest in our red sail cloth to make tents. Narwhal and polar bear hunting is a big topic, too. Apparently a way to make some serious money up here. A Narwhal tusk is sought after “in the south”. I ask about fish to eat, whether anybody in town has freshly caught arctic char to sell.

Sure enough, next morning Jason shows up on a quad with arctic char to sell. He explains how he learned on Facebook that we were looking for fish. Interesting! Apparently more information about us has been shared in the town’s facebook group, along with other details of us. We buy 4 fish, 3 for us 1 for Vanuily. The arctic char are wonderful. I start preparing one for lunch, and 2 for the freezer. I cut off the head and the tail and throw them over board. The boys watch me and as they see the fish head flying, they ask whether they could have the eyes. Really? Yes, they really want the eyes. So I carve the eyes out for them of the remaining 2 heads. They devour them with pleasure. You are welcome!

Vanuily arrived during the night and is now tied up alongside to us. We have lunch together. As today is the Civic Holiday, the shop of town is closed. We’ll stay another night, provision and then continue our journey on Tuesday noon.

The not-obviously-beautiful Pond Inlet, that seemed so depressing upon first sight is not so disappointing after all! Thank you for having had us, we had a good time.Read more
Traveler En Guete in Swiss German😁
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Crossing the Baffin Bay 2: Arctic Canada
August 2 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
This entry covers the time from Friday evening to Sunday evening when we arrived in Pond Inlet, Canada.

The first night of the crossing went smooth, only between 2300 and 0600 (UTC-4) heavy fog descended. With only about 100 m visibility, the navigation strategy changes. Radar on 3 or 4 NM range and make sure to maintain more than 1 NM distance to any iceberg as to avoid their halo of growlers. And we still have plenty of icebergs spread at a pitch of about 8NM. And continuously observe the sea ahead. We are hammering at 9 knots, a collision would be consequential.

In the morning visibility improved as the fog was replaced by rain. 7°C outside temperature, the trend is downwards. Inside we heat the salon to ~18°C. Both temperatures will drop as we near continental climate. Snow is forecast to welcome us in Pond Inlet. Water temperature is also in a continuous plunge from 8°C to ~6°C as we close in on the cold Labrador Current.

Since a few weeks ago, I receive a weekly email update on the conditions in the Northwest Passage (NWP) from Victor Weyer, a Canadian gentleman with decades of Arctic experience. Victor has advised over 100 sailboats undertaking the passage for many years and knows all the details - be it regarding the weather, ice, routing, anchorage, provisioning and contact information. It is very comforting to be in connected to such a person on a voyage like this one. I judge this week’s report generally positive. Compared to other years, the first, eastern, half of the NWP is opening up earlier, while rather atypically, the western section of the NWP to Alaska is still ice-locked as I write this. It is not a given that we will be able to make the passage but it looks like it shall open up once we get there in about 2 weeks.

Upon departure from Upernavik Vanuily and Coro Coro were about 20 NM behind. We were making excellent speed and are now about 60 NM ahead of them. We have the better suited set of sails for the conditions and plenty of crew to operate the sails safely. Full main and gennaker give plenty of power with winds between 18 and 23 knots and true wind angles of about 150° to push our tanker at 9 knots.

We anticipate that the wind will shut down as we near the Canadian coast. At about 1 am on Sunday morning the time has come to furl the gennaker and start an engine for the last 100 NM to Pond Inlet. Fortunately the sea state is calm and only, like previous night, heavy fog impairs navigation.

The 3-hour night shifts are working fine for us. With the sun always up, I close all shades and stick my head under a pillow. As always, my dreams on passage are a bit wild and I remember them much better than otherwise after waking. It must have to do with the fact that the sensory input from motion and acoustic never stops and that the waking is abruptly and from deeper state of sleep. The usual theme is some type of disaster, now involving ice, rocks and ruptured hulls, which is a change from the strong winds and high waves theme.

Soon we shall either tie up or anchor at Pond Inlet. Curious to see how things will be in Arctic Canada!Read more
TravelerYou were going so fast ! 👏
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Crossing the Baffin Bay 1
July 31, Baffin Bay ⋅ 🌬 6 °C
The weather outlook for the crossing is generally very favorable: at least 5 days of acceptable weather of which the first 3 are especially benign: southerly winds between 10 and 25 knots, comfortable sea state. About 12 hours of the 50-hour passage shall be motoring, roughly evenly distributed on the start and the end of the passage. Leaving earlier gives us more leeway, so we leave, without rush, and motor out at 5 knots.

It is getting real! We are moving to the beginning of the challenging part. Finally! As expected sailing today was a piece of cake. As soon as the winds stabilized, which took half the day, we set the Gennaker with the full main sail. Since then we are sailing with speeds between 6 and 10 knots.

With a crew of four we opt for 3-hour, single-person, shifts. Icebergs are pitched at about 2-NM spacing. Hardly any growlers or bergy bits other than within ~0.5 NM of a berg. And even in the middle of the night there is plenty of sun light.

Things look merry, it should become a fast and comfortable passage.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Upernavik: Preparing for the jump
July 30 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
I checked out the fuel dock the day before. It is just a little bit sketchy: it is quite small and the water rather shallow. Without wind and at high tide it should go smoothly. At noon we weigh anchor and motor over. We are about 3 times the length of the fuel dock. We tie the aft section of the stb hull to the dock and commence the fueling. Small boat arrive during the process and squeeze in creative ways to get gas. Waiting is not the culture, it seems. No problem for us.

We invite Tim and Jeri from Coro Coro for coffee and exchange insights regarding the forthcoming voyage. Jeri is a true veteran and shares his knowledge. I learn valuable details like favorable anchorages and that on the south shore of the Lancaster Sound the current is easterly. Good to know indeed!

After Tim and Jeri left, we chose to change anchorage for a change of wallpaper. We find a nice spot, albeit a tricky one with an entry littered with dangerous rocks.

Some fuel-burn statistics on sailing from Nuuk to Upernavik for the inlclined:

Total days: 15 d
Engine hours run (sum of port and stb engines): 131h
Total miles navigated: 880 NM
Fuel consumed: 635 L
Avg Fuel burn per engine per hour: 4.8 L/h
Avg fuel economy: 0.72 L/NM travelled

Any fuel used for heating can’t be separated, it is included above and likely contributed with 100L. We definitely motored the majority of the distance, thank you arctic high, but we did sail ~150 NM of the 880 NM.

No surprises here. The assumptions for the NWP planning are good.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Disko 13: Final leg along the Greenland coast
July 29 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Today was a full day of motoring on glass - again. We covered the 75 NM to Upernarvik. Here the mission is to reprovision and press all tanks before we cross the Baffin Bay to Pond Inlet in arctic Canada. Even though if need be, we can pick up fuel at many places along the Northwest Passage, I’d rather avoid this as it usually means shuttling diesel in jerry cans with the dinghy, which can quickly become a day-long exercise.

As we near Upernarvik, the iceberg density increases. Nothing crazy, but the glaciers around the area show their effect. In the anchorage is some ice but nothing huge or dangerous. The big stuff can’t make it in - it runs aground before entering the anchorage. Coro Coro and Vanuily are already sitting at anchor when we join them.

The basin is located right next to the soccer field of the town, where the town as gathered to watch a football match. We decide to go ashore right away and check out the town. According to google maps there should be a restaurant, however that doesn’t seem to be accurate once we get there: nothing. The soccer match is a outlandish experience: nothing seems normal: a green (artificial) lawn chiseled into the barren environment, the anchorage with icebergs in the background, the evening sun still burning with warmth.Read more
TravelerHow was grocery shopping in Upernarvik? And what about the brew?
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TravelerLet’s say fruit and vegetable come pre-aged. All from Denmark via Nuuk. Once a week. Otherwise the assortment is rather complete with Danish products. And the brew? Indeed there is the Qajak brew made with the “world’s cleanest water”, glacier water. I’ll need to come here with you to try it.
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Disko 12: Motoring on glass
July 28 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
What was supposed to become a beautiful day of sailing turned into a relaxed day of motoring. No wind at all today. Race boat Vanuily dashes ahead with 7.8 knots under engine, we follow up at 6.5 knots. In the anchorage Anne and Hugues are preparing a delicious dinner for all of us, Jörg and Richard bake an artful apple-mango-chilli cake for desert.

We are now at 71°38’N. The sun is always clearly up such that the solar cells are producing energy around the clock. I would have never thought that the solar power is enough to provide for all our cooking, desalination and navigation needs at these latitudes. We have a stable high-pressure system for several days already. Barely any heating is required.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 11: Champagne sail west
July 26 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
We expected a motoring day and for a change were surprised by some first-class downwind sailing. We cracked out the Oxley and for a few hours made excellent progress at 8 to 10 knots boat speed. Once out of the channel the wind died we we reverted to steaming on one engine.

For the evening we reunited with Vanuily in a calm, picturesque anchorage. Anne and Hugues come over for a tea before we go to sleep. For tomorrow a nice, light, down-wind sail is anticipated.Read more
Traveler Beautiful!
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TravelerBreathtaking video!
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 10: Inching north, waiting for wind
July 26 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
No rush, calm weather and 2 days until good wind arrives for sailing north. Today we make a 20 NM hop north, enjoy the sun and anchor under a cliff filled with Great Cormorants. Some relaxing, some boat work, some SUP’ing. Beauty everywhere.

With the drone I visit the cormorants and see young ones waiting for food and seemingly struggling with the heat. The sun is burning onto the south-facing cliff. After dinner we go for a dinghy ride over the glassy sea. And the day concludes with an arctic fox traversing shore. Tomorrow we shall motor past Disco Island towards the open sea.Read more
Traveler ❤️
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TravelerFantastic views with the drone and great piloting !
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Traveler Great Video!! Dieter (Richards brother)
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 9: Moored against rock
July 25 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
First thing we head out to the Arctic Char place and indeed there is a river and fishing nets in the water. Yann and me head out in the Dinghy, me pretty confident. After about 2 hours we return with no fish caught, not even a fish sighted. Ah well.

The good thing is that by now the sun has burned off the fog and we motor to a potentially exciting anchorage. I have heard that it should be possible there to moor against the rock with fenders. That sounds appealing. After about 2 hours we arrive, scan the anchorage and do find a rock face with dangling lines. We turn the nose into the wind and with fenders on the port side approach the wall. Slowly! Depth is around 9 meters when touching the wall - wow! Yann jumps on shore, climbs the rocks and hands lines to Jörg while I keep the boat in position with both engines. Exciting!

The weather is absolutely beautiful. As the temperature rises and the wind completely dies, mosquitos increasingly harass us.

Yann and me decide to hike a nearby mountain peak and as always are not disappointed. Thanks god we have mosquito nets over our hats. The entire way we walk in swarm of flies and mosquitos. About mid-way up we notice an Arctic Fox eying us from the distance. He produces bird-like, loud sounds that give him away. Why?? He keeps coming closer still eying us. What is his intention? Hungry? I figure he is locked on this small island of a few miles in diameter until the sea freezes over again next winter. Lonely and hungry?

When we arrive at the summit and sit down, an Arctic Hare, a rather large white rabbit joins company. Both of them are now curiously following us. A scene like from a ferry tale. Back on the boat we have a feisty dinner. With windows mostly closed because of the mosquitos outside, temperature inside is now at 24°C the effect of sun and lack of wind. Water in the bay is surprisingly warm at 9°C . Richard went free-diving and brought home some moules. How nice!Read more
Traveler 🤣🤣WD40, you find it all over the world……
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 8: Cruising the bay to Ritenbenk
July 24 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
We need to be in Upernavik around August 2nd, which gives us about a week to cruise up there. Without need for rushing it, we intend to day-cruise this fantastic area from anchorage to anchorage.

We select the Eqi glacier as our first destination and motor against 10 knots towards it. About half way, Coro Coro is coming our way and I hail them on the radio. Turns out they also tried to get to the Eqi glacier but gave up due to ice. With that intel, we decide to turn around from what would have become a dead end. Instead we go for Ritenbenk, an abandoned fishing settlement with a supposedly nice anchorage.

We drop anchor and after a splendid dinner cooked by Richard, we take the dinghy ashore. I noticed 2 elderly people walking the ghost village and it seemed they were working on fishing equipment at the old wharf. I pack some Danish Krone - just in case. When we land, coincidentally we run into the couple and pick up a conversation in Swiss German, English and Greenlandic. We understand each other quickly and they lead us into a ruin where they are drying smoked Arctic Char. Obviously a work of passion. Small pieces of wood keep the fish fillets spread as they are aesthetically hanging of a wooden rod. I ask to buy some and a deal is made: we receive 2 Arctic Char and a half of the white kind, which I still need to identify what it actually is.

The couple also communicated in sign language the location of where Arctic Char can be fished. The plan for next morning is obvious: go and try to catch some.

Arctic Char is a type of Salmon that during the second half of August will ascend the rivers for depositing their eggs. When it rains, the fish gather around the river mouths and launch their up-stream attacks.Read more
Traveler 🤩damnnnn
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 7: Move to Oqaatsut, a very nice anchorage
July 23 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
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 pitoresque 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
Traveler 🤣🤣🤣🥶
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Disko 6: Crew complete
July 21 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
The alarm goes at 10:40 after 2 hours of sleep, Richard’s plane should be landing in Ilulissat right now. For him to get to the harbor should take about the same time as it takes us to have coffee and get into the harbor with the dinghy. Well, turns out in Ilulissat it is very quick to disembark and get to town. Richard is waiting fur us.

After Richard gets settled on board we head out to town and walk up to the crest to catch a view of the Isfjord, the birth place of all the ice we encountered in our approach. Hard to believe that all this ice flows out of here. Upstream of the fjord, Greenland’s ice sheet reaches the sea directly and for that reason calves huge, spectacular bergs.

We pass by a restaurant on the way back, go aboard and after some housholding drop to bed for a 10-hour sleep.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Disko 5: An endless passage through ice
July 21 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
During the first night we crossed the polar circle at 66°33’N. This area is curiously ice free, which makes navigation so much easier. The winds during the night generally very good and we made good progress. For hours on end our tanker was plowing through the water at 10 knots. First on full main and gennaker then on full main and genoa. My gut feeling is that the tanker weight costs us 1 knot of speed. Definitely the wake is bigger.

We opted for 4-hour night shifts. With the crew still fresh, I come up for all maneuvers of which we had a few: two gybes and one gennaker-to-genoa sail change. The maneuvers go in a breeze, no incidents. Taking down the gennaker in 28 knots - no problem. I can feel it, we will be a good crew in the passage.

There are a few options for tackling the Disco Bay, which can be very challenging with the Ilulissat Isfjord glacier calving enormous amounts of ice into the bay. With Richard arriving the next morning, we opt to go to the ice edge, assess the situation and if ice and the crew’s energy levels permit, we directly steer for Ilulissat. Directly in this case means to take a big detour of ~20NM west and north, cross the ice zone in a 3/10 ice coverage zone and then head to Ilulissat all through 1/10 to 3/10 of ice.

Joerg hits his bunk to tank some sleep before the ice comes. Only a few hours later, around 2200, the icebergs appear rather abruptly. I wake Joerg just because the moment it is too outlandish to pass upon. We are still under full main and genoa sailing in the ice field. Will the density increase? Will we have to turn around? Will a nearby berg flip? I sheet the sails conservatively. The emergency plan is that Yann would start both engines and takes the helm, while I drop the sails.

Sailing through the area is totally surreal, we pass into the wind shadows of bergs, cross different zones of ice coverage before the coverage gets too high for the sails. We drop them and continue on engines. I take the helm, in this way I am to blame in case we run into ice. We are very much aware that we will have to navigate through ice all night. Of course it stays bright, we are benefiting from the polar day, but our bodies will reduce heat production and focus will fade as the hormones run their 24-hour routine. Going slow at 3 knots or so would reduce the consequences of a collision but going 6 or 7 knots keeps me awake and focused. Mostly I go fast, the boat steers excellently through the ice parcour. When the ice concentrates, I reduce speed and we slowly crawl through ice soup.

Altogether I am sure we took more than 1,000 photos this night - of ice, water and sky.

We manage to keep going, it got tough once, such that it was unclear whether or not we could make it but fortunately only for about half a mile. We anchor at 0800 in front of Ilulissat. Tired and cold.

Two and a half hours later, Richard is supposed to land, we drop to our bunks for a nap. Was that real, was that a dream?Read more
Traveler Awesome beautiful
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Traveler C'est qui ce beau mec 😉😘
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TravelerGreat pictures and videos !!! Amazing 🤩
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
To Disko 4: The big dash to Disko Bay
July 19, Davis Strait ⋅ 🌧 7 °C
After I finished my previous blog, we kept motoring to the Kangamiu Sermiat glacier, where we arrived around 23:00. But with the sun still up, the glacier presented itself in all its glory. Fantastic dimensions and more shades of blue than can be described or captured by camera.

The monster is alive, crackling and crunching is omnipresent. Every few minutes a small avalanche slides into the water. My and the crew’s gut feeling is that we are dangerously close to the wall. But meanwhile I know that judging distanance without reference objects like plants, trees, streets, feeling is often deceiving. I switch on the radar and get hard numbers: 1/4 NM, almost half a kilometer! The thing is just huge. We wait for a big calving but that won’t happen. Around midnight we turn away and seek an anchorage, which could be challenging.

The fjord is typically 150 m deep. We steer to the outlet of a glacier stream that has produced a delta of gravel and mud. The danger here is that the mud is so soft that the anchor will just slide through like in honey. We drop in 8 m depth, 35 meter chain and rev both engine to 1,5000 RPM in reverse. All good! At 1 am we drop to our bunks.

Next morning we motor pout of the fjord and meet yesterday’s whale again. How nice. Out on the open sea we hoist full main and genoa and start a slow sail WNW in search of stronger winds offshore. We are now on 66°N and Hafiz shall soon cross the polar circle at 66°33’N for the first time. With summer solstice already past, proper polar days are now found north of 68°33’N. Looking forward, that shall be interesting.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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To Disko 3: Fjord leutering
July 18 in Greenland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Winds today are not favorable for sailing north and with the next 2 days promising good southerly winds, we rather spend the time leutering in the enormous fjords. Also we might visit a settlement and / or a glacier. Unfortunately weather is overcast with rain and fog at times.

We leave our spectacular anchorage in a circumnavigation of Kin of Sal. Joerg at the helm, I dare fly the drone. Spectacular.

We catch up with Vanuily, who left earlier but chose a longer route. Jointly we sail up the Ammaqqoq fjord and part ways thereafter. When rain, wind and general nastiness increase, we revert to in-door helming. I cook-up a nice stew for lunch while cliffs and glaciers drift past the windows.

The passage of the narrow creek in front of Kangaamiut is a highlight in it self. To top things off, a humpback whale is passing just outside of the village. Absolutely amazing. I capture a few of its surfacing with the camera.

Now we are on the way to a glacier, should be nice. And tomorrow we head out and continue north.Read more
Traveler Amaizing shots!
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
To Disko 2: A day without flow
July 17 in Greenland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
With the tide trapping us in our awesome anchorage until ~08:00, we have a relaxed morning. Weather is drizzely but no wind in our protected place. The route out takes us through very narrow passages, which look alright, they are deep and the charts show rocks only off the route. However Andrew Wilkes’ guide to the “Arctic and Northern Waters” mentions uncharted rocks and generally recommends to avoid this passage all together. With full attention we steam out slowly at around 3 knots over ground. The setting is staggering.

As we reach open waters we have wind of almost 20 knots and I decide to hoist the main into its first reef and set the genoa. And then a game began that should carry through all day: shortly after, the wind died again. We head out offshore to catch better wind, which eventually works. Vanuily is making an excellent pace and is passing us under Spinnaker, a nice sight. Our Gennaker is still somewhat fouled in its bag since my incident off Newfoundland, so we refrain from hoisting it in 20 knots of breeze.

The crew is beginning to form, most maneuvers we do are firsts. Things are falling in place, stomachs are adjusting to the movement, we are moving in a good direction. Give us a week and I will be laying in my bunk while sails go up and down.

As the day progresses, we keep changing our plan. The variety of options reaches from sailing through the night, docking in Maniitsoq, and anchoring in places near and far. In the end we opt to follow Vanuily into an anchorage that seems challenging but both rewarding and strategically located for continuing the next day. Vanuily shares valuable reconnaissance on WhatsApp. The charts are totally wrong in several places. The anchorage is at the foot of Kin of Sal or Ummannassuaq in the local language, ETA 00:30. There will be light, that is not the problem, but the area around the mountain is uncharted. Echo sounder for the win!

We drop 45 meters of chain in 12 meters of water souraounded by enormous rocky islands. Wow.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
To Disko 1: Easing in
July 16 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
After a couple of days of perfect sun, today is overcast. We are ready to go but the winds are not favorable for going north. So we take it slow. The next milestone is that we need to be in Ilulissat on July 21st to pick up Richard.

After getting gas for the dinghy, of which we should now have enough until Alaska, we head out for some cod fishing to a place that Scott has recommended. It is on the west side of Pikiulli. And indeed within half an hour we have 5 nice fish on board. Once we have them we slowly motor west on one engine towards an anchorage in the right direction for tomorrow’s dash.

I am a bit out of practice filleting the fish but I can’t sense eagerness in the crew to do it either, so I hang in. No problem! Like a fishing vessel we are now followed by sea gulls. Those guys have sharp vision picking up the little bits of fish I throw over board every few minutes! I freeze some of the fish and some I leave in the fridge. Nice, I like it!

We decide to enter an inshore passage even though there are no marked or reported specific anchorages. It does like there should be opportunities though. Turns out even so close to the capital Nuuk the electronic Navionics charts are rather approximate. Noted depth in the chart is 10 meters, good for anchoring, while in reality we find 20 meters, too deep for anchoring with an acceptable swing radius. We try a few bays and then find a quite secluded arm with about 6 meters of water. On the second try the anchor digs satisfactorily. Lunch time!

Tomorrow it is forecast to rain but the wind should be favorable for a leap north. Should work!Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Nuuk4: Crew and bunkering
July 15 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
The past two days we spent with further preparation, crew arrival and some sightseeing.
Yesterday, Joerg arrived. I went to pick him up with the hand cart at the airport - just a 1.5 km walk. Well, Joerg’s luggage didn’t make it. Bummer. Yann picks up us up with the dinghy at the beach.

I am confident Iceland Air will manage to bring the luggage quickly, Joerg is less confident. In the luggage is the kind of special equipment for the NWP, like the floatation overall and neoprenes. We continue with the preparatory work. We stock up provision, Yann mounts a lifeline that I judge actually beneficial to safety. For the evening we invite the crews of Vanuily and Nunatak for dinner. The arctic char and two freshly caught cod are the main course. The evening is wonderful with sun and good folks.

Today morning as soon as the wind died and the tide was up, we moved Hafiz to the fuel dock around the corner. Bunkering time. Unfortunately a power-outage strikes and gasoline for the dinghy cannot be tapped but the diesel pump runs off the backup generator. First we fill the bladder so that in case of problems here, we can still transfer its content into the main tanks. The 20 minutes filling time for the 600-liter bladder pass awkwardly. The wobbly thing is not confidence instilling. What if it leaks, chafes, the filler cap pops open…. As the bladder fills, it attains posture and we deem it good enough to go for it.

All in all we bunker 1,450l diesel and also fill both water tanks. Hafiz is heavier than ever before. The water line is a couple of cm higher than usual. I am very curious to see how that will impact sailing performance…

After some more work on the trampoline and a nap, we head out to town for a touristic tour. The dinghy parking options have further reduced since the previous year. No floating dock for us. We raft up to some wildly tied fishing boats and climb from the fourth row across random boats to the harbor wall and then up the ladder. Of course we pass by Qalut Vonin on the way to town one more time. I buy some rope and we check the clothing options for Joerg in case his luggage should not arrive.

Old town Nuuk is beautiful with historic site, sculptures and board walks. Just next to it tower modular apartment complexes that are reminiscent of eastern Europe. After a restaurant visit, Joerg takes a cab to the airport, while we take the dinghy back to the mother ship. As we arrive, we see Joerg descending to the beach with his big yellow bag on his back., His smile visible from a km away. We are ready to go, no more blockers!

I catch two more cod for the fridge, tomorrow some final procurements. Mosquito head nets seem sensible—each day of good weather seems to bring more of these pesky creatures.Read more
Traveler Have a safe and spectacular trip!
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Traveler 🤣🤣
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TravelerNice video, can't wait to see more!
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Nuuk3: Preparation is half the voyage
July 13 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
The day is perfect: 14°C, intense sun, dry air. In the sun the temperature rises quickly. The plan for the day is to head to town to exchange a wrongly bought rifle magazine and to buy 130 meters of 6 mm rope needed for attaching the trampolines and then mount the new trampolines. Well, it wasn’t that straight forward.

The first mission went smoothly, I now have the correct magazine that fits the rifle. While they also carry ropes, it is primarily the cheap nylon stuff that the fishermen use, nothing you would use to attach your trampoline with. The very helpful guys direct us to a place that should have the rope we are looking for. We dinghy to the place, spot a boat ramp, which is a nice way to secure the dinghy: wheels deployed we drag it up the ramp.

In the “Grønland Bådcenter”, the best thing we are offered are spools of 30m pull-start cord for skidoos. Tough stuff. Not optimal and quite expensive. Because he has a lot and because of the quantity we require, he offers 50% discount. Another employee drops into the conversation and mentions another shop that should have a more suitable and cheaper rope: Qalut Vónin in the old harbor. Ok, let’s go. We walk back to the dinghy only to discover that the tide has fallen and there now is a cliff off the boatramp to the water. No way we can launch without breaking something. So we take a taxi.

Qalut Vónin caters to professional fishermen. The shop is amazing. Fishing nets, hundreds of meter long ropes and also a rope that we can use. Not perfect but good enough. I also buy a blue barrel, a rectangular water basin and a fish hook.

No need to rush, the tide needs to come back up anyways, so we hit a restaurant and then take the bus back to the dinghy. What I expected to take an hour took five. But we met many humorous, helpful and very nice people along the way. A very nice experience.

When we return to the anchorage, both Vanuily and Nunatak have anchored and are already squatting Nunatak’s sun deck. We join them and celebrate their arrival in Greenland.

Then we set to work on the trampoline. This is a big job. Each trampoline is attached to the boat with 80 connecting roped. Each tied with a bowline and a lashing. And the trampoline needs a lot of tension to fall into place. Both of us work for 3 hours to get one trampoline 90% done. Boy am I happy to have the help of Yann!Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
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Nuuk2: A sunny day in Nuuk!
July 12 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
We split the day into boat work and hiking. In the morning Yann and me went through the boat and we discussed all the little issues and projects. Nothing major, but there is a bunch of small stuff that adds up. I hope with Yann’s professional ship building expertise we will rip through them project by project. It is way more fun to work together on these projects than just by myself. Tomorrow we want to tackle the trampolines. To this end we need to procure about 100 meters of rope that straddles the trampolines to the hulls.

Around noon we set off for a hike to the Store Malene mountain, the peak that towers over Nuuk. A very step ascend to the 770 meter high summit. The views are stunning. Almost the entirety of Nuuk can be seen and curiously this also means the entirety of the street network. No roads leave that area in any direction. A true closed system. This view contrasts the feeling when you walk the streets with busy traffic, taxis just like in any other town of this size. Luxury cars than have a max possible trip size of 10km or 20 minutes. This place is different.

After a short while on the peak, a Danish military group of maybe 30 people joins us. Turns out they are in Greenland for a 1-month rotation. They have a major base here in Nuuk and another one up in Kangerlussuaq. Spending time and showing presence at both places is part of the rotation. In summer this must be a really nice experience. Winter might be a different story. Very nice folks. One guy gives us each a Danish military chocolate cake. Quite delicious, thank you very much!

Back on the boat we cook up a nice Osso Bucco and our dinner is interrupt by a brief visit of Scott and parents who just returned from a fishing weekend in their sleek 600hp-propelled boat. They hand us a beautiful Arctic Char they caught. What a lovely surprise! I met them on their way out doing last provisions and we entered a conversation. Very nice folks.

Tomorrow Joerg shall arrive and we will soon get moving towards Ilulissat, where Richard will join to complete the crew.Read more
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Chpt 8: The Northwest Passage Traveler
Nuuk1: Settling in Nuuk
July 11 in Greenland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Finally the sun came out. Motivation jumps immediately. Time to dry and stow the sails. Also motivated to write a little blog.

I did some reconnaissance today as soon as the rain stopped around noon. The anchorage is really quite practical. The little store of the harbor is exceptionally useful: they even have ready-made 5-meter long tuks. The poles with pointy tips to push ice. Diesel for 6DKK/l and a water hose, too. I buy ammo for my rifle over the counter no ID, no questions at all.

I also check the shops. It strikes immediately that I am back in Europe. The products are Danish. I lust for a proper, heavy bread. Also there is shelf-storable milk again. For some reason that escapes my imagination, the otherwise convenience oriented Americans don’t have this. So practical! Too much for me to carry. Provisioning will have to wait for crew to arrive. Speaking of which, Yann is arriving tonight. Shall be fun!

On my way back I stop by a super yacht, explorer style, that is also anchored here in the basin. It’s a pair: “After You” and “Emotional”. I have a chat with Emotional’s captain. As suspected, they are also up for the Northwest Passage. Different style albeit. Whereas I consider myself a tanker with 2,000 liters aboard, they carry in excess of 100,000. Well they also have a helicopter and countless other tools and toys. Anyhow, always good to know who will be along for the passage. Now I am connected to 3 other boats. I think that’s good. Information shall be important up there. Is an anchorage ice free? Is a passage open?Read more
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Trip start
July 11, 2026