In the wake of Louise Arner Boyd

Voyage 4: Expedition to Louise Boyd Land, East Greenland, August/September 2018

Louise Arner Boyd (1887-1972) was an American Arctic explorer who wrote extensively about her many self-funded expeditions between 1924-1935. During her 1931 expedition she found land between the De Geer and Jette Glaciers, a discovery that contradicted the best available maps at the time. The land was eventually named Louise Boyd Land by the Danish Government (Weisboydlund). Her photographs, which often used photogrammetry, were so good that the American Geographical Society was able to map the region to scale. Subsequently the AGS gave Boyd their prestigious Cullum Medal in 1938 for being a “dauntless leader of scientific expeditions into the Arctic”.

In August/September 2018 I led an expedition to Louise Boyd Land (73° 31’ N 28° W) located in the uninhabited and relatively unexplored National Park region of East Greenland. I commissioned the Icelandic sailing vessel OPAL a traditional two-mast top-sail schooner (owned by North Sailing) that has received international innovation awards for its unique electrical propulsion system by RENSEA. This expedition sailed into the fiords of East Greenland using Miss Boyd’s original charts. I recorded the expedition using a multi-disciplinary approach including film, photography, drawings, audio and visual recordings. Drone footage added a unique topographical perspective, complementing the photogrammetry technique used by Boyd. GPS/AIS and a Manta trawl were used to collect water samples in order to map the extent of plastic pollution in the seas in this pristine uninhabited part of the world.

“The expedition led by Anne Lydiat is in the best Cape Farewell tradition that will produce a true legacy and vision of this wild and extreme landscape of ice and ocean. I fully support and endorse this East Greenland expedition and its objectives and encourage others to help make this an important intervention that celebrates the dialogue between science, gender, art and history” - David Buckland (Founder and Director, Cape Farewell)

DAY 1: Tuesday, 28 August 2018, Constable Point

The flight from Reykjavik to Constable Point was uneventful. I could see OPAL anchored in the fiord from the plane window. I walked along the shoreline and photographed all the plastic debris I found. The RIB was waiting at the landing point - I was looking forward to being on board OPAL again and meeting the crew who were going to take me on my exciting expedition to Louise Boyd Land. We were to be accompanied by HILDUR as support vessel.

Day 2: Wednesday, 29 August 2018, East Greenland

It was emotional reunion meeting with the OPAL captain and crew again. So much had happened since the Scoresby Sund voyage in 2016 when I had previously been on board. We made ready and sailed out of Hurry Sound, past the settlement of Ittoqquoortomiit and into the open sea along the East Coast of Greenland. The icebergs were just as spectacular as I had remembered them but I hadn’t realised how rough the open sea would be. I set up my drawing book and started recording the movement of the ship. I was totally unprepared for the violent pitching and rolling of the vessel - I was unbelievably seasick for 36 hours which was the duration of the first drawing. I could hear the pen swinging backwards and forwards at the side of my pillow.

Day 3: Thursday, 30 August 2018, Jomsborg, Greenland

Sailed up through King Oscar Fiord - totally spectacular scenery. The scale was utterly disconcerting in that the land seemed to close behind the ship so that you could never see where you had come from, or where you were intending to go. I was beginning to understand the true meaning of sublime. I felt insignificant in this landscape and far away from anywhere and everything that was familiar. Sailed past a mountain that I recognised as having seen in Boyd’s book The Coast of North East Greenland. I discovered it was Jomsborg - Boyd photographed it Aug 7th, 1937 and here I was photographing it over eighty years later.

Day 4: Friday, 31 April 2018, Ella Island

The first day that I didn’t feel seasick. I was excited to be going up King Oskar Fiord and stopping at Ella Island a Danish wireless station. Boyd visited there many times. The huts were all locked up for the oncoming winter months but I managed to get access inside. I was thrilled to be able to sign the book alongside all the many trappers, etc who had visited Ella Island. I wrote ‘Greenland Expedition to Weisboydlund, Anne Lydiat Wainwright, 2018. We did a film interview about the expedition. I filmed inside the hut - everything there for survival. We walked up to the small landing strip at the back of the settlement. Back on board for the highlight of my expedition - Louise Boyd Land. Ice Fiord is quite narrow and there were concerns that we might not be able to take the ships all the way up due to icebergs blocking the fiord. I couldn’t contemplate not getting there…

Day 5: Saturday,1 September 2018,

We had anchored overnight in Renbukten and left early as we were still several hours away from Louise Boyd Land. The waters were much calmer now we were in the fiord system of the National Park. The scale of the landscape was truly awesome and so difficult to capture through the lens of my camera. It was eerily quiet, the silence only interrupted by the sound of OPAL making headway - it was reassuring to see HILDUR in the distance. Thankfully the icebergs were not blocking the fiord and so we made good headway. Suddenly I saw Louise Boyd Land straight ahead with the Jette and De Geer glaciers holding the land in an icy embrace. It was a deeply emotional moment seeing the place that I had been planning to sail too for over two years. We spent hours trying to find a safe place for me to step ashore. The captain was worried in case one of the glaciers calved. At last I was give the all clear and the rib carried me across flying the silk flag I had made. I filmed the landing on my go pro and sat completely alone on the rocks of Louise Boyd Land. I folded the flag and left it behind.

Day 6: Sunday, 2 September 2018, Blomster Bay

We anchored in Blomsterbugten (Bay of Flowers). It was one year today that Chris died - I cast some of his ashes into the fiord. We went ashore and walked up to Lake Noa. It was good to get off the boat for a while. The peace was wonderful, broken only by the incessant sound of the drone overhead! Stopped at the hut for tales of past explorers. Back on board we consulted the charts and I asked if we could sail further north to the Waltershausen Glacier up North Fiord. Some of the crew warned me that it could so be so far in land that we would not be able to see it. They were also concerned it was taking us too far off our planned route. In the end it was agreed that to come all this way and not try to see it would be a shame. We could sense when the glacier was near as the temperature dropped dramatically and the light appeared to comprise of a million ice crystals giving the landscape a silvery veil.

Day 7: Monday, 3 September 2018, Walterhausen Glacier.

We spent several hours at the glacier as the captain wanted to make the most of the photo opportunity. Both boats managed to set their sails. Again the silence was only interrupted by the sound of the drone overhead. We eventually set sail and started to head south. I wanted to go back through Sofia Sound but was over ruled as it was felt that it would take too long. It was decided to go back down the east coast on the open sea. Another 24 hours of debilitating sickness in spite of taking heavy duty sea sickness tablets. We sailed through the night - again I could hear the sound of the pen recording the ship pitching and rolling next to my pillow. The drawings were much fainter as my pen was running out of ink…

Day 8: Tuesday, 4 September 2018, Greenland Sea

Another day on the open sea. I can’t eat or drink anything so am confined to my bunk. Set up another drawing. The sound of the pen is drowned out by the incessant sound of the anchor banging on the side of the boat as we plough through the waves. It is the first time that I have been really scared that we might not make it. The crew has been on duty all night - I worried that they might fall asleep. I heard the bell for breakfast and emerged on deck. A thick mist had set in and it was impossible to see the landscape.

Day 9: Wednesday, 5 September 2018, Ittoqqortoormiit.

We had left going to the Inuit settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit as the last port of call of the expedition. I had visited in 2016 on the Scoresby Sund voyage when we had been given supper buy one of the local villagers (narwhal and potatoes). It was a beautiful sunny day and I headed up through the village. I visited the church but it was closed - its apparently sinking into the ground. I could hear dogs howling in the background and children laughing - there were toys everywhere. I walked up to the graveyard - all the crosses are facing their traditional hunting grounds. Many of the houses were boarded up. The village is dying as the young people are leaving. We boarded OPAL for the last time and headed for our final anchorage back at Constable Pointin Hurry Inlet. I set up a drawing overnight - I was sad to be leaving as I realised that I would probably never come back again.