In the wake of Louise Arner Boyd
Voyage 3, Scoresby Sund, Greenland, August 2016
This was my third Arctic voyage in the wake of Louise Arner Boyd. She wrote:
“We visited Scoresbysund, the northernmost colony on the east coat of Greenland, and made brief calls at the Eskimo settlements at Cape Hope and Cape Stewart” (Boyd:1948:3).
I discovered that Cape Hope is another name for the Inuit settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenlandic), probably the most isolated village in the world. The village was founded in the 1920’s by the people from Ammassalik Island and now has approximately 450 inhabitants who make a living mostly by subsistence hunting of seals, narwhal, muskoxen and polar bear.
My husband Chris Wainwright and I flew from London Heathrow to Reykjavic, Iceland. We were booked to sail on the SS OPAL around Scoresby Sund, Greenland on the beautiful two masted (electric) Icelandic sailing schooner owned by North Sailing.
Day 1: Wednesday, 31 August, Keflavik - Constable Point
After an overnight stay in Keflavik at the Blue Lagoon hotel we flew to the airport at Constable Point where the OPAL was waiting for us on the west side of Hurry Inlet in Jameson Land. There were two North Sailing ships anchored, the OPAL and the DONNA WOOD, just offshore, a short zodiac ride away. Once on board after an introduction by the Captain and crew and a safety briefing we were ready to set sail.
Day 2: Thursday, 1 September, Ittoqqortoormiit - Hekla Havn
Sailed west between spectacular icebergs that drift down after calving from the glaciers originating in the inland ice. The glaciers discharge immense icebergs into the waters of the fiords, some of the bergs are more that 300 feet high and many of them assume massive rectangular forms. Owing to relatively shallow water at various points in the fiords and near the mouth of the sound these bergs cannot escape out to sea until their dimensions have been considerably reduced by melting. They form a serious obstacle to navigation in small boats. It may be added that these bergs have prevented ships from penetrating the inner fiords of Scoresby Sound.
Anchored at Hekla Havn, the site of an old Inuit settlement and wintering camp of the first scientific expedition to Scoresby Sound over a hundred years ago.
Day 3: Friday, 2 September, Hekla Havn - Hare Fjord
Cruised through the narrow Føhnfjord with the majestic basalt mountains of Gåseland on the port side and 2000 metres high sheer granite cliffs of Milne Land on the starboard side. At the end of the fiord we anchored at Red Island and went ashore. Later we took a zodiac ride into what is called Iceberg City where hundreds of huge icebergs get stranded. I called it the place where icebergs go to die – the icebergs were like gigantic tombstones. I found it a terrifying as I was afraid that an iceberg might calve at any moment. It was much noisier than I expected with the creaking and cracking of the bergs as they melted.
Arrived in Harefjord for a 2-night anchorage.
Day 4: Saturday, 3 September, Hare fjord
Spent a day ashore in Harefjord with an evening BBQ on the shore.
Day 5: Sunday, 4 September, Harefjord-Jyttes Havn
Sailed eastwards through Øfjord where the towering mountain peaks and granite cliffs stretch 200 metres up from the sea.
Overnight anchorage at Jyttes Havn.
‘An Artists View’, Anne Lydiat, 2016