Honestly, I have no words for the last couple of days cruising Prins Christian Sund (Prince Christian Sound). I am still in disbelief at the scale, the beauty, and the wild vastness that has surrounded us every where you look through the entire channel. Imagine a post apocalyptic waterworld that would exist if national parks like Zion or Yellowstone Grand Teton were all right next to eachother and then completly flooded with glacier water.
Even the morning fog had an air of mystery to it, despite how dangerous it could be motoring through icebergs you see on the radar and watching out for bergey bits as you get closer. Staring into the blinding fog and suddenly you could see jagged rocky mountains pop out over the mist.
We made a stop in Aappilattoq, a small village that really feels like the epitome of living on a rock. I have always dreamed of living on an island, but even this might be a bit small for me! With about 85 inhabitants, it is the southern most point of inhabitants of Greenland. It really was so picturesque. With the blue skies and full sun, the glacial waters were a BEAUTIFUL aqua blue.
Aappilattoq means “the red thing” and is a reference to the geology of the large mountain that overlooks the village.
We stop for a little over an hour. Enough to wander around town and grab our last chance to restock coffee. The store was minimal, but it did have a fresh baked good section and even a slurpy machine with three flavors! Young children scrambling up the surrounding boulders, and even a toddler wandered over on his own, stopped to fix his shoe and kept on his way down to the dock to who I assume was a fmiliar member just arriving from a day of fishing. It made me think how special it is to be able to live in a place where children are not hovered over, free to explore, and just be kids. I’m not a parent, but there is something about allowing kids to be wild that warms my heart.
As we continued through Prins Christian Sund, we were all in complete disbelief. If it weren’t for the danger of bergey bits coming off icebergs to look out for, we would’ve ignored the icebergs completely. We couldn’t stop admiring the steep cliffs surround us every which way to looked. More waterfalls than we could count, cascading down thousands of feet. I kept wondering what lakes were pooling at the top and how they were all connected to Greenland’s massive glaciers leading towards the north. If it weren’t for the high winds gusting around 25, Brian would’ve gotten some amazing shots for us, but for now you can just use your imagination and take in a sailor’s viewpoint. Or early viking explorer’s viewpoint.
Ted even had his rite of passage of collecting glacier ice for cocktails and his might be the biggest chunk I’ve seen brough aboard so far!
Rice bowls with corn relish, fresh char, and cucumber salad. I was missing Shauna’s desserts so I maded a peach crisp as well!
The further east we went the more wows were said. We were running out of ways to describe WOW, and all I could think of was Owen Wilson and his neverending wows. So I finally decided that “Amaze. Amaze.” would be the best way to describe how we all felt, for anyone who is familar with Project Hail Mary.
Endless numbers of waterfalls and glaciers surrounded us and it was hard to do anything but be in awe of the beauty surrounding us. As we made our way towards the east end of Princ Christian Sund, the wind started straight ahead and we had to bust out the warmer arctic layers to keep ourselves warm. The bite from the cold air coming off the glaciers was enough to remind us how far north we really were.
We poked our bow into a few fjords to check out the glaciers and it’s always fun to watch Graeme steer through the ice cowboy style standing on rails of the cockpit area.
We finally made it to our last anchorage before our passage to Iceland. A nearly abandoned weather station that sits at the east entrance of the Prins Christian Sund called Ikerasaassuaq or formerly Bluie East One. Tying up to the dock was sketchy to say the least but we made it work and soon we were off to explore the station. The station was originally built by the U.S. Army during World War II and later run by Denmark. It is now fully automated, and was really interesting to explore.
I would describe the weather station as a real life version of “Chutes and Ladders”. From the entrance a steep grade of rickety stairs almost get you to the first building, but I learned the hard way that a whole section of it had already been blown away. Luckily the hillside was still a nice scramble and we continued on our journey. A sturdy suspension bridge brought us up to another area of the station to another helipad. Multiple helipads were located throughout and abandoned pulley cable systems still hung in place.
The hum of a generator still powered the lighting through some of the buildings, and you could see how powerful the wind forces could get up to. Some of the buildings were actually strapped down to keep from blowing over. We found one that was completely blown over. Can you imagine what it would be like to work in a place like that everyday on the edge of the world?
We scrambled back down to the boat, and just in time to greet neighboring vessel, SV Karma (Joubert-Nivelt Sauvage 41), which was anchored in small cove. Skippered by a young couple, Heather and Liam, who turns out are originally from Friday Harbor. They recently bought Karma and have been fixing her up, took off from Newport early this May and have been figuring out how to make their way to Portugal in time for a wedding in September. Ted made us an amazing char bake with vegetables but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of it before everyone devoured it. Just imagine how amazing it looked!
Turns out we have mutual friends of course, and it was such a funny concidence to meet of all places in the world at the edge of SE Greenland. We enjoyed swapping stories, turns out they have followed Dogbark in the past, and we enjoyed learning how they were making things happen, without all the bells an whistles of starlink, and an outfitted edpedition boat. They have what they need, and Heather even says she prefers to row the dinghy to save on fuel. I love the can do McGyver attitude they both have. Learning fast and figuring it out as they go along!
A late night visit with new friends is always worth losing a few extra hours of sleep, but our 6am wake up call came much faster than we thought!
Next stop: Iceland!