Back from Greenland

Finally back from Greenland after two great weeks sailing and enjoying the east coast of this magnificent country. The weather was too perfect. Sun everyday but very little wind so we had to motor more than we would have wanted to.

We took two groups across. The first was a climbing expedition heading for Gunnbjornsfjeld, the highest mountain in Greenland (almost 3700 metres) and we headed to Mikis Fjord. The climbers were eight and among them Rhys Jones a 21 year old from UK who has climbed the highest peaks of every continent. An extraordinary feat for that age. What makes this expedition different from most other expeditions to Greenland, is that it´s wind and human powered all the way, just like the old explorers did. We sailed to Mikis Fjord and then the group spent grueling two days hauling all the gear from the coast to the nearest glacier, where 200km of skiing awaited them to the Watkins Mountains Range.

The next trip was planned to Scoresbysund but due to bad ice conditions, we changes our plans and sailed to Tasilaq village on Ammassalik island. Tasiilaq is the biggest settlement on the east coast (pop. 1500) and a very attractive town of bright coloured houses. The locals are mostly hunters but tourism is a growing industry and some very nice handicraft made from bones can be found in the local shops. We spent two days exploring the nearest mountains, hiking and talking to the locals before heading back to Isafjordur, Iceland.