Our failed attempt to reach the shores of Canada
Nuuk – Sisimiut – Ilulissat and our entry into the Arctic Circle
Our failed attempt to reach the shores of Canada
Nuuk – Sisimiut – Ilulissat and our entry into the Arctic Circle
From the 69th to the 77th parallel after 28 hours of continuous navigation
I was soaking up every moment with all my senses. I was not at all concerned about when we would reach our next destination. I was living for the journey in a burning horizon. And the journey... was traveling me.
I was literally lost in distant crimson parallels…
Somewhere in the Arctic Circle!!!
I wanted to fulfill one more dream of mine. I've always had a huge complaint about the short duration of the beloved Aegean sunset.
But now I was in the Arctic Circle and had the Midnight Sun by my side.
It never gets dark in the Arctic Circle during this period.
At 10pm, the sun starts setting until it gets to the point where it stands above the horizon for several hours, and then begins to rise again.
Words cannot describe the way I felt while travelling for so many hours in the purple colors of the almost permanent sunset.
I felt like an active part of a magical image in which I was traveling for hours.
DAY 31st/32nd - Tuesday/Wednesday 2/3 of August 2022
From Ilulissat to Qaanaaq
On Tuesday at 11:00΄ in the morning we left behind us the port of Ilulissat and turned our bow towards the strait of Disco Island , due to the fact that on Wednesday the weather was about to get worse.
The entire bay of Ilulissat was filled with icebergs while the fog was very thick.
We were therefore forced to travel at a very low speed for fully 30 miles until approaching the entrance to the narrow channel formed between Disco Island and the west coast of Greenland. This channel has a northwestern direction with a length of approximately 72 nautical miles and a width varying between 6 and 12 miles.
Fortunately, entering the channel, the visibility got much better so that we could see the large icebergs from a distance of about 100 meters. We increased our speed and were now traveling at over 30 knots.
Time 15:00΄ / Day Tuesday
Position: 70°45΄N 54°50΄W
After 4 hours we were out of the channel, traveling 126 nautical miles with a fuel consumption of 444 liters.
The sea throughout this distance was calm and the air temperature +6 °C.
Time 20:00΄ / Day Tuesday
Position: 72°47΄N 56°09΄W - Upernavik
The sea continued to be by our side and so in the next 5 hours we covered another 130 nautical miles and at 20:00 we entered the port of Upernavik.
Upernavik is located on the western side of a small island with which it bears the same name and is the most important settlement in northwest Greenland with a population of approximately 1,100 inhabitants. On the port side is the fuel station where we filled the main tanks of the boat as well as the large flexible one with 450 liters.
According to the defined program we would spend the night there, but we all wanted to continue our course. So at 21:30΄ we turned our bow towards the North.
After all, “darkness” is an unknown word at this time in these latitudes.
Time 00:15΄ / Day Wednesday
The sun was still high on the horizon even though it was almost midnight. We were several miles north of Upernavik, although our course was strewn with many icebergs and still more small pieces of ice, which we had to break so as to make our way through them. The shivering sound of the small icebergs’ crashes will never be forgotten.
We were determined to continue our course to our ultimate destination, but the situation was really too hard.
One of us was lying in the cabin for an hour, while the other two continued scanning the horizon and looking for channels between the ice.
We had now felt very familiar with the presence of the huge amount of ice, and in a strange way they no longer frightened us.
We were changing our shift at the steering wheel every one hour, in order to keep ourselves alert.
Deep inside me, I wanted to fulfill one more dream of mine.
To travel for many hours through a burning horizon.
And of course, even though I was sleepless, I didn't let this opportunity get wasted.
Time 01:30΄ / Day Wednesday
Position: 74°31΄N 57°30΄W
We were 7 miles outside the small settlement of Kullorsuaq and Devil's thumb.
But we were surrounded by ice.
We were only going at 5 knots and maneuvering between the countless ice floes while trying to approach the village.
We arrived within 5 miles of the small port of Kullorsuaq but the landscape in front of us seemed inaccessible due to the ice.
It didn't scare us though.
Of course, the awe we felt was enormous, while the enchanting and purple painted images made us stand speechless.
But there was a serious danger of being trapped, so after one hour we gave up on our effort and went back to the open sea again.
The sun began to rise slowly over the horizon signaling its sunrise.
Time 07:30΄ / Day Wednesday
Position: 75°22΄N 63°30΄W
My eyelids were heavy, drooping and were slowly closing my eyes.
It was impossible for me to keep them open any longer.
Sometimes my head even tilted down and with great difficulty I raised it again.
Cris was sleeping next to me, in the co-driver’s seat.
Carlos was also inside the cabin.
But I didn't want to wake them up so that they would be rested for the rest journey.
The sea was still calm while the presence of the icebergs got reduced again.
We now only had to push ourselves keep going.
During the last few hours we maintained high cruising speeds of up to 35 knots.
Calculating the fuel we had in our tanks, it seemed not to be enough.
And of course there was always the possibility of encountering ice again and having to deviate from our course.
Our anxiety began to peak again.
Without a second thought, the throttles went back and so we decided to keep cruising at 7 knots for the next two hours to gain some miles of range.
Every half hour we were making divisions calculating our consumption.
When we were sure, we increased our speed again.
We had just 40 nautical miles to approach Qaanaaq which was our final destination.
We had 180 liters in our tanks and we were now sure that we would make it.
But everything could change in an instant.
This was one of the main lessons we learned in these latitudes.
You can never be sure of anything.
The conditions are changing so rapidly that you can experience all seasons within a few hours.
So did our emotions. We had to adjust our feelings due to the continuously changing circumstances.
A constant shift, from joy and optimism to anguish and frustration in a matter of hours.
The same had happened now.
It had not been one hour since the anxiety of fuel had left us and euphoria had taken over when 20 miles before Qaanaaq we found ourselves at an incredible dead end.
An endless ice dam.
Everywhere we looked there was only ice.
An all-white desert, while the brown mountains and their snow-capped peaks could be seen in the background.
As if suddenly the whole ocean froze in front of us.
And we were only 20 miles outside the settlement.
We had traveled 675 miles to get here.
28 hours of continuous, dynamic riding at cruising speeds of 5 to 35 knots.
It wasn't easy at all.
We didn't sleep more than two hours each. Many times we felt exhausted, our head was heavy and drooping and often our eyes closed automatically.
But we persevered and did not give up.
We wanted it very much.
Our passion surpassed any strain and showed our way.
But now this road seemed inaccessible.
We felt like warriors without weapons.
Helpless in front of the wild and frozen Nature, this is the absolute ruler of the Arctic Circle, where it shows its cruelest face. That is why it remains unexplored and untouched by the human being in these latitudes and longitudes.
We were at the end of the world, hundreds of nautical miles away from even a small town.
Everything someone could distinguish was dry rocks and ice.
And of course we had no more fuel.
The feeling of being in the northernmost point of the planet that an inflatable boat had ever reached was unrepeatable and unique.
However, the immense loneliness we experienced was equally unique and terrifying at the same time.
On the other hand, we had to reach the village at all costs.
It was 15:00΄ of Wednesday.
Position: 77°19΄N 70°16΄W
Only the calm sea and the bright sun were our allies.
We were trying to stay calm but anxiety and fear were nestling deep within us.
We concentrated to keep our minds clear and were constantly looking for escape channels.
Our bow turned either to the right or the left, while there were very few times when we went straight.
We were trying to find a way out of the frozen maze and were slowly making our way with a tight stomach.
But each of our efforts eventually failed due to the ice dams, which were constantly showing up on our way.
We struggled for about one hour until we realized that it was impossible to discover the longed-for channel that would lead us to the village.
After that, we stopped at a small opening in the ice to take a few breaths and decongest the enormous tension we felt inside.
Our last option was to use the drone.
We raised it quite high and sent it left and right sweeping almost the full width of the 10 nautical mile channel we were in.
After a few minutes we discerned a small passage between two large icebergs, to our south-east, which led us into a wider channel that appeared to be navigable.
Feelings of joy began getting awaken inside us, as it appeared that there was still hope.
We returned the drone to the boat and with tight smiles we searched for the life-saving passage.
Finally, with the two tall icebergs on our right as a reference point, we managed to get out into the wider channel.
We didn't even care anymore about the fact that we were constantly dropping lots of small pieces of ice with our hull.
All we wanted was to reach the village.
A few hundred meters before the village, the ice got way thinner and now we could clearly see the colorful houses of Qaanaaq on the smooth mountainside.
Screams and shouts of joy came out of us spontaneously, disturbing the absolute silence of the place.
We had succeeded and were once again experiencing the ultimate exchange of emotions.
Anxiety and fear were again replaced from happiness and redemption of our soul.
...keep Ribbing!
