2003 Solo Kayak Expedition Upernavik Kangersuatsiaq
Laksefjord, Orpit, Icecap Aappilattoq Upernavik, Greenland
Gail E. Ferris
7/21/03
packing and preparation at home in Sony
Creek, CT
kayak: set up boat called Mark Eckhardt about
problems in frame he took my advice.
fishing: I repaired my
freshwater telescoping fishing rod and replaced reel with an old reliable spin
casting Garcia reel. Prepared the
jigging lures converting the treble hooks on of the lures to a single hook for
catching Ulk / Shorthorned Sculpin because the treble hook is too much of a
project to get out of the fish's mouth.
Took lures with bright spinner and tied treble hook with either white,
white and red or orange and red. The
spinner is white with red or silver with red or gold with red. Red is the key color for attracting most
fish in the Arctic.
7/22/03
Electronic data
recording equipment
Because I can type faster than I can write
and I hate doing things twice I bought the Sony CLIE SJ 22 for electronically
recording my data. I was pleased with
how well it functioned. I found the
action and design of the keys on the PEGA-KB11 CLIE keyboard felt very
comfortable I could type for hours on this keyboard. Unfortunately during in my trip the Clie lost its charge I
suspect was due to the cold and never functioned. Currently I use it at club meetings to record minutes and it
functions perfectly www.sonystyle.com.hk/clie/app/sj22/index.jsp
preparation of food is in progress I
am taking mostly food which does not have to be cooked major ingredient will be
rolled oats, but seeds especially high in both fats and proteins are the second
most important in my diet neither items require cooking.
Paddles Warner take apart 7.5 foot or 230 cm Werner Wenatchee whitewater paddle
feathered left right or unfeathered.
Spare paddle is the same.
7/23/03
packing Today because it is
raining intermittently I am working on several items I need to finish up the
food and pack all the food into small drybags.
GPS prep and
batteries I am taking is the Garmin GPS 76 which floats as well as being
waterproof and runs on 2 Aappilattoq rechargeable batteries. The fact that this GPS floats is a good
quality. My previous GPS was much
heavier and filled up with water while sitting in the bottom of my kayak
overnight rendering it useless.
I added a lanyard to the battery cover and
to keep track of which battery is where I number the batteries inside so that
when I recharge these batteries I will know which battery is which.
solar panel I installed on my Unisolar Flexible UFF-5 solar panel www.hamiltonferris.com/
cigarette lighter female plug. This was the perfect solution because all my
auto rechargers have a male cigarette lighter plugs.
I am taking 4 FM-50 batteries for my still
camera http://store.yahoo.com/laptopsforless/digcamlition1.html
after market batteries. NP-FM50,
Lithium-Ion. The lithium ion batteries are much better than the old NiCad batteries
because they hold a larger charge and weigh much less. I used to carry tons of extra weight just in
batteries and I would shoot very short video scenes because I never knew when
my batteries might die.
I packed the traditional waterproof writing
pad and pen Rite-in-the-Rain the same I have been using reliably since 1989, just
in case! www.riteintherain.com/.
Still
Camera: I replaced my Olympus OM-1N
with a Sony Mavica MVC–CD400 www.sonystyle.com/ digital camera taking both still and
low resolution video. I experimented
taking close up pictures this camera will go to 1/10 of a meter so it captures
spider silk and pollen on flowers nicely.
This
camera uses mini CDs which is so much easier than tape because the cd is non
linear and very inexpensive a package of 50 costs $36.00 http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=50CDQ22LSKIT
The
Sony Mavica MVC–CD400 uses lithium batteries NP-FM50. I took four NP-FM50, Lithium-Ion
batteries and I bought my extra batteries via
http://store.yahoo.com/laptopsforless/digcamlition1.html at $29.00.
I had a problem keeping my batteries recharged and I suspect that my
solar panel was not able to function at full capacity or that the operating
temperature was too low. Slightly
overcast weather with temperatures in the 50’s may have been a contributing
factor as instructions do state the recharging is done between 50 and 86
degrees F. Ah the Arctic it is just a
little cold there, even in the summer.
Food prep packing I choose Glad bags
sandwich bags because the zippers close the best and the colored yellow and
blue sides of the zippers are much easier to visually match up becoming green
when joined securely.
The weekly supply of food includes grains
and seeds I am taking are two sandwich bags full of old fashioned rolled oats,
sesame seeds, raw flax seeds, raw and roasted sunflower seeds, roasted pepita
or pumpkin seeds, dried currents to be eaten raw and carried readily available
in the cockpit while underway. Separate
bags of brown sugar, unsweetened carob chips, Soy Quick beverage, ground
lentils, etc. were planed for cooked meal eating. Approximate total weight of each drybag is 6.5 lbs. a supply for
each week. None of the food is freeze
dried on this trip however on other trips I utilized combined freeze dried
foods with dehydrated.
Each bag will
have an easy to read label with a number for each week so I do not start using
the food from one bag and then another and wind up with an unbalanced choice of
food.
One big factor in the choice of food is
taste. I will have plenty of the
essential ingredients however subtle things such as flavor I will have in the
foods from Fantastic www.fantasticfoods.com
, 6 to 7 serving 7 oz. packages of
Spinach Parmesan Hummus, Refried Beans, Spinach Hummus, and Poulenta. Casbah four serving 7oz. packages
of Lemon Spinach CousCous and Nuts with Currants and Spice CousCous. All of
these items are designed to be boiled for 5 minutes however I find that I can
make them with boiling water poured over them in a polyethylene closed container
allowed to stand for 10 minutes.
Previously I discovered that dehydrated foods with particle sizes less
than quarter inch diameter can be made with boiling water poured over them in
an opaque polyethylene closed container allowed to stand for 10 minutes.
Now there are Ziplock and other companies
making Seal & Lock containers for microwave, freezer and dishwasher, which
I suspect will not heat stress crack as the opaque polyethylene containers do.
Drybags I am able to fit
each week supply of food into a Bone Dry expedition dry bag lined with sewn
Tyvek lined bags. I made Tyvek liners
because the interior of the drybags tends to grab being not at all slippery
making them hard to fill.
I need to design and make foam padded bags
for the camera and Clie SJ-22
Wild Food: I will augment my food by catching
Ulk and if I am lucky enough catching sea urchins and possibly some shellfish
especially clams. Green Sea urchins are
lovely. Ulk are dumb easy to catch.
packing and
preparation 7/24/03
Some of my important contacts are Adam Grim
at Aapillatoq, http://iserit.greennet.gl/adamgrim/
, Upernavik Museum, Bo Albrechtsen Museumsleder upernavik.museum@greennet.gl and Kjeld
Hansen, Vikingskib Museum, Roskilde, DENMARK.
I will gather bird data and lichen samples.
I bought a Davis Mark3 sextant the old one
lost the silver off the mirrors. I
packed my maps and found my protractor. I added string through the middle of the protractor so that I can
measure angles over large surfaces on the maps. I have both 1:80,000 and 1:250,000 maps.
I can take a reading with the GPS and the
sextant. Then I can extrapolate with
the protractor on the map to double check where I am. I will use the sextant as a protractor or http://www.celestaire.com/catalog/Marine_Sextants/Davis/
as a peloris to measure the angles between landforms among these fjords. There are endless islands and peninsulas of
granite just perfect for this type of navigating. www.celestaire.com/page7.html Davis Mark 3 sextant. This plastic sextant is crude but it is fine for this application
the mirrors loose their silver in the salt water.
I also just for fun brought a magnetic
compass. Frederica DeLaguna mentioned that her compass would tell her where all
the oar bodies on the islands in Upernavik were. There is large
deposits extremely pure iron in this area. This is described as hypersthene
iron. http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/hypersth/hypersth.htm
I put together all the electronic equipment
into a small 6-inch diameter dry bag.
Considering what I have for equipment this trip, it is amazing that this
equipment weighs one tenth of what I previously carried and has much greater capability.
The solar panel transformers each have their
own little bag. I put the Aappilattoq
solar panel recharger in with the other items because everything is charged up
for the moment. I have 8 Aappilattoq
batteries total and the battery tester so I will know which battery needs to be
recharged.
For the Clie I modified the original bag by
sewing in a partition and adding on a small bag just for the computer cable
however I will not be able to connect it to a computer and read the contents
because I am not taking the CD with the software program to hook both
together. I wouldn't be surprised if
Adam Grim happens to have the software.
Adam is a computer wiz.
For a radio I am taking the Grundig Mini 100
PE, which is powered by 2 Aappilattoq batteries this radio handles FM, AM and
SW divided into 6 bands it is not digital tuning. Its size is about the size of a cigarette package with a built in
speaker, plug in earphones and a monaural converter for the earphones.
For testing Aappilattoq batteries I bought a
Radio Shack #22-093 tests all batteries in that range D, C, AA, Aappilattoq and
9V.
maps I am taking are:
ONC-B8, lower right corner includes Kap
Seddon to Søndre Upernavik,
Grønlands Vestkyst, Prøven (Kangersuatsiaq)
- Upernavik # 1710 scale 1:80,000 latitude 73 degrees 30 minutes shows height
in meters and soundings in meters 50 meter between contour lines.
Igdlorssuit Sund to
Prøven #38420 contour intervals 200 meters
Saga Map Upernavik 1:250,000
Saga
Map Upernavik Nord Upernavik Avannarleq contours 50 meters 1:250,000
Geological Map Sheet 4 Upervavik Isfjord
1:500,000 contours 200 meters
7/25/03 packing
I packed a printout of geology in Upernavik
in with the botany, bird and lichen identification material I photocopied years
ago. I thought it might be handy this
time to read about the local geology while I am looking at rocks and
plants. There are some interesting
deposits of calcium among the igneous granite and there are basalt formations
there. Sanderson's Hope a 4000 ft high
mountain is all basalt blocks.
I made sure everything has a lanyard on it
that is to be on deck.
I started working on my life jacket. I am taking a regular foam whitewater jacket
which I added a large pocket on the back.
I am debating if it is worth taking the EPIRB. It does work.
7/26/03
I telephoned HC to make the initial plans to
visit Kangersuatsiaq to visit Samuel Knudsen a most gifted artist and writer.
Although this may sound extremely trivial I
packed earplugs because I find a slatting tent very nerve wracking. The only escape is to either use earplugs or
leave the tent. I have never adjusted to
the continual din of slatting tent fabric.
From LLBean I will wear for regular walking
a pair of Snow Sneakers VN# 05365, because they are lightweight, waterproof and
close with Velcro.
Greenland Rejse Bureau 011 45 3313 1011, Copenhagen@greenland-travel.dk
.
Greenland
Air 011 299 34 3434, Upernavik Tourist Service 011 299 96 1700.
I found out I can camp near the helicopter
port at Upernavik. I would have to take
a taxi to the heliport and then haul all of my gear to the site on my
back. This trek would be physically
demanding because this is a lengthy walk up and over and then down again to the
camping area aside the water.
If the rocks are wet they are slippery
another unwelcome risk I would have to cope with.
I have camped in that place before. I especially like that spot because water
comes right down the hill and it is easy to launch my kayak from the flat rock
ramps there. These ramps are gradual
and face west which allows me to roll my kayak on pool noodles up and down the
ramps. At the top of the ramp I can
lift the kayak to safety up on top of a rock ledge and tie it off above the
reach of the waves.
I could tell this would be the case by the
condition of plants on the rocks because the plants do not show wave
erosion.
Now that I am over fifty my long distance
vision has deteriorated to my needing glasses.
From an experience while wearing glasses when rowing, I discovered that
I do need peripheral vision I choose to wear contact lenses. I have worked out a system for being able to
wear them without needing to remove them for months by constantly lubricating
them every time I feel them becoming dry especially when I wake up at night. I take
the precaution of always having a 5 ml bottle of eye drops with me.
The reason why I
prefer contact lenses is that my eyes are fully functional near, far and
peripheral vision at all times.
The advantage I have with lenses is I have
much better overall vision allowing a noticeable improvement my responses are
much quicker in avoiding flying objects of danger to my eyes and complete
peripheral vision. Even having been
sprayed directly in my eye with pressurized water did not dislodge a lens
however I have not tried swimming with them on. I gather that since they are a good fit swimming would not cause
them to dislodge.
For
fine reading I need glasses.
travel agenda
07/31/03 leave car at home, be driven to
airport via private carrier due to excess baggage
07/31/03 Depart Newark NJ SAS at 17:10
08/01/03 Arrive Copenhagen Denmark 06:50 am
08/01/03 Depart Copenhagen Denmark Greenland Air 09:15 am
08/01/03 Arrive
Kangerlussuaq/Søndrestrøm Greenland 09:55 am
08/01/03 Depart Kangerlussuaq Greenland Greenland Air 10:30 am
08/01/03 Arrive Ilulissat 12:05 pm
Overnight
Ilulissat/Jachobshavn I stayed at the sports hall as I have done in the past
for 100 Dkr much cheaper than a hotel.
08/02/03 Depart
Ilulissat Greenland Air 13:40
08/02/03 Arrive Upernavik 15:05
My return travel
was:
8/26/03 Depart Upernavik
Greenland Air 15:10
8/26/03 Arrive Ilulissat
16:35
8/26/03 Overnight Ilulissat
8/27/03 Arrive
Kangerlussuaq 08:00
8/27/03 Depart
Kangerlussuaq Greenland Air 11:10
8/27/03 Arrive Copenhagen Denmark 19:30
Store
luggage at airport, take cab to Youth Hostel closest to airport, Overnight at
Copenhagen Youth Hostel
8/28/03 Depart
Copenhagen Denmark SAS 12:05
8/28/03 Arrive
Newark, NJ 14:30
8/28/03 be
driven home via private carrier due to excess baggage
arrival at Upernavik
I flew from
Ilullisat to Upernavik arriving at 3:30 in the afternoon. http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/greenland.htm
What a thrill to
finally fly into Upernavik by fixed wing aircraft, a Dash 7. I had lived in Upernavik when construction
of the airport was begun in 1998 but I left in 1999.
The construction
job required specialized heavy equipment and explosives to blow up the rock
brought in by ship from Denmark.
Everything comes
from Denmark, which is much farther away than Canada or USA because Greenland
is a colony of Denmark.
Upernavik Island
itself is solid granite with a thin layer of dirt as are all of the islands in
this region.
Such a joy it
was to feel the airplane glide low over Lang Island and just kiss the ground on
touch down just a very short distance away.
I was completely surprised that the pilot flew over Sanderson’s at 1042
meters and in 3.5 nautical miles dropped down to 220 meters and in 1 nautical
mile landed us at 150 meters without gaining speed. When he brought us down he reversed props just about dime landing
us at the very start of the runway.
Dash 7 aircraft
are designed as short runway aircraft and in this experience of landing at
Upernavik I would describe as “dime” landing aircraft. www.airgreenland.gl/viewPage.php
This airport
runs north south with absolutely no shelter as it runs down the spine of the
island. There are times when flights
have to be canceled because the cross winds are easily enough to flip an
airplane on its back in a moment. It
can get fiercely windy in Upernavik.
Now there is consistent
taxi service in Upernavik, which was not the way it was in the past. In the past I have used Lasø, Upernavik
Museum and the school to transport me and all of my bags. And guess what they took me for free. I live a charmed life!
This time when I arrived
coincidentally by my own innocent mistake I thought I recognized a solid
looking hardworking gentleman as the school janitor. I thought that just as in the past that I could simply ask him
for a free ride with all my bags down the hill to the water or where ever. This time I felt my gratis request was even
more justified because I was looking for HC the school director a very dear
friend.
Oh the things we do, and
so innocently too!
I walked up to
Lars whom I had mistaken as the school janitor. Even though he drove a truck for Lasø Company I just assumed the
truck was on loan to the school for some temporary reason.
What emboldened
me further was that Lars happened resembled my dear friend HC a very solid
older Dane, the best type.
And the plot
thickens!
Unawares I told
Lars that I wanted to find HC. I was
very serious about it and he took me very seriously.
We started off
by driving to HC’s house but he was not at home so we continued, droving down
to the bottom of the hill to the harbor because we knew that HC keeps his boat
there. We both decided that he must be
there.
Sure enough HC
was on his boat. He was not off sailing
because he was involved with some repair.
This time of
year every one in Greenland goes to visit their relatives by motorboat any time
they have the opportunity during the summer.
http://iserit.greennet.gl/nickykr/upernavik-uk.html
Visiting by boat
is an ancient tradition stemming from when these seafaring people traveled in
umiaqs. Each town is on an island; the
only way is during the winter by dog sled or now snow mobile and in the summer
presently by motorboat or in the past by umiaq. http://www.upernivik.gl/images/Den%20gamle%20butik/DSCN0033.JPG
http://www.upernivik.gl/The%20Old%20Shop.htm
Lars took me to
the harbor side where I used to always launch when I lived in Upernavik from
1997 to 1999. The area had now been
filled in with rock to reshape the harbor for a second pier. Now the rock ramps were buried under 15 to
20 feet of rock, thus eliminating that area for launching my kayak.
I was surprised
at this change but this does improve the harbor for accommodating large ships
and boats in general.
From that harbor
I decided the only possibility was to have my things taken to the museum and
launch the next day from the Old Harbor.
I asked Lars to
drive me across town. On the way I
mentioned to Lars that I did not know where Bo Albrectsen the museum director
lived. http://iserit.greennet.gl/inussuk/dk-sider/dk-index.htm
Just at that
moment we happened to be opposite his house. Lars immediately turned into the driveway telling me that Bo lived
there and that he was working on his house outside.
Sure enough Bo
was up on a ladder fitting planks into the side of his house. He came down and Lars introduced me to
him. www.nkhorizons.com/index.html
I had never met
Bo except by talking with him on the telephone. Bo and I became instant friends because we share this same
passion for this special place in Greenland.
I was able to overnight in comfort thanks to the generous hospitality of
Bo.
I had plenty of extra time my friends were not around whom I had
expected to find in town because they were off visiting elsewhere and were not
returning until school started the following week.
I stopped at the police station I knew some of them from years earlier
and met the new police chief. We had
coffee together this is the typical Greenland hospitality on this sort of
occasion. I told the policeman and
others in town that I was going to Kangersuatsiaq however I did not know or
realize that for these people they either must know when I was going to be
arriving or I should contact them to tell them where I am as I am making the
journey. This means that I need to have
a satellite phone for my next visit to Upernavik.
I had no idea that in this culture such an issue would be so
important. HC told me this important
information.
In 1989 when I was at Pond Inlet no one seemed to care when anyone was
arriving all they cared about was where were they going but when they got there
did not matter. I thought the culture
had not changed but indeed Inuit culture has changed greatly in these last few
years with the invention of the satellite phone.
8/2/03 Launch from Old Harbor
The next morning was bright and sunny with a friendly sea running. The sky was blue as blue could be and the
water was a deep blue all the rocks showed their beautiful shades of pink, tan
and white granite minerals. This was to
be a beautiful day for taking photographs while I was on the water. The far away islands looked as though they
were only just over there, a refractory day.
Sanderson’s Hope the pyramidal mountain had hardly a cloud near it. The day looked glorious, just the day to get
on the water and go.
We all were in a hurry, I convinced a friend of mine to drive me with my
bags to the Old Harbor to save myself
all the time and effort of lugging my boat and gear.
I assembled my kayak on the convenient granite ramp. I always have to remind myself to be careful
and methodical so I do not have to disassemble and reassemble the whole thing
as I discover that I forgot something.
Some fellows who knew me were working at their motorboats eyeing me and
I told them I was going to Kangersuatsiaq.
Of course in Greenland when you tell somebody something it travels all
over the commune before you know it.
Naturally everyone in Kangersuatsiaq and Upernavik knew what I was up
to. It is a little difficult to arrive
with all sorts of baggage pull out a red boat put it together and take off
without being noticed. Word gets around
“that American lady, you know ----, well she is back again and guess what?“
My kayak went together without a hitch a great relief to me. The rudder assembled and the cables ran
easily through all the holes connecting up with the foot pedals. I put the seat in which took some thinking
because it was different from the Klepper seat but it went in fine. I tested the seat and foot pedals just to be
sure that they were where I wanted them.
I knew that once I launched I would not come in for a landing for many
miles because of the sea running I would have to go around a corner an paddle a
number of miles to find a landing place out of the waves.
I have never been able to adjust my seat when I am on the water alone. It is just not possible.
Now comes the loading part. I
brought my boat closer to the water because I wanted it as close as possible
once it was loaded for the launching. I put on my drysuit and brought down the
rest of my equipment.
I had never loaded down a kayak with loading ports. Wow what a difference. The loading went so quickly my drybags,
which are 6 inch cylinders just slid through those hatches like greased lightening. I loaded the largest bags first and ended
with my shortest ones last. I was just
shocked. I couldn’t believe loading
could be this easy. I am so accustomed
to that gruesome fight when I load my Kleppers.
The deck hatches are designed for expedition paddling. The outer cover fits over a solid ring that
is glued and sewn into the deck. This
hatch cover is watertight and attached firmly to the kayak inside the cockpit
lip with Delrin fittings and one-inch nylon webbing so they can be removed if
necessary but can be resecured solidly.
The inner deck hatch is water tight of flexible Teflon coated nylon with
a fold over seal that clips together with Delrin fittings just like a
drybag. The deck hatches are very solid
and water tight.
In a moment not only did I have my boat loaded but also I could adjust
my load for distribution side-to-side and front to back. I was able to reach everything. I was able to tie all the bags so that if
the worst was to happen such as my boat filling up with water I knew that my
gear would stay where I put it within the boat. I did not have to worry about my load shifting destabilizing my
kayak. That was a great relief as it is
a well-known fact that the gear floats into the cockpit in a swamped kayak.
I arranged my deck so that everything I would need I could reach from my
seat. The stunt kite for auxiliary
power should I not be able to paddle, was tied on in place of the sail I used
to carry. The extra paddle was put into
the paddle holders on the outside of the deck.
The bowline was tied off where I could easily reach it. The tuck under spray skirt was on securely
and the sponsons were fully inflated.
Inside the cockpit shock cord loops were tied in place with food, water,
fishing gear and other items within my reach.
My deck had extra D ring tie downs, which I threaded bungie cord through
making X’s and cross lines crisscrossing between the mast step and cockpit lip
of my expedition sprayskirt.
The map in my chart case on one side was set for local paddling and
opposite side for long distance paddling.
Beneath this bungie across my deck just In front of me I positioned and
tied on my chart case with a short bungie cord of its own so that I could pull
it out from beneath the deck bungies read it in my lap and flip it over.
I took the first waypoint on my GPS and tied onto the deck. The GPS I would access and put in waypoints
whenever I came across anything especially interesting or a bird-nesting
site. The GPS shows reading much more
precisely than trying to figure them out on the map later.
In this part of the trip I am already fully familiar with this area.
In my lifejacket were my binoculars, EPIRB, Mylar space blanket, my
hood, sun and insect lotion, emergency food, matches, wool gloves and mosquito
head net.
My clothing beneath my Kokotat drysuit was two thin layers of polyethylene
underwear a heavy wool sweater a Telfon coated fabric jacket and pants, wool
socks on my feet.
Outside of my drysuit I was wearing my sunglasses, baseball cap
windproof scarf
On my paddles were my pogies.
Between my legs was to be the camera in a drybag.
Behind my seat I put two partially one gallon bags of water. I had gotten the water at the museum. I always carry extra water so that if I have
to camp where there is no water I will be okey. I figured from my other trips that I use a gallon of water in a
day.
I did not bring any firearms because in this area since there are so
many people constantly on the water I am unlikely to encounter a polar bear and
walrus are seem once a year at most.
I took a look at the waves motor boating friends suggested I wait for
the seas to die down or take the longer protected inside route. There had been high seas for at least a week
caused by storms off shore most likely to the north because the seas and winds
were from the north. The wind was 15
knots seas 2 to 3 feet, not all that bad but for motor boaters going south as I
was to Kangersuatsiaq this was a miserable ride.
I looked and said to myself “Oh boy this is going to be a nice free
ride. The wind and the waves will push
me right down to Kangersuatsiaq”.
A friend from Tassiusaq helped me launch he looked a little anxious but
I bet I also looked anxious too. I felt
so wonderful getting into my kayak at long last.
Launching required we pick up the ends of the kayak and carry it to the
water. The Mark I does have excellent
handles very well attached to the hull capable of sustaining the weight of a
loaded kayak.
Even though this was the first time I have paddled this kayak I had no
the least bit of doubt in my mind that this would be a wonderful kayak.
I was not worried about if this kayak could handle this condition of following seas.
I couldn’t resist and so I
choose the outside route. This was the
route I had taken in 1993 and I felt reunited with this world I missed so much
after all these years and overcoming all these fears, which had prevented me
from undertaking this special trip. I
had a goal and I was fulfilling this goal that I had set for myself while I was
working at the Upernavik Museum in 1998 when I came across Samuel Knudsen’s
linoleum prints of Kvitoker. It was
these prints that inspired me to go and see this gifted man, to go to the town
he lives in and to buy some of his prints so that I could have them for myself
and to share these prints with the rest of the world. Gifted artists need their gifts to be shared wit the rest of the
world.
Setting off in these
following seas I wanted to take advantage of the free ride I would get from
being pushed along by the following seas and wind. GPS position at Upernavik
was 72
32.890´N, 56 09.231W http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx?refid=701550020
I knew the Mark 1 was
designed with its longer waterline, hybrid rudder and expedition spray skirt to
handle these waves. There is nothing
like a good ride in the waves with an absolutely comfortable boat.
I started out heading into
the sun passing Sanerardleq Island a small island where people from Upernavik
camp in the summer. Then I passed
Pamiua/Søndre Næs a long steep peninsula on Langø/Akia Island. Then I stayed more out to sea I did not feel
like hugging the shore. I passed nearer
to Madsens ø / Timilia Island because it just seemed to fit the character of
this trip. My trip on the open water
would be the shortest most direct route to Kangersuatsiaq.
I had paddled close to this
island Qaersorssuaq / Sandersons Hope.
I enjoyed feeling my kayak
passing so deftly over the two and three foot waves as the wind pushing me very
nicely along.
Then I spotted one of those
landmarks that just takes your breath away.
It was the cliffs at Ingia.
Here I paddled closer to
this large island, Qaersorssuaq.
At Qaersorssuaq Island on
the last west facing peninsula, Ingia, were brilliant white bands of
porphyritic feldspar interlacing with brown granite. http://geology.csupomona.edu/alert/igneous/texture.htm
http://geology.csupomona.edu/alert/igneous/igmin.htm
I took some exquisite
pictures of the brilliant minerals with my kayak bow in the foreground and the
deep blue water leading up to the dramatic white striped brown cliffs
surrounded with bright blue sky.
This area Upernavik is well
known for its profusion of flowers this comes from the widespread potassium
feldspar in the granite, which enriches the soil fertilizing the plants. www.pgrgem.com/color/datasheets/pgrplag.html
I was more or less paddling
in a straight line or at least it looked straight to me in my kayak.
I decided to head between
two islands, Tine and Anaanaa. I had
not seen before from my kayak
Paddling became more
interesting. The waves bunched up in
the restrictions between the islands, which made me perk up and take
notice.
I found a few birds on these
islands.
Then I headed for the next
opening between the islands Kangeq and Singarnaq. Between the previous and these islands was a good view of Sorthul
/ Akornat although I took a picture it was not as exciting as if I had been
closer in. This area is famous as a
bird nesting site for Awks. Thousands
of birds come to nest every year here. www2.dmu.dk/1_viden/2_Publikationer/
3_fagrapporter/rapporter/FR345.pdf
I felt very pleased with my
kayak because I was very comfortable in it and liked the way it handled in
these following seas.
I found it was easy to open
my sprayskirt, take out my camera from its drybag, take pictures put my camera
away, close up my spray skirt, consult my GPS and be underway.
On Kangeq and Singarnaq
Islands I spotted a navigational markers and noted some more birds.
I could have probably
stopped on Singarnaq Island and camped but I had energy to push on. I had made about 19 miles. I was making such fine progress and I was
pleased to be accomplishing long open crossings. My longest crossing was seven
miles. Those long crossings were a major accomplishment for me. I felt comfortable doing them and I felt
comfortable with my kayak.
All was going along fine but
as the chaotic following seas began building and I could feel the need for more
helm control I readjusted my rudder depth to give me more grab, I really didn’t
want to go for a broach. The rudder
adjusted perfectly smoothly while all was chaos around me. I thought to myself “Nothing like a good
rudder”.
I put my camera away and closed up my spray skirt. It was time to experience my kayak showing
her colors. The fetch was beginning to
have an more decided effect.
After the long stretch from
between Kangeq and Singarnaq Islands as I was padding in a restriction between
Qalilik and Sagdleq Island I had one moment when a large especially steep wave
grabbed me.
Sudden acceleration took
place as the steep wave hurled me. I
felt my kayak rear up on a steep angle and start to lunge violently down the
face of the wave. My kayak was about to
bury its bow going over for a pearl or an ender. http://www.niftytricks.com/kayak/ftricks/pender.html
In a flash I leaned out on
my paddle hard in a low brace to slow down.
From all my years of
paddling both open water and whitewater slalom as I instinctively I leaned out
on my flattened paddle in a low brace toward the oncoming wave, my kayak
responded nicely by slowing down. The
rip snorting wave passed innocently under my hull. Whew! that was a little touchy moment. Now the waves had built up with just enough momentum in these
narrows to get my attention.
I stopped periodically to
take GPS readings where I saw birds on rocks.
There were not more than 25 birds in any group I saw on my journey
southward.
|
#8 |
08/03/03 |
16:11 EDT |
72 46.967´N |
55 56.870´W |
Singatnaq Ø singarnap nua small bird nesting site |
|
#9 |
08/03/03 |
16:11 EDT |
72 32.888´N |
55 56.864´W |
Singatnaq Ø singarnap nua small bird nesting site |
|
#10 |
08/03/03 |
18:56 EDT |
72 27.927´N |
55 47.355´W |
Sagdleq Ø bird cliffs small
bird nesting site |
I used my camera just
pulling it out of the drybag and clicking pictures as necessary. I had taken the precaution before of
installing an Ultraviolet filter mounted on a cone, which protected the
telescoping lens completely.
The last thing I wanted to
have happen was some seawater to get into my camera. I checked my camera for sea water by licking the housing anytime
I thought I might be getting some salt onto it as salt can come from my fingers
or anywhere. I had no problem taking
pictures in these 15 to 20 knot following seas. Some of the settings I had set such as film speed at ASA 200 but
I adjusted the zoom wide-angle focus to suit the image I wanted to
capture. I let the camera operate on
auto focus because the camera could take better pictures on these settings than
me. I was bouncing up and down rather
abruptly.
I found with correct light
conditions I could take a picture that is of the same quality while driving my
car at 50 mph just as if I were stopped.
I found generally the camera
takes better pictures than I except on close up.
Sunlight
early August
At 11 pm the light was just a grey half light as the sun does not set
until some time in mid August, depending on which mountain you are behind or on
top of.
Each town has its own sunset time because of the local topography in
Kullorsuaq we were behind Holm Island so we had to wait for the sun to rise
over the mountains on that island due south of us. That day is a big celebration.
A way of cheating if you want to is to take a plane or helicopter ride
but that is not fair!
In Upernavik I walked up to the teledisk, which is the highest point on
the island, it did not make much difference the official sunrise was really the
best sunrise.
Sun set in Upernavik except late fall occurs over open water most of the
year so there is not way to extend that time.
The weirdest thing in December and January is to watch the moon go
around and around turning different
colors
as it goes in the middle of the winter.
There is nothing weirder than seeing a full moon in yellow, orange and
pink.
Back to camping my first night I retrieved all my things through my deck
hatches.
Deck
Hatches
Deck hatches are so nice, you don’t have to stand on your head and do
extreme contortions trying to get that thing you need which has now just slid
itself beyond your fingertips. Oh yes
there are all sorts of little advices given to paddlers such as pack all the
things you need the most nearest your cockpit.
Sure great idea. Fine that means
most of everything.
Unloading
for camping
Then of course the hardest things to get out are cooking things, tent
and sleeping bag because they are bulky.
I opened my deck hatches and took out the drybags, which had my
necessary overnight camping gear. I
pushed the gear into my shoulder bags, slung them onto my shoulders and trudged
up the bank in search of a flat spot to sleep.
The ground was soft and hummocky but that was not all that bad, better
than had it been littered with sharp rock.
I saw the low remains of what had been sod house walls from earlier than
the 1960’s.
I found a spot in between the soft damp grassy lumps and bumps, which
were not too bad, just slightly slanted fairly comfortable spot. I plopped my gear down. I was sleepy. I was so sleepy that I had trouble bothering with do anything
other than just crawling inside my sleeping bag and nodding off
immediately.
I returned to my kayak to tie it off both bow and stern with my bow and
throw line and close up the hatches and cockpit properly.
On the way back up the bank, which was soft but relatively steep I
noticed many fragments of bone washing out of the sod. The only explanation for this is that this
island had been lived upon, how long I do not know but I have the feeling that
it is a favourite place for hunting that has been used for untold ages. I was very excited to think that here I had
come all the way from America and by accident to have found this place where
people have been because they liked this spot.
Such is the excitement of being in the Arctic.
I pulled out my tent only to discover that it was not in the shape I had
packed it age had caught up with it.
The urethane coated fabric had decomposed to just shreds. Oh boy now what.
I was not going to let that bother me the weather was fine I was
comfortable dry and warm thanks to my Kokotat Gore-Tex drysuit. I couldn’t have been more comfortable while
paddling between the Kokotat drysuit and the ride of the Mark I and its
wonderful seat design.
I pulled out my Gore-Tex bivi sack, sleeping bag, Thermarest pad www.the
rmarest.com/ and space blankets assembled everything took off my
drysuit crawled in and fell asleep. I
ate some oatmeal seed mix when I felt hungry and drank some water.
It was a quiet evening and next morning there was a grey sky with slight
mist over the water.
8/3/03 I ate breakfast broke camp packed my boat and got underway. No waves.
I headed for the last few miles to Kangersuatsiaq a little town I had
heard about but never got to set foot in.
Previously in 1993 ten years before this trip I paddled in this area but
I did not have the confidence to paddle the open water to this town I was
afraid. I dreaded the crossing and
thought months and months about the four mile crossing I was to make to
Eqaluarsuit / Laksefjorden.
This trip 2003 I had to face paddling much longer distances between
landing points passages I had resolved my fears by overcoming them through my
spiritual life. Discovering that I am an alcoholic and doing something about
it, joining AA. I carry a bible with me
and read the psalms because the psalms speak directly to me about how only
faith in a higher power, God, is the only way to handle my acute fright.
8/3/03 I awoke to a slightly grey morning with a quiet sea my boat
resting on the rocks slightly jammed in among them but no harm done to my
rudder.
I ate my dry breakfast of oatmeal, seeds and dried fruit and drank some
water. I was so glad that I did not
have to have caffeine what a relief to be rid of that addiction. My philosophy about living life and
exploration is try to get rid of things that waste time and energy. For this reason I got rid of the caffeine
addiction which took some doing. I had
to cut down for two weeks to a half a cup a day before I could get rid of the
headache that would come if I did not have my coffee. I purposefully have short
hair so that my hair stays out of my way and if I forget to bother with combing
it in the morning it doesn’t matter. I
wear contact lenses all the time so I don’t have to bother with having to find
my glasses.
Packing the boat
I packed myself back into my boat with another one of those just pop the
drybags through the hatches, put the lids on and be gone type of deals. So fast and easy I couldn’t believe it again
I missed standing on my head doing all sorts of awful contortions to do the
gruesome task of jamming my bags past the foot pedals and you can imagine the
rest. Nothing like deck hatches, so
nice.
Launching
I slid and worked my kayak over the slippery seaweed coated rocks in to
the water.
I went about this holding onto the boat as I stepped from rock to rock
and when I felt I had to I walked on both my hands as well as my feet. I used any method I could think of to avoid
slipping and falling on these two foot boulders.
Artificial hip
subluxation risk
For me with an artificial hip this kind of maneuver is very scary because if I make the wrong move or get my leg jammed
into an odd angle or slip and fall that may be the end of all my kayaking
exploration forever. Should I sublux this artificial joint the possibility of the
same happening again will be even easier.
If this joint becomes subluxed I
will be in intense pain and have to be medically evacuated to the hospital in
Nuuk. This is the last thing I ever
want to have happen when such a situation can with care and thinking be
avoided. Getting in and out of the
kayak cockpit is one of the likely times subluxation can happen.
On the water
I set off for Kangersuatsiaq heading for the next set of islands,
Maniitsoq and Maniitsuarssuk across Angmarqua passage. Those islands had possibIe but rugged
landing spots. They were just
stone. 72 26.835´N, 55 44.615´W
I thought about how lucky I was to have found the nice camping spot on
Sagdleq Island because on all the other islands I passed I rather doubt there
were any campsite areas as nice as that one was. When ever I find remains of houses or tent circles I know the
spot must be nice.
Behind those islands came across about 50 Fulmars feeding behind
Maniitsoq Island I took their picture.
This was to be the last moment I would see these birds feeding. There must have been an organism just below
the surface of the water they were bobbing for. These birds often feed around ice for the same reason.
|
#12 |
08/04/03 |
09:38 EDT |
72 26.835´N |
55 44.617´W |
Manitsuarssuk bird cliffs |
|
#13 |
08/04/03 |
09:38 EDT |
72 26.835´N |
55 44.615´W |
Manitsoq Bird Cliffs |
I continued on now I was a couple miles off Kangeq flanked entirely with
dark brown steep granitic stone that plunges straight into the water. No place to come in for a landing other than
an occasional emergency flat spot just large enough to stand on.
I could hear motor boats on the water because I was five miles from
Kangersuatsiaq / Prøven. I just paddled
along the sea was flat, so I had to work harder there were no waves and wind
behind pushing me along this time.
I had no idea what this place looked like no idea where to come in for a
landing and I sure wondered as I paddled along where do people come in for a
landing. I went past an island with a
navigational marker on it and began to worry suppose I miss the whole thing or
go completely past the harbour because I don’t happen to notice it.
I have seen this in Greenland before with little villages being tucked
in behind some rocky peninsulas. I
could just go right by and never have seen a thing.
I kept wondering where are those motorboats coming from, they have to be
coming out of somewhere over there.
I became really nervous when I saw that there was another navigational
marker. Who knows I thought?
I passed by the outer island and looked at the island to the west it was
uninhabited. The island right in front
of me I saw nothing. Oh boy the town
has to be somewhere those boats are coming out of somewhere.
I was hoping that one of the motorboats would come to me and show me
where to go. That didn’t happen and why
should it for to everybody except me it was obvious.
I remember finding Aappilattoq because it had a big smoky rubbish
fire. If I had to find Innarsiut I
would never find it without a map. I
would find Najat because it is obvious once I found the island it is on.
When you are sitting on land looking out everything looks obvious but
when you are out there on the water everything looks vague.
Then I began to see houses and a church on the island straight in front
of me. That was a relief now at least I
have found the town. Next question is
where is the harbour.
The edge of town I was looking at was flanked entirely with rock slab
with no place to come in for a landing unless I were some expert with suction
cup feet and marvellous agility along with great
strength that would be necessary for heisting my loaded kayak up the steep
granite. Not likely to say the
least. So where is the harbour? It has to be somewhere I thought to myself.
Ah ha I came around the corner and sure enough I saw some motorboats
moored. There it was the harbor with
the pier for ships and next to the pier was a sandy beach, http://www.arktiskebilleder.dk/siulleq/billede/gr37674.html
The whole town was waiting for me all two hundred some odd people
standing on the pier along the road waiting for me.
I guess word got there from Upernavik alright. And funny thing, I never saw a motorboat pass me in my entire
passage from Upernavik down to Kangersuatsiaq.
I guess all that those who made the trip from Upernavik when I was
paddling on the outside took the inside through Sortehul/Akornat to Torssukatak
over though Angmarqua a good double the distance I had paddled
It just goes to show you in a good kayak you can go direct. A kayak is a little more seaworthy except
when the wind hikes up in your face then paddling becomes hard work.
I swung into the beach next to the pier not knowing that I could have
paddled to a beach a little nearer to where my boat was to be placed.
I stepped out of my kayak and in an instant a group of strong fellows
came down and proceeded to grab my kayak.
I stopped them momentarily to take out a few items I carried in my
shoulder bag. They picked my loaded
kayak up by the carrying handles and groaned slightly.
I was a little worried because if those handles ripped out I would be in
big trouble. Luckily the handles held
just fine. Mark had done a good job of
structurally designing this kayak, much better than Klepper. In the Klepper the handles were merely held
into the hull with some stitching, where as Mark had really stitched and glued
these handles into place to take severe stress such as was just being put on
them at this moment.
I followed and met and talked with some people. A young couple started chatting with me they
could speak English. I looked around
and asked if I could buy a tent in town but the KNI store does not sell tents
there was one tent it was a six-person canvas tent. I told them that I could not use a tent as large and heavy as
that tent but it was very kind of the fellow to offer it to me. For tents and camping gear everyone goes to
the KNI store in Upernavik. This store
has a wonderful supply of camping gear along with the hunting equipment,
carpentry just about anything. This is
a long way from the old days when anything aside from the basics had to be
brought in by ship by special order from Denmark. But here I am in Kangersuatsiaq and the store is in
Upernavik. No I am not turning around
and going back to Upernavik I spent too much time getting here, how about ten
years all told. http://www.skolen-upernavik.gl/kangersu.htm
Tent Creation
I found previously that my tent had decomposed chemically into
shards. The four alternating white
panels were coated with some formulation that destroyed the nylon. Oddly the blue panels were still solid. The tent was about 15 years old. Nylon coated or not is stable normally for
many more years. Some urethane coatings
peel off but the nylon remains.
Although in a dire emergency I could sleep beneath two survival blankets
on my air mattress in my sleeping bag enclosed with a Gore-Tex bivy sack I
needed a tent I could sit in for protection from the sun, wind and rain. I
constructed my tent from the remaining liner I had created for my Chouinard
MegaMid, of 1.9 oz ripstop nylon.
Previously I had created this liner to make a 3 season tent of urethane
coated nylon 4 season. The 1.9 oz
ripstop liner would allow my breath to pass through the fabric and condense on
the opposite side. Also the condensate
forming on the inside of the urethane coated tent shell would eventually come
loose and sliding down the surface of the liner between the tent and the liner
rather than raining down on me.
I quietly laughed to myself, who would have guessed my tent would have
disintegrated so completely while rolled up in a stuff bag for a few
years? Really you just never know.
I figured out an alternative tent creation by fabricating a tent from a
combination of my ripstop tent liner that I could tie in place on my center
pole. Then I could construct a
waterproof covering from two of my three Mylar coated fabric survival blankets. These I could tie on top of the tent liner.
I could use a piece of string with a clump of moss, which I would push
as a clump into the ripstop fabric from the back or inside. Then on the ripstop fabric outside I would
tie the string around the neck of the enclosed moss lump forming a button. To that lump I would tie on the space
blanket.
This works just fine for making a tie down spot on place in the middle
of an expanse of fabric without damaging or having to stitch some sort of tie
down onto the fabric. The positions of
these tie down buttons can be adjusted as necessary.
Campsite in
town, Greenland hospitality
I walked around town looking for a place to set up my invented tent and
I did not see anything immediately suitable.
Just then Mete and Hans Kristiansen came along and I asked them if they
could suggest a place I could set up my tent.
Oh boy was I lucky. They asked
me to stay with them in their house just up the road. http://www.arktiskebilleder.dk/siulleq/album/sted_1174469_1.html
Hospitality a
place to stay
Their house was just wonderful.
It high up on a hill overlooking the center of town with a wonderful
view of the harbor to the south on one side and to the north the water and the
way back to Upernavik showing all the islands and mountains. What an incredible view. I could see all those islands and I could
watch the water seeing the condition of the waves and fog. I could see the clouds coming in from the
west heading for the icecap. These
clouds not only showed atmospheric conditions but more interesting to me the
clouds revealed the effect the icecap has on atmospheric interaction between
the outside and interior near the icecap.
I took a wonderful picture, which illustrated incoming clouds being backed
up by denser air from the icecap very clearly.
I could also see Sanderson’s Hope way back in Upernavik when conditions
were clear enough. The other mountains
and islands showed in varying degrees of blueness depending on how far they
were from my vantage point. All this
was very exciting for me. I have seen
such exquisite beauty before during my trip in 1993 to Laksefjorden. I have seen a powerful front coming into
Kullorsuaq being held off by air from the ice cap. That was one of those moments when I was glad I was in a house
not in my kayak about to be blown to who knows where when the fierce wind did
hit.
Just as soon as I could, I retrieved my sleeping gear from my boat and
closed it up from the rain. Luckily in
Greenland there is no problem with theft and wandering sled dogs. Any loose dogs are shot with the exception
in some towns if they are puppies. Dogs
can find things to chew on and an interesting smelling kayak would be a good
target. I have had a boat chewed upon
in Kullorsuaq, not good!
As I climbed up the footpath to Mette’s house I noticed that there was a
seal butchered in a wheelbarrow at the foot of the stairs. I thought to myself this is wonderful. There is nothing better than seal especially
the way Greenlanders’ prepare seal as chunks in boiling salted water with rice
and onions.
Into a shallow soup bowl is ladled this rich broth of seal chunks of
meat with fat included and the rest.
You eat what you like and it all tastes so good. The fat you eat just as much as you feel like
eating not necessarily all that has been given you on the chunks of meat. The dark red meat is especially rich in iron
because seals must have a high haemoglobin content in their blood to enable
them to stay warm and dive for long periods of time. Their fat is very important to keep them warm but to us it is
also very important to keep us warm and enable us to digest the meat protein.
Anton
Christiansen a hunter from Upernavik
Mette’s father, Anton Christiansen from Upernavik was staying with
them. He is a hunter and so he checked
the water every few minutes with spotting scope for seals. I recognized him from Upernavik, he has a
house there. He is on of Greenland’s
finest hunters.
When Mette told me that Anton was a hunter, I was very excited to know
this because Greenland’s culture and economic base is changing such that fewer
people can be hunters in this region.
Every few minutes while he was there Anton looked through his spotting
scope at the water every few minutes for whales, seals and walrus. Then he would give the scope to his grandson
Hans so that he could take a look too.
His grandson was only one year old yet he never let anything escape his
intense curiosity
I have never seen any child as gifted as this boy, Hans, he has an innate
understanding of the world around him a grasp of complex things a deep
perception of reality despite his being barely able to speak yet. I think he is like his grandfather, nothing
escapes him.
From Mette’s house, little Hans stands in the window casing, wearing his
diapers, watching all that happens in town.
He sees from his house all the comings and goings of everyone from one
end of town to the other.
If Anton had spotted any seals he would have been down at the harbour
and off in his yawl in an instant.
Greenlanders do not waste time preparing to hunt. They keep their gear at the ready and just
go the moment they feel it is time to hunt.
Hunters clothing
In Kullorsuaq when I visited Lars Jensen at his father Nikolaj’s house,
the only thing they talked about was hunting.
And when I went out with Lars to tend fishing lines beneath the ice I
was surprised at how quickly a Greenlander can dress and be off. In the winter Greenlanders traditionally
wear an anorak because it has no zipper down the front to let in cold air. Beneath that they wear a heavy wool
sweater. They wear long winter
underwear. For pants in the Upernavik
region they wear Polar bear pants wool socks and waterproof kamiks /
boots. The kamiks, made of seal with
soles of ringed seal, are lined with wool felt and various choices of
insulation in the bottom.
Maps cabin
As we were sitting there Mette told her father Anton details about my
trip. Anton suggested he mark on my
maps the inside route and stopping places back to Upernavik. I had him mark my maps. I wanted to be sure of what people meant by
the inside route and where hunter’s cabins are.
I was glad to know that these cabins can be used by anyone. I did not know about how cabins may be used
before. I never asked.
A few days later I found a cabin that I wonder if I might have noticed
it had Anton not shown me this on my map.
Kangersuatsiaq /
Prøven history and economy
This town was in the 1800’s a large whale hunting and processing
town. Now it has a fish factory for
processing fish, which opens and closes intermittently. Because the fishery is not stable in this
area, many people in this town are active artists. They create carved work in ivory bone stone such as chalcedony
found locally, and sell these items in Upernavik.
Village life
amenities, roads, utilities
In this town typical of all small Greenland towns everything is wheeled
or carried, there are no vehicles. All
the roads are foot paths, all water is transported by open yawl or small boat
in five gallon plastic jugs from a waterfall n land four miles away, the water
is transported up the paths in wheelbarrows or on someone’s shoulder.
The majority of houses were capes with a kitchen living room dining room
sometimes all combined and other times separate with two bedrooms
upstairs. The bathroom is just a small
room large enough to accommodate the toilet part of the entrance hallway. There are always two doors one door from the
house to the entrance hall and the outer door.
Without that second door between the kitchen and entrance hall the house
would be very hard to keep warm in the winter.
When the outer door is opened all the extremely cold air blows in. Sometimes it is a project opening and
closing outer doors when there is a storm.
The inner door to the kitchen is an very important barrier for keeping
the house warm. Nobody leaves that door
kitchen open unless it is summer time.
Other houses were cabins or bungalows just one floor kitchen separate
with living room dining rooms combined
The toilets are five gallon plastic buckets lined with yellow bags set
in vented plastic toilet structures.
Houses have water in stainless steel water tanks not piped. The heating system is kerosene or number 1
heating fuel manually operated non-electric heaters run on five-gallon
tanks. The fuel is carried to the house
and poured directly into the fuel tanks through a funnel. In other words in small towns people carry
everything to their houses.
Diesel generators supply electricity.
These are set at the head of the harbour with fuel tanks in the
area. The generators are watched 24
hours a day. http://www.arktiskebilleder.dk/siulleq/billede/gr36947.html
All the walkways are lined with streetlights and should the generators
quit working in the winter it is as dark as the inside of a barrel at night.
When heavy construction of a large building such as a school in needed
then a path is built into a road to accommodate heavy construction vehicles. The town pier has vehicular roads because
shipments on packed pallets are unloaded via pay loader and tow motor from
small Danish and Greenland transport ships and ferries to the KNI store.
Stoves are run on electricity or propane. Twenty-five pound propane tanks for stoves are carried to the
houses.
Trash is collected in black bags and transported to an oil-fired
incinerator, where it is burned. Before
the incinerator trash was burned and what could not be burned was just stacked
up and sat there forever. Items too
large for the incinerator are burned in the open. Unfortunately plastic is just burned all the yellow and black
bags collected at each house are burned and the smoke goes off into the
atmosphere to pollute. http://esb.naturforvaltning.no/amap.htm
The toilet bags are slashed open and I guess the contents go directly
into the water I know that this is the case in Upernavik so I assume the same
is true in these villages or bygter.
This particular town is very neat and tidy because people have a policy
to keep it that way. Drinking of
alcohol is not allowed and this was never permitted in this town I gather but I
am not sure about. People can make
their own alcohol called Imiaq but this particular town is well known for its
condemnation the use of alcohol.
Samuel Knudsen
Samuel Knudsen, a village elder, has written about the cruel destruction
from alcohol and drugs on Greenlanders.
He is a highly respected village elder.
He is the artist I came specially to visit – truly a renaissance man of
great wisdom and creativity.
Musicians
There are many people who are musicians Jens Otto Rasmussen and his
friends made a recording Kangersuatsiarmiut is one of the groups lead by
Jens Otto Rasmussen are making recordings of wonderful music.
The next day I went for an exploratory stroll about town I wanted to see
what this town of 250 people looked like.
Just after I started out as I was on my up to heliport the children
gathered to accompany me. I started out
with eight and wound up with nearly every child in town. We all saw the heliport and from there they
let me wander on my own.
Flowers, ferns
and lichens
I looked out over the tan granite terrain looking for interesting plants
and rocks. The soil was gravely and in
sheltered areas were some trees and plants.
I did not find any ferns lurking in the protection of rock crevasses or
under large overhangs. That is the only
place ferns are found. The lichens were
nice to look at. Now that it was late
summer there were few flowers in bloom.
I regretted that I had not come in late June as I had on my other visits
to this region, when everything is just exploding as soon as the snow has
melted back exposing them.
As I started back toward town all the children rejoined me. It was fun to be the recipient of so much
attention I can imagine the wonderment these children felt because I come from
a place far away. I wonder if they knew
that I felt the same about them. It had
taken me all these years to finally come to this wonderful town.
From this town are many people who now live in Upernavik. They talk about the with kids from town why
kids stick together the dogs, Hans Poulsen lost his 8 year old son to two dogs
two years ago.
I remember small children in Kullorsuaq in terror of dogs however a good
sled driver cannot be afraid of dogs.
Sled dogs must be respected.
Samuel Knudsen
visitation
Mette helped me by arranging with Jens Otto Rasmussen to be the
translator for my visit with Samuel Knudsen.
I was very glad of this because neither Samuel nor I could communicate
because I do not speak Greenlandic and he does not speak English. My knowledge of Danish was of no help to
either of us.
Jens was just wonderful he handled a situation that I and I suspect
Samuel were very anxious about. I was
very concerned about having a negative impact.
We had such a wonderful visit.
We laughed a lot and Samuel remarked about how much I laugh.
I was so deeply excited about this visitation because I treasure those
of us who are creative. Little did I
know that Jens has just produced his first music CD? He and his friends were among those who are creative.
When people complain about how expensive it is to travel, especially to
travel to Greenland I wonder what do they do with all their money that has any
possible comparison to these experiences I live to have.
Samuel’s house, the traditional cape, was across town behind the church
on the bluff overlooking the water. His
house was most likely one of the oldest houses in town.
His living room had one large window facing south and his dining room
had two large windows facing west letting in copious amounts of light. His kitchen faced east and his wife was so
glad to greet me as I came in the door.
As is always traditional in Greenland houses I took off my shoes in the
entrance room and walked into the kitchen in my stocking feet. All people do this because it is just part
of the culture in the North. The ground
is dirty the dogs live on the dirt therefore shoes bring in dirt from the dogs.
Samuel’s wife was busy boiling water for the traditional tea and cookies
/ kager.
Samuel and Jens escorted me into his living room. Sam sat in his traditional chair and Jens
sat on a chair opposite and I sat on the couch across from the window.
I wondered where Samuel did his work as I looked how the light came into
his house
I think Samuel may have done his linoleum cuts in his dining room.
Samuel brought out his etchings for me.
I think I was so anxious I was shaking.
Just to be there in his presence and to have him hand me his own work
was for me very hard to believe could be possible.
I asked him how much he would ask for all his etchings that he had in
his hands. He gave me a figure I felt
was most modest I happily made an agreement with him as to how I could use
these images in writing.
I am not sure how I am to share his images with the world but offering
reproductions through the internet is I hope a way to share his creativity and
culture with the world.
I as an artist know just how difficult it is to have any interaction
with the rest of the world as an artist.
I think it was my first art teacher who gave me the concept that art is
something, which comes from within. Art
is a way of making visual that which we not only may see, but more importantly
that which we feel, sense, hear and experience. Art is a visualization of our five senses.
I photographed Samuel in front of his mural an image of dogs before the
sun rising.
Greenlander
artists and artisans sunlight through the window
When I was in Innaarsuit I watched a friend of mine, Rosa Thorliefsen’s
mother, sewing leather embroidery in Innaarsuit. She sat on top of her kitchen counter in the bright sunlight of
her south window. As a traditional
Greenlander she sat with her legs stretched out in front of her with her
embroidery sewn into a loop that she stretched taught around her knees. She was doing very intricate work. She was attaching tiny sixteenth of an inch
bright colored leather squares onto a piece of leather. This piece of leather was one of two in the
same pattern to be the tops of women’s kamiks.
I took her picture.
I made an appointment for the following evening to visit Jens Otto
Rasmussen who had been my translator. I
was to have the opportunity hear his group play music. To me this was very exciting. Greenlanders are especially gifted as
musicians.
I was not disappointed in the least.
To me it is such a pleasure to hear music because music unites us
all. I so enjoyed his music finding his
music very exciting. Once again I
witnessed how Greenlanders are able not only understand and play music without
the need of lessons but miraculously they are able to compose music.
Nikolaj Jensen
When I was in Kullorsuaq Nikolaj Jensen charged me 2000 Dkr for talking
with him about kayaks. He asked if I
was funded by any organization. I was
very lucky my translator Sven Nielsen handled the situation well. I was shocked at his outrageous
selfishness. I don’t think Nikolaj had
any idea that life elsewhere is just as expensive as in Kullorsuaq.
No one took the chances I took to make the visit to Kullorsuaq as few
people ever visit and fewer still ever stop to ask
questions about kayak and paddle design as I did.
Kayak design
In Kangersuatsiaq the kayak with an enclosed skeg or skegson was used
until they stopped using kayaks.
Examples of this kayak are in Upernavik one is at the museum.
I did not speak with anyone about this type of kayak because I did not
think anyone living could tell me about this design.
Departing town
The next day I commandeered a couple guys to kindly carry my kayak down
to the water I could not have transported my kayak myself. I was so glad for their kind help. I took their picture as I departed. We all knew each other over these past years
in so many ways as I had lived in Kullorsuaq for some months and a couple years
in Upernavik. I had been coming and
going from Upernavik from 1992.
I was headed for Eqlauarsuit or Laksefjorden. I was now on my way paddling on a comfortable two foot rolling
sea. I headed along the peninsula of
along Kangeq stopping and taking pictures when it looked interesting or
significant.
I forgot to take a picture of Kangersuaqsiaq behind me but I was
intensely interested about what was in front of me all those rock cliffs that
just came down into the water.
I secretly wondered where the chalcedony hides that the artists were
gathering but were sure not to tell me.
I did not see any especially interesting pegmatitic areas of minerals
however that sort of mineralization may not be found unless you are standing
right on it.
As I paddled along this unknown stretch I wondered. Would there be any emergency take out
places. From what I could see on the
map and the general over view I had seen from a distance there were probably
not likely to be any emergency place one could land. No l did not see any possibilities unless I were to become some
exotic contortionist. Forget that idea
on nice slippery rock.
I was delighted to observe these rocks as I paddled along them. The sea was gentle. I rounded one point and then another. Funny thing on the map these points look
very obvious but from my kayak they looked like just an insignificant bump
sticking out. I did not have any
perspective to judge these by however if I had pulled out my map and sextant I
could have compared angles and then understood where I in my little kayak
was. Or I could have used my GPS but I
was very excited about being on my way.
After a while to reward myself on my progress I did turn around to see
the view behind me. After all
eventually Kangersuatsiaq would have to disappear. I was not paddling in place because the rocks were going by at a
nice rate.
Paddling
Technique
Take my advice, to make the rocks go by faster, which makes you feel
like you are moving along faster, pull up closer to them when you are
paddling.
Perspective is what matters when it comes to paddling
self-accomplishment. Unless you
actually are paddling in place, then all bets are off. You had better figure out something to do
about that quickly because before long all that is going to happen is you are
going to become tired and nothing else will have happened. Priorities in paddling are important. I know.
That was why I took lessons in white water from Bart Hauthaway. I took his advice that I should participate
in the ACA New England Slalom Series.
I learned how to understand the mechanics of water movement
directly. It happened when I was trying
to make those eddy turns and run slalom gates up stream and then and make the
next one down stream.
On the slalom course I was not focused.
I had forgotten that I need to read the water to run a slalom
course.
If I sort of paddle flat all that happens is I cannot make the eddy
turns in time. Then there I was ever so
slightly embarrassed as I just completely missed a slalom gate let alone
several gates. A few moments later I
was at the bottom of the slalom course wondering how did I get there so
completely helplessly fast.
I asked myself “What did they put those gates here and there all over
the river for any way. I think I was
supposed to make them, after all this is a slalom course. How come I just shot through them, actually
not even through them but past them where ever there was any water.”
I remember racing with a canoe and using all my brute strength. All that happened was vague nothingness and
to watch John Barry just run those gates with next to no effort or
exertion. He gently told me “Let the
water do the work for you.” To me it looked like he had a motor in the
boat.
On the water
Travel 8/6/04
I rounded Kangeq point and that put me out of sight of
Kangersuatsiaq. Whew I was beginning to
wonder when that was going to happen.
Now I headed northwest toward Angmarqua passage. After another couple of miles as I rounded
the next point, Qaanavik point, opposite Maniitsoq Island I was headed
northeast down Angmarqua passage. http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx?refid=701550020
At the next brook was a gently sloping valley called Naqardlup kuua was
the hunters cabin. On both sides of the
valley were dark brown granitic rock. I
could have gotten out of my kayak here.
I did not realize that this would be the last place for thirteen miles
along Kangeq peninsula that I could come in for a campsite. If I were to cross Laksefjorden I would be
able to camp nine miles away in Puugutaata ilua.
This entire peninsula called Kangeq appeared to me to be of this
rock.
I could not definitely determine but is seemed to me that I was making
very slow progress paddling because both the current and wind were against
me. I felt that it was taking me a long
time to cover the five miles to reach Kuungut the steep soaring rock point,
which crowns the beginning of Laksefjorden.
There is no place in this area, which has as dramatic an opening as this
fjord. On both sides of this entrance
the rocks just soar straight up to the sky.
For miles these vertical rock escarpments flank this fjord entrance
uninterrupted just soaring up into the sky.
I did not happen to see any ctenophores or comb jellies as I had in July
in 1992 and 1993 http://jellieszone.com/bolinopsis.htm
On these rock faces were nests of Guillemots and as I came by they flew
out and landed on the water swimming around about twenty five feet from the
base of the cliff. They always do this. They make their nest in very steep rock on
small niches where the water is highly saline.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cepphus_grylle.html
I took a few pictures to capture the look of the water and of this
entrance to show from my kayak just how formidable these rocks look. I was glad the weather was quiet grey
overcast without fog with a weak wind blowing at me.
Once I rounded the entrance the deep blue water was starting to show the
white suspension of rock flour coming flushing into the fjord twenty miles
away. The bottom was shallow strewn
with white sand on top of rock there was some seaweed and marine life such as
mussels and sea urchins. http://www.mass.gov/czm/wpshell.htm
As I was to make my way down the fjord toward its origin the water would
become less saline and chalkier. By the
end the water would be so chalky it was like paddling on milk having absolutely
no transparency.
An intermittent rain started falling but I was comfortable.
The cliffs became more interesting as they started to open up showing
indentations. I was greeted by the
anxious cries of Glaucous gulls. They
had their solitary nest site up among the cleft in the cliffs. http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?curGroupID=1&searchText=glaucous+Gull&curPageNum=2&recnum=BD0072
I found the waterfalls splashing down from the top of the cliffs over
the rounded tan granite.
I tried to catch a drink. My
first problem was that I could not pull up to the base broadside because my
kayak was too long. Then I thought I
could catch some water on my paddle.
Great idea all I have to do is just time my approach with the
waves. I couldn’t seem to get anything
at the top of a wave. I have to be near
enough to the base of the rocks just as the wave recedes. Then I can catch the water on my paddle
while the water is flooding over the rock.
I caught some water on my paddle.
I drank it. Not good, that was
the salt water from the wave not the water from the waterfall I had
caught. There was no chance for me to
get in close enough to catch water from the waterfall. All I could do was sit and enjoy looking at
it and listening to its friendly cascade of splashes down the rock faces. Oh well.
I backed out and continued down the fjord looking for more interesting
rocks and bird sites. I enjoyed looking
at the bright white bottom intermittently festooned with seaweeds and
mussels. These fjords are a very rich
marine habitat. I was hoping to find
some green sea urchins eating algae in the shallows where I could fish them up
with my paddle. http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesSH.asp?curGroupID=8&shapeID=1073&curPageNum=8&recnum=SC0093
http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/0497/0497_1.html
I continued paddling along the next eight miles looking at the bottom
and at the rocks which now still were flanking both sides of the fjord I recalled
on my first visit I paddled on the north side which was not especially
interesting in this area and now that I am on the south side possibly because
it was a grey day I did not find this side too especially interesting either.
Sun especially bright sun often makes travel more interesting unless it
is in my eyes because I see more of the overall character of the area and find
myself noticing many more interesting details.
I found my old campsite at 72 92.26N, 54 59.88 W. The same rocks just exactly those same very
convenient rocks I took my boat out on in 1993 I used this time. I looked around and this was just the best
spot. The rocks made a gentle ramp
right into the water of bright yellow tan granite.
The sea was completely calm, which was very convenient for this moment
as I stepped out of my kayak onto the rocks.
I lifted my kayak up onto the rocks as far as I could until I ran out of
stern buoyancy.
I took my pool noodles and put them at strategic places under my hull to
protect the Hypalon coated fabric from slashes and scrapes from this sharp
granite. http://www.poolcenter.com/pooltoys_noodles_water_logs.htm I could not use the pool noodles just as
rollers and I had to use them as I lifted the boat end over end to take the
kayak over the rocks above the tide.
This was not very easy to do and I wound up with my boat resting
precariously on the same old rocks as last time.
Guess what? the next morning my boat had slid off the top of rocks and
was resting between them. And so I had
to reset my kayak again and figure out a way to make it stay up there. The wind probably caused my boat to lose its
balance.
I found a place to erect my tent.
This was probably the exact same place I used in 1993.
Now was the moment of truth.
Could I successfully erect my invented tent that I had dreamt up or
not. Oh this was going to be a grand
moment! Or I hoped so.
At least I was alone. No one
would witness me perpetrating this grandiose experiment.
Now the time had come at long last.
Now I had to cook up this tent creation out of the ripstop liner and the
two space blankets I could spare.
Thank goodness for space blankets. http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.php/products_id/623
I brought out all my tie downs and bits of nylon I had saved from the
old tent. I needed all of them after
all one can never have too much string.
I erected my tent liner on the center pole tying it to the top of the
pole. Then I tied each corner to stakes
in the ground.
I gathered some moss. To start I
tied a space blanket to the top of the pole and wrapped it around the tent
shape of the liner. Where ever I needed to secure the space blanket to the
ripstop I pushed a gob of moss into the ripstop from the inside and tied it off
securely with a strip of nylon or tie down material. From that I tied the tie down through one of the grommet holes on
the edge of the space blanket. The space blankets held solidly to my string and
gobs of moss buttons.
I put the third blanket on the ground and put my sleeping bag and gear
inside.
All was well with the world. It
was not raining the wind was not blowing so what more could I want.
Interestingly enough I did not hear any motorboats coming down the
fjord.
The only object on the fjord was an errant iceberg, which was there only
that day and disappeared just the next day.
I find it interesting that an iceberg can cover so much ground in such a
short time. I would have thought that
the circulation pattern and exchange rate in this area was this rapid. I thought that iceberg would have hung
around for days or even weeks.
08/07/03, , 72 92.26N, 54 59.88 W, Lichen sample Laksefjord
I spent the next day wandering, looking for flowers and ferns and
gathering lichen specimens. The climb
up the brook to the lakes and ponds above was challenging because it was steep
terrain. I was anxious about slipping
on damp slippery rocks. I was carrying
no means of communicating directly such as a satellite phone. Next time I travel I will carry a
phone. A friend told me that I had
everyone very concerned because I did not have a phone should I need help or
just to tell people where I am from time to time.
My anxiety while walking so filled me with fear I was not able to enjoy
my short hike at all instead I dreaded every moment The thought that nobody
would know obsessed me.
This area is listed on the map as a dogsled crossing however the terrain
is too steep.
8/8/03
The next day I left heading down the fjord. I inspected the bottom because this is a shallow area and I
remembered from my last journey that the water was too deep and chalky to see
the bottom after this point as I headed east down the fjord.
The bottom was lush with seaweed and mussels. I was delighted to see such a large population of blue mussels
tucked among a pale green filamentous algae growing on the bottom over a bright
white sand coated granite surface.
Never saw so many mussels especially all sizes of them before. This is a highly productive marine
environment. http://www.amap.no/maps-gra/show.cfm?figureId=214
Now underway there was a soft wind of less than ten knots behind me. I
looked forward to finding the bird nesting sites I knew were in the lower
fjord. The wind and current was against
me so progress was slow. I was working harder than necessary. I decided to avoid all that work I would
paddle close to the shore along the south shore of Laksefjord.
I passed by Portusukavsaq and Nua but these places did not seem
especially interesting.
What I had noticed in 1993 was an area that was relatively flat
suggesting that people could easily stop and stay there. I could not seem to find this spot again and
I could did not find an especially desirable rock ramp to land my kayak on and
to get out.
However the south side is more interesting and more inviting than the
north side of Laksefjord.
I was preoccupied with my goal I had been thinking about for the past
ten years of the salmon fishing place and Orpit.
Nearer to the Narrows I came across a unique area of submerged boulders
and rounded granite formations. In this
area the steep cliff faces just plunge directly into the sea.
Bird observations
08/08/03, 14:00 EDT/16:00 Greenland time, 72 28.957´N, 54
39.615´W, Bird nesting site before the narrows in Laksefjorden
On my way down to the south side of the narrows I spotted Glaucous gull
nesting site with 10 gulls
I stopped off at the first island in the entrance and looked at the
Glaucous gull, Laurus hyperboreus, three chicks where previously in 1993 there
were Ivory gulls. There were about
thirty Glaucous gulls associated with this nesting site.
In 1993 I thought I saw Ivory gull chicks at this same site this may
have been possible because Ivory gulls are known to prefer nesting inside
fjords. http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/search/speciesDetails_e.cfm?SpeciesID=50
1993 botany Woodsia ferns
I passed the narrows now I was in the area where I had camped in 1993
however from my kayak this time I could not exactly identify where this
was. Now I wish I had taken the time to
revisit this spot because it is the only place I have ever found ferns.
The ferns, Woodsia ilvensis were growing beneath a boulder ten feet in
diameter on the south side. I would
have been delighted to see those ferns once again. http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/plants_and_algae/Woodsia_ilvensis/
I was pottering along wondering where things were because this area did
not quite look the same to me as last time I was there. The light was different. I probably would have better-recognized
landmarks if I had paddled along the north side taking the same way as I had in
1993.
I was stopped reading a map when a motorboat passed me by and then
circled back around and came up to me.
Tom II Petersen, Rosa and their daughter were just on their way to the
salmon fishing place, Eqalugaarsuit.
They were very excited at seeing me in my kayak. From his boat Tom leaned over and pointed on
my map where the fishing place that they were also going to was. He and his wife pointed in the direction
telling me where I should go.
I was just astonished at their hospitality and enthusiasm. They are very helpful people as many other
Greenlanders are.
They told me that they were just coming back from their home in
Aappilattoq. They had just dropped off
some fish and now they were going to catch some more fish.
In Aappilattoq there is a fish-processing factory which supplies the KNI
stores fish to sell throughout Greenland.
These salmon are especially popular for the holidays.
It is such a shame that the rest of the world cannot buy fish from
Greenland. Their fish is like non other
just the best.
Then they motored away and I followed.
To my left, on the north side in the distance I recognized the forest of
trees, Orpit, that I had visited in 1993.
www.guillemot-kayaks.com/Trips/
Gail/GailTrips/ForcastingWindsinFjords.txt
1:250,000 Map reading insitu
As I looked at this peninsula on the map there was no indication from
where I sat on the water that this would be the fishing site. There were two peninsulas and I had just
rounded only the first one.
I continued wondering where Tom had just gone with his motorboat. It was absolutely silent, no sounds of
motorboats, I wondered why.
I kept paddling around the peninsula still I could see nothing. Working with a 1:250,000 map I find is
difficult because I find comparing a little bump on the map to what I see is
difficult to relate to.
I knew that there could be nothing farther down this fjord along the
north side because the water coming from straight down the fjord was opaque
with the chalky rock flour suspension.
I paddled with the tide going out in 1993 in this very chalky water and
found that I had absolutely no idea where any rocks were. I crashed into a rock I would have otherwise
been aware of in this impossibly opaque water.
http://www.zephryus.demon.co.uk/geography/resources/glaciers/flour.html
Continuing along to the second peninsula past some gigantic round brown
rocks following the clear blue water at last I spotted people, tents and boats. Whew, that was a relief, I was beginning to
think that Tom and Rosa had evaporated.
The Arctic is weird but it can’t be that weird in the summer, maybe in
the winter though when those Kvitoq or Tupilak spirit figures that walk around
in the dark time and disappear when the sun comes back.
I knew that this was a restricted area for migrating salmon, which is
marked off with large signs so that the salmon in their spawning migration are
not disturbed by a motor on a boat.
I pulled into the place easiest to get out of my kayak and stepped out.
Everyone came and greeted me. I
quickly grabbed everything from my kayak that I could put into my shoulder
bags. The fellows immediately grabbed
both ends and carried my kayak up the bank.
They would have carried it to anywhere but I just wanted it up above the
water. I had to stop them and they set
it where I pointed.
I greeted everyone and most of the people I recognized from
Upernavik. I felt like this was like
old home week. It seemed as though the
whole town had transported itself down here.
There were only about fifty or seventy people there, complete families
grandparents to grandchildren. Families
would arrive set up their tents and go fishing.
They used stand up tents with multiple rooms so that the whole family
could be in the tent just like a house.
Grandmothers were busy tending the fires cooking Greenlandic foods
bubbling away in salted water over vegetation fires. All sort of treats were around, muktuk, raw seal, smoked halibut,
raw halibut, salmon, boiled polar bear, anything imaginable, all very
delicious. http://www.visi.com/~wick/axe/muktuk.html
The first thing I did once I was standing up on top was to retrieve my
mosquito net, which I had in anticipation stowed in my lifejacket pocket. All of we older women had our mosquito nets
on. We were not taking any chances.
I remember these mosquitoes well from 1993. The mosquitoes were so dense I left half an hour after visiting
Orpit. I had meant to stay much longer
but the air was just loaded solidly with mosquitoes. Guess what was for dinner? It was not the rocks I can tell you
that.
Here the Greenlanders call this “down in the warm fjords”.
We were lucky because this was a cool grey day temperature in the
50’s.
The few mosquitoes attempting to fly were barely able to muster up
enough strength to bite.
What a relief.
After I took a short walk around I figured I had better not put it off
any longer. Now was that time of all
times the time to erect my alternative tent.
At least I had tried it and I knew it worked.
I attended to my creation with the nonchalant appearance suggesting
doesn’t everybody have a tent like this?”
The children came over to watch and some of the fellows were around just
to be helpful if I were to need help.
They were pleased and surprised with how efficiently I was able to
handle my equipment. I had lots of
things but it did not look that way because everything was stuffed together in
a dry bag.
I set up my tent on the center pole and drove the tent stakes into the
ground. Where I had a problem because
the ground was too rocky I just pushed the stake on a very shallow angle into
the ground and put a heavy rock on top of it then I tied the tent to the tent
stake.
I experimented and adjusted my survival blankets on top of the
tent. All went fine. I chucked my gear inside and took off my
drysuit inside my tent.
Children were taking boats across the inlet not using the motors because
this would disturb the fish. They were
fishing with fishing rods and lures.
They did not catch anything while I was there.
Small nets were set they were only 20 or 30 feet long and 6 feet
wide. These nets were checked every so
often.
Then I joined everyone for some polar bear stew. They teased me and said no Danes are allowed
to come here. I took them very
seriously, how was I to know. I could
have fished from my kayak with the fishing rod I had brought. I did not want to take from this limited
resource. I rather doubted I would
catch anything I knew that their nets would do much better.
I would have not been welcomed if they did not like my presence, but
fishing was another matter. I knew I
could stay and watch.
The next day I went exploring there were endless blueberries to pick and
eat.
I did not walk over to the river the fish were migrating up because the
terrain was very rugged with steep overhanging cliffs everywhere.
I saw three Arctic loons on the west side of Eqalugaarsuit and
unfortunately one of them became caught and drown in a net. It was boiled in salt water and eaten. http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/birds/speciesacc/accounts/loons/arctica/account.htm
8/10/03
Orpit visit paddling from Eqalugaarsuit I left about 10 am at high
tide from the fishing place and went to the Orpit taking representative photos
I was glad I had arrived at the high tide because it is a pain dealing with the
mud of rock flour easy place to loose your boots and sink up to your
eyeballs. Rock flour is very gooey. http://www.zephryus.demon.co.uk/geography/resources/glaciers/flour.html
Porsild visited this glacial refugium and I could not believe this but
the picture in his reprint looks just the same as the picture I took of myself.
http://yukon.taiga.net/vuntutrda/ecology/stop1.htm
I collected a small chunk of what appears to be a basalt dark grey. The Willow trees were more than two
meters/six feet tall possibly even seven feet.
They were over my head and I am under six feet tall.
I did not take any actual measurements.
I did take a picture with my paddle stuck in the bushes to give a
feeling of relative height the length of the paddle is 213 cm/7.5 feet.
I didn’t bother with taking any lichen samples from the area because I
did not think it was especially significant.
The lichens were at their maximal size.
I did see some perfectly normal height and bushy Equisetum arvense in
the forest, which is probably flourishing because of the nutrients and
protection.
I thought about the air circulation as a factor in why the plants within
this refugium are at their maximum size.
Every day the wind comes down this fjord as the sun brightens by the
time the wind has reached the end of this fjord it has warmed
considerably. The temperature is very warm
in this area.
The rock topography forms an amphitheater on all sides around this area.
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2001/amber.html
On my way out of the Laksefjord, to my surprise there was only a
ten-knot wind blowing against me. I was
glad I had escaped the lower fjord before the full power of the temperature
mediated wind set in. Perhaps the
cooler weather of the preceding days was a factor.
In 1993 the day before had been a bright sunny day and when I arrived at
Orpit the day was a bright sunny and warm.
.
I had stopped at the rock in the narrows in the wind shadow at the gull
nest to take a picture of these Glaucous gull chicks.
After I passed through the narrows on the north side out and around the
corner on the north side a large cormorant and gull rookery probably sixty
cormorants and forty Glaucous gulls. I
estimate I saw fifteen non-flying cormorants.
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0027.htm
www.neseabirds.com/conservationgreenland.htm
I did not see any Arctic terns in this area however I did see them off
Aappilattoq Island first on the north side then on the west side. There was probably no food for them in this
region at this time. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sterna_paradisaea.html
www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.
asp?curGroupID=1&curPageNum=2&recnum=BD0603
In 1993 the waves were two to three feet high I noticed that the Fulmars
fished much closer to me. I laughed to
my self because it was too rough for me to take a picture of them, yet they
were ten feet away from me. www.neseabirds.com/fulmar.htm
I exited on the north side of the fjord and after the bird cliffs there
was a couple miles of very interesting yellow tan granite cliffs of massive
rounded granite dome structures with occasional exfoliation areas. These were nearly perfectly smooth rounded
vertical granite. I have never seen any
granite quite like this before although there are many granite dome structures
in this region. The same granite was on
Amarortalik Island the peaks in this area were over 800 meters high rising up
from the water at Amarortalik Island half a nautical mile from the water and on
J. P. Koch’s Land not as steep as that.
Occasionally there would be tiny gardens filled with flowers hanging on
the few available ledges.
After a broken up peninsula and three brooks the land receded the next
couple miles to the next fjord with miles of very gentle sloping granite
ramp. No question that this area had
lots of places to take out.
I rounded the point called Sakivik and started up Sinerraq on J. P.
Kochs Land. Every tiny brook on the map
was there and this was handy for me because there were no other defining
landmarks.
The topography was now large gently sloping green meadows suitable for
reindeer and musk ox grazing.
Greenlanders would to this area in umiaqs to hunt musk ox and caribou in
the summer.
Johanne Thorliefsen (Løvstrøm) said that one season they were so
successful hunting musk ox that the umiaq could not carry the kayaks so they
had to paddle home on their own.
Usually the kayaks were carried on the gunwales of the umiaq but not
that season.
There were one or two peaks of black basaltic rock called Trekanten to
the south of me. I had the feeling that
these peaks are part of the geological complex, which relates to Orpit as a
source of plant nutrients.
Wind and currents paddling
Seaweeds and biota
observations between Amarortalik Island
and J.P. Koch’s Land
Going down Laksefjord the major break point in salinity occurs at the
last junction of two fjords where the water feeds in between Amarortalik Island
and opposite J.P. Koch’s Land Sakivik is a point marked on the map. From here down Laksefjord the water has a
very much lower salinity and starts looking very chalky.
I paddled between Amarortalik Island and opposite J.P. Kochs Land along
Sinerraq a very curious area because the entire area along J. P. Kochs Land is
a very long shallow ramp of stone is along this shore for miles and there is
nothing like this anywhere else I have seen.
Mobility
of Blue Mussels
I stopped for ten minutes and while my paddle was resting in the water I
pulled up my paddle to find that some small mussels had attached to my
paddle. They were about two inches to
tiny with all sizes in between very actively moving about. Resting on and caught among fine pale green
seaweed clusters.
I did not realize that Blue mussels have such mobility. In that short a time they had festooned
themselves all over my paddle and anything else such as the Fucus
evanescens. http://www.ku.lt/nemo/f_evan.html I also saw smooth cord weed Chorda filum a
pretty alga here and there. http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Chordafilum.htm There were loads of sea urchins everywhere
that there was bare rock.
Geology
The most common rock in this area is granite domes yellow and brown
colored but there are some intrusions of basalt forming mountains in J. P.
Koch’s Land. This area is north of
Orpit and from where I am sitting in my kayak that I have just stopped is to my
right, east of me.
Wind and currents paddling
Then just conveniently the current switched in my favor and the wind
died to just riffles on the water 5 knots.
Paddling on completely flat water is slower because of the maximum
surface friction of the water on the hull riffles from 5 to 10 knot wind
reducing hull surface friction.
Visual phenomena
and relating to the map
Nearing the end of this five mile long shallow edged fjord there were on
the west side some chunks of granite which created a more broken projecting
coastline. At the end this narrows was
titled Niaqornarossuaq.
From my seat in my kayak, strangely enough, all looked the same.
The narrows did not look especially narrow.
I had trouble registering visually on what I ought to be seeing from
what the map showed and what I actually was seeing. I am not sure if this was a visual aberration typical of the
Arctic or me not relating to my perspective.
I was expecting to be squeezing through a defined narrows but this
narrows did not look that way to me.
Compass
As I approached the end I wondered where exactly to head. I had unfortunately had packed my steel cook
set under my compass so it was continually showing the same reading (where my
stove was).
I would have taken much more care packing my boat had thought I might
need my compass.
Paddling route strategy
My plan was to take the shortest route to Aappilattoq. I could have chosen to go north out of
Lakesfjord fjord along the islands to the long fjord Angmarqua, which reaches
in a straight line from the outside, Baffin Bay http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/gazette/jpg/regions/fr_bfb.jpg connected directly into the Upernavik
Icefjord. I had been down that passage
in 1993 aboard the Iput. I wanted to
see the icecap and take the inside route which I had talked about with Tom II
Petersen and Rosa. I wanted to see how
things looked near the ice cap.
paddling location
Leaving the passage I passed by the first glacially gouged out
valley. This valley looked to me like a
perfect half sphere in cross section.
This valley was so perfect it looked artificial.
To the next peninsula to the south, on my right, had some dark brown
cliffs vertically into the water. These
cliffs were heavily discolored with iron in places. The iron deposit appeared as though this might be one of those
places Frederica DeLaguna would describe as a place your compass would take you
directly to.
Just when I doubted where I might be two boats passed by. They skimmed right by those cliffs.
I had considered making my campsite on a small island on the other side,
however this island was just too small and had no water.
I also thought I should strategize my campsite by locating if possible
right on the boat route so I could be assured which way to go when I left the
next morning and also that people passing by would see where I was.
Campsite
I was very lucky I found after the cliffs gave
way to a bay on Kangerdluarssup
peninsula that there was a perfect place to camp. There was a convenient flat area with a
perfect rock ramp to roll my kayak up.
I used my pool noodles to conveniently roll my kayak up above the high
tide line on the smooth rounded granite.
I put the pool noodles under my hull as U shapes and tied them off on
the top so that they would stay in place keeping the hull off the rocks.
I found water in a shallow acidic bog pond just a short distance above
the landing site. Although it was
surrounded by typical acidic plants I did check for salt contamination. I found that it was typical delicious
water
Salt
water
Once I landed on a peninsula the southern most end of Aappilattoq Island
another area of flat rounded granite however I unfortunately made some coffee
from readily available water. Wow that
was the worst coffee I ever imagined possible.
The coffee tasted so badly I threw it out. I just could not force myself no matter how desperate I might
have been to drink that coffee. The
problem was the coffee water was contaminated with salt water.
I had cooked up some oatmeal with it and the oatmeal tasted just
dandy. Salt in oatmeal in not a problem
but salt especially seawater salt in coffee is beyond terrible.
Botany and geology
In this area it was most interesting that the rock is granite and on top
of the rock where ever plants were growing the vegetation overlay was extremely
spongy surprisingly soft, deep and dry for the area.
I was surprised to encounter six-inch thick beds of lichens and moss
interspersed with vascular plants.
This area faced south. These beds were less than twenty feet from the
salt water, which suggests to me that saltwater proximity does not inhibit the
growth of these plants.
There was some wind protection to the east. To the west was a quiet bay flanked on the south side with high
squared off cliffs. I do not know if
this protection could be a factor.
Geochemistry may have been a dynamic for supporting such lush plant
growth. All these plants including the
sphagnum growing in the bog just behind prefer highly acidic soil.
There must have been some important nutrients supplied by this granite
that encouraged such lush growth of all these plants.
I cannot exactly explain the mechanism for this phenomenon but I did
mention this to Eric Steen Hansen and he said lichens do sometimes grow to such
excessive thickness.
I once came across a monoculture of lichen that was ten inches deep
fifteen miles from this spot. www.dpc.dk/PolarPubs/MoG/MoGtitles.pdf
Black Crow Berry (Empetrum nigrum) dominated the area and there was no
lack of berries to pick. www.borealforest.org/shrubs/shrub14.htm
I took photos of plants and dined on lots of blueberries Vaccinium
uliginosum var. uliginosum. There was
mostly Phyllodoce coerulea Blue Heath.
In other areas where I have found extensive mats of plants overlaying
very rich black soil amphitheatre like topography caused the wind to eddy out
and drop soil particles. Those are good
places to camp there is one in Torssut near Upernavik where everyone stops to
camp for this reason. Just a mile away
around a bend is a wind scoured area only Saxifragia grows there
Lichens
One interesting observation to note is where there is a blush on the
granite of dark brown iron only one small lichen might grow on that surface.
These iron blushes usually are bare and devoid of any plants.
Fire making Camping and
cooking another moment in fine camping
Ah another moment in “fine camping” I decided to test my ability to
build and cook over a fire. I knew that
everything burns it is just the shape of the fireplace and concentration of
burning material that matters. I put
together the most minimal construction of three granite stones they were about
6 to 8 inches high. I propped my
cooking pot on top and attempted to boil water but the fire was too shallow to
be effective. Oh well, next time I
experiment I will make a fireplace 10 inches deep.
A fire has to be fed constantly and the fuel has to be placed on the top
of the fire rather than plunged into the burning portion of the fire.
Flammability
of arctic plants
Most plants burn in the arctic from a lit match after a few seconds
depending on if they are completely dead dry material or green and wet. This is very much the opposite of building a
fire from boreal and temperate area vegetation. Pieces have to be broken off and added into the fire as needed
which is a fairly constant rhythmic activity to keep a consistent fire
burning.
Otherwise the fire is either flaring or dying back so much that I had to
blow onto the embers to rekindle the flame.
And in so doing there I was spending more than what should have been the
necessary time on my knees looking a bit foolish, desperately huffing and
puffing to encourage my fragmented, feeble fire to burn. Oh those treasured moments. Glad nobody was around to witness this
caper. It looked ill to say the
least. Some of us just have
problems. That is all I can say about
it.
Visitation by Tom and Rose
I stopped paddling at 10 pm the night before and in the morning the
bright sun shown against a blue sky.
Morning sure there I was dozing away in my tent in bright sunlight. I heard a boat come by and then I heard it
cut back around and come to my campsite.
See it pays to camp on the boat run everybody knows where you are.
Well that was fine I always sleep with my clothes on so I just jumped
out of bed and looked out to see who it was.
It was Thomas and Rosa.
They were on their way back to Aappilattoq coming back from Eqalugaarssuit
with the 65 salmon they had caught since I saw them two days ago
They were checking to see how I was and would I like a ride back to
Aappilattoq. Tom said he could get to
Aappilattoq in an hour.
I figured out that they were travelling at 70 kilometers per hour, a
little faster than I was paddling in my kayak.
Tom tugged on my kayak and then I saw that he realized my kayak weighted
much more than he thought, so it might be more than an hour to Aappilattoq.
Tom was in a rush because this was his opportunity to make money as a
fisherman and hunter. He told me that
he has a dogsled available in the winter to go out on the ice. I should have taken him up on that, but some
day I hope I can.
I thanked them and once again asked were they sure that I could make it
back by way of the icefjord to Aappilattoq because the other people at the fish
camp not from Aappilattoq did not like the idea of me paddling that way to
Aappilattoq. They would take the longer
safer route.
I asked Tom to show me where on the map how I should go. He happened to point out that I would paddle
the entire distance to Aappilattoq via the Upernavik Icefjord. I figured he would know since he travels
back and forth frequently. He inspired
my confidence because he was quick to point out the route I ought to go.
Tom reassured me that I could definitely make it to Aappilattoq via the
Upernavik isfjord.
This route via the icefjord I really wanted to make. This journey had been on my mind for years.
I told Tom thanks for the offer and they left.
I looked at my watch, the time was 04:00 am. Such is life in the Arctic summertime, not like Stony Creek
Connecticut.
The ice and icefjord 1992
1995
I had wanted to experience for myself this area near the icecap because
although I had been in this are via the Iput with Hans Nyrup in
1995. Since then I wanted to see this
area from my kayak. I wanted to make
the passage along the icefjord, which I could not make when I was here in 1992. That year Mount Pinatubo in the Philippians
had erupted causing the ice to last much longer.
In that year the only way to get to Upernavik was to fly. From the helicopter in 1992 last week of
June I saw the coastal ferry, the Disko sitting at Uummanaq the just
surrounded with ice unable to continue for another week or so to Upernavik. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/
8/11/03
I spent the morning observing plants on this brilliant blue-sky
day. All was well. I packed up and launched at 2 pm. Before I left I treated myself to gathering
some of the many Green Sea Urchins off the rocks on my paddle. They were only a few feet below the surface
clinging to vertical granite.
I found that with gentle technique I would knock the urchins off the
rock surfaces. Then I would catch them
as they were falling and patiently induce them to rest on my paddle. They would extend their podia and
hydraulically attach their podia to the face of my paddle. I brought them to the surface and put them
on my sprayskirt deck. I collected six because they were all small only three
to four inches diameter. I broke them
open to eat their bright orange gonad material called “Uni” in Japanese. This was such a treat.
I had suggested to the fisheries that Greenland market this Uni as
another fish product. However nothing
has happened yet.
08/12/03 I set out but I wondering exactly where the next passage
was. Then luckily three boats passed
by.
All I knew was that the passage would be along the other side of this
fjord and that there were two choices a narrow but slightly longer passage or a
shorter wider passage. The closest
passage was labeled Saningassup passing betueen Nako and Saningassoq Islands
but I was not sure exactly where the entrance was. From where I was departing I was actually looking at a long
island and a peninsula covering the narrow passage.
Of the three boats one went behind that island the second went in front
of the island and then disappeared and the third ran the wider passage on the
far side. What to do? As I paddled along wondering what where I
was to go it was vague and obvious.
I was not moving all that fast probably the current was against me as I crept
along the island wondering where those first two boats disappeared.
Looking more closely at the map seeing is believing when all else
fails. I realized that the passage they
had disappeared into was around a sharp bend behind a peninsula.
Looking back I eventually could see just where the passage was and that
it was straight for a while then it had to bend again. I could judge distances better because the
light was bright enough.
Later in that paddling day I found in low light of only reflected sun
light emanating from behind an island it was increasingly difficult to judge
distances and I wound up over judging by huge distances.
I decided the safest way was to paddle along Saningassoq Island on this
wider shorter passage. I would have the
most views of the icecap and also experience a major intersection of fjords at
the islands Saningassoq, Taserssuatsiaup and Uilortussoq nearest the
icecap.
As I was trudging along against the current I stopped to take photos of
the area. One very interesting view
southeast if me was another glaciated valley flanked by very shallow banks
almost a perfect spherical cross section.
I came across some stone on Saningassoq Island which looked like a black
schist possibly graphite but I am not sure.
East of me I had a view of the eerie looking ice cap. It has a strangely luminous glow solid yet
cloud like appearance.
Even though the icecap is the highest object on the horizon its
whiteness had a strange glow to it but it looked too intense to be clouds. .
This area of the icecap also had a grey layer area to the left blending
out to just white.
I had no idea what to expect. As
I rounded another corner on Saningassoq Island heading more north
westerly. The rocks were elegant brown
and white solid granite with a couple brooks coming in and large enough to put
a tent on grassy areas through out.
There were some rock ramps were available for landing here and there,
which was reassuring. The sun was warm
and bright.
I spied a bird cliff at, 06:45 pm EDT 20:45 Greenland time, 72
44.197´N, 54 45.526´W, Bird cliffs near peninsula on Taserssuatsiaupqaa
with lots of white cormorant excrement of the rocks indicating heavy usage for
a long time. Occasional reconnaissance
visits from Glaucous gulls checking me out.
I saw and heard a couple ravens in the area. There were not many birds at this site I estimate there were six
cormorants and ten Glaucous gulls.
This was curious in the sense that prior to I only saw ravens near
settlements, indicating their preference for easy food. Perhaps in this area there is extensive food
where the currents from the fjords collide and intermix. Ravens follow food commonly following
animals of prey such as foxes polar bears etc.
I do not know if any wolves inhabit this area I did not hear any. The granite topography is steep rugged with
broken up green acid plants with smaller amounts of grass vegetation punctuated
with various percentages of stone.
As I was looking at a bird cliff paddling across the fjord I found that
the current was strong. As I set my
camera to take a picture in just those few moments the tidal current pushed me
nearly half way back. It had taken me a
long time and effort to get to that cliff I had worked all the way.
I estimate that the current was five-knots.
I took the picture and GPS location 72 44.197´N, 54 45.526´W
then I thought I would continue along this east side next to the peninsula of
Taserssuatsiaupqaa to see the junction of two fjords, Akuterqup sarqaa.
I could have paddled down Akuterqup sarqaa to the icecap but I did not
know Uilortussoq was an island not a peninsula. The Icecap has melted in that region and several sections of land
are now ice free. I learned this after
I had returned at the Upernavik Museum.
Resuming paddling I worked hard to get past the bird cliffs. Then there were whirlpools bringing up the
bottom to the surface in swirls.
Although these whirlpools were not strong enough to really throw my bow
around I had to make strong corrections and use my rudder.
I finally made it past those bird cliffs so that I could look at the
incoming passage and the new view of the ice cap. Then I continued on the east
side looking over my right shoulder at the ice cap and I took some interesting
pictures showing a Nunataqs surrounded by the icecap. www.cla.sc.edu/geog/gsgdocs/
images/James_SierraNevadaGlac/sierra_glac.htm
I paddled to the narrows between Saningassoq and Uilortussoq 72
46N 54 51W and started through it paddling through the middle. I found myself not making much headway
infact I realized as I just kept paddling and paddling that I was actually only
holding place at best.
The tidal water was flushing through faster than I could paddle. I first just thought I was imagining things
and I kept looking at the shore.
The sun was shining straight in my face. I thought Oh I can deal with this and it won’t last all that
long.
I tried avoiding the sun by looking down pulling my baseball cap visor
down. That was a poor idea, as this
posture made my paddling stroke inefficient and tiresome.
I kept checking Saningassoq shore on my right I could not decide if I
was passing landmarks or not. The angle
with the glaring sun shining directly into my face drastically changed how
things I was approaching and passing appeared.
To avoid the sun I tried paddling with my baseball hat low over my brow,
but the sun was so low it shown directly into my face. All I could do was to I look down at my deck
and every so often look up at the reference points I was trying to keep.
Paddling while looking down did not work because I began to realize that
I had lost track of whether or not I had passed those variously chosen backlit
reference point rocks along the shore.
I was in the middle of the channel when I decided that I was not gaining
on the big rocks of the narrows.
I was paddling furiously and little bells went off in my head. Something is wrong with this picture, I did
not come on this trip for the exercise.
I realized that all I was doing was flailing way in place!
John Barry’s statement came to mind “Let the water do the work for you”
so I decided my only solution was to sidle up to the shore as close as possible
and rely upon the shore eddies and land friction to reduce the oncoming current
enough that I could make some progress against it.
Luckily it was not so bad that I had to actually scrabble and in this
area there were many four to six foot and larger granite rocks along the side
of the passage.
I estimate the mid-channel current was six to seven knots. It is very amusing for me to realize that I
was just paddling in place!
There were no icebergs here
but past the narrows I began to see few small bergs and beyond in the large
passage, Angmarqua, there were some larger bergs. This narrow area probably restricted their circulation and from
where I had come there were much more limited sources of icebergs.
The south side past this narrows off Saningassoq Island was a cluster of
small islands and a peninsula at the opening of the fjord Angmarqua which
affected the currents because this was a shallow area.
A few Glaucous gulls lived on these islands.
I crossed to the north side next to Uilortussoq Island after the narrows
opened. This was a nice area.
Equipment and paddling
I paddled up to the next peninsula on Uilortussoq Island hiding behind
the soaring rock landscape from the sun and in the wind shadow.
I had previously been battling with the sun glaring in my face.
I decided this was a nice hiatus before I adventured nearer to the wide
expanses of Angmarqua passage.
Nothing like being prepared because although I was in a nice quiet
stopping place there was no place to get out of my kayak to look for
things. I had packed my sunglasses into
my lifejacket pocket.
The reason why my sunglasses were there not elsewhere in my cockpit was
because the overwhelming glare from sun on the water cannot be avoided. Sunglasses are a necessary item.
I took out my nice new Brolle sunglasses for their first time. Wow what a difference without them the rest
of the paddle would have been a terrible torture because the majority of this
paddle was going to be entirely into the sun.
Near to Angmarqua there were some lovely small islands with very green
grass. I remembered these islands from
my trip to the icecap with the Iput.
I realised that these islands were Eider nesting spots. I did see 12 common eiders and 4 king
eiders. All these years I wondered why
these islands were so green now I realise these islands are always used by
eiders to nest. http://www.seaduckjv.org/meetseaduck/coei.html
Across the fjord was a famous passage across Nutaarmiut Island called
Amitsoq. This passage started out on
the northwest side of Nutaarmiut Island
among shallows tucked in behind Akingeq Island. It opened out wider forming a long bay. At the end was an overland distance of a mile to the opposite side
of Nutaarmiut Island on Angmarqua passage.
I had spotted Amitsoq bay on the map and discussed it with Adam Grim. http://iserit.greennet.gl/adamgrim/ He told me that this passage was used by
kayakers to carry their kayaks over from the other side Nutaarmiut Island
rather than paddle all the way around past all the ice in the Upernavik
icefjord. Although the walkway was
topographically not flat It was not so steep and rocky that a hunter could not
be walk up and over it carrying his kayak on his head.
Because this passage connected to a bay just like a highway I can
imagine how handy this crossing must have been when there was just too much ice
in the Upernavik icefjord.
As I paddled along the southwest side of the island, Uilortussoq, coming
into Angmarqua passage I saw a few bergs.
I thought to myself that there certainly ought to be bergs around here
because I was about four miles from the northern edge of Nutaarmiut Island very
close to the Upernavik Icefjord. The
icefjord would be loaded with icebergs.
I saw a distinct projecting peninsula on the west side of Angmarqua
passage, which was part of Nutaarmiut Island that I choose to head for.
As I made for the peninsula, which was a nice diagonal, wind blew into
my face at ten to twelve knots. I
thought how interesting it is that no matter what direction I have paddled
today I cannot escape this wind in my face.
I realised that I was dealing with the cold dense air from the icecap
following the passage of least resistance.
The restricted areas can act as a venturi for both wind and current. http://www.efunda.com/formulae/fluids/venturi_flowmeter.cfm
Bird observations
Near Saningassoq Island were some lovely small islands with very green
grass I remembered from my trip to the icecap with the Iput. I realised that these islands were Eider
nesting spots. I did see 12 common
eiders and 4 king eiders. All these
years I wondered why these islands were so green now I realise it is the usual
place eiders choose to nest.
Ice
photos
On the east side along Nutaarmiut Island I found transparent of chunks
of old iceberg ice chunks with the sun shining through against a black blending
to deep brown background.
I find that on a brilliant day when the sun is low on the horizon
shining through ice, the ice looks like a crystal chandelier floating on the
water. This is stunningly
beautiful.
I carefully found just the right angle to capture this moment by gliding
by looking through my camera and clicking the shudder just when the angle with
the sun was perfect. It took several
passes and adjustments to be able to capture this view and I should have taken
more pictures. Last time I took such
beautiful pictures was in 1992 behind Aappilattoq Island.
I cannot forget that deep background with the crystal clear ice lit
through by the sun.
Unavoidably I did happen to take some pictures directly into the
sun. Although I was lucky that my
camera is not damaged from this direct sunlight but exposing the camera into
the sun is not a good idea.
There was a large bird cliff on Uilortussoq Island I did not to paddle
to the opposite side of Angmarqua passage.
This was directly across from the peninsula I was eagerly heading
for. I decided to not add more extra
miles onto my travels. I thought that
this was another cormorant colony judging in general by the amount of very
white bird excrement on the rock faces.
Cormorants are not especially interesting and they are not endangered as
are Little Auks.
Approaching the peninsula Qilertaussalik I could not understand what I
was seeing. In front of me looming over
the landscape I saw a light lavender jagged peaked shape that looked like a
high ice berg.
I was worried as I wondered to myself, “suppose this part of the
icefjord has bergs of this height in it?
This would be a very serious situation because three and four story
bergs are gigantic. That is just what I
need with my tiny craft. I have seen
small bergs roll over. Believe me
icebergs are much bigger on the bottom!”
I had no way to judge size no perspective to use.
Plenty of huge icebergs glide past Aappilattoq village whenever a storm brings
them in.
As I anxiously approached this very much out of place lavender peak
clarified itself into a very steep rocky peak of granite. I was greatly relieved that it was not a
gigantic towering iceberg.
Here on the northerneast side of Nutaarmiut I was surrounded by brownish
grey granite however as I approached the northern end of Nutaarmiut Island the
color of the granite changed from brown to grey as I paddled northeast and then
swung westward toward the ice fjord.
The west side of Aappilatoq Island has spectacular nearly white granite.
At last the wind was now pushing me as I expected the wind would
probably do because Upernavik isfjord is larger than Angmarqua passage.
Now I was nearing Upernavik icefjord, I was parallel to it but behind a
group of islands part of a complex next to Qeqertarssuaq. I was close enough now that there was an
assortment of icebergs ranging from vertical to tabular ones with many of small
ones.
I heard several motor boats from time to time in the area.
I looked at the islands part of a complex next to Qeqertarssuaq and
thought about where I should paddle
Padding and cold
As I had been paddling along the northeast side Nutaarmiut in the shadow
I started feeling cold.
I pulled my spray skirt up as high as possible under my arms. I utilized my heavy nylon sprayskirt and my
life jacket as insulation
Beneath my sprayskirt I utilized the accordion foam panels my life
jacket’s foam insulation for warmth by spreading out my lifejacket from as high
as possible under my sprayskirt down to my feet.
I had not been able to wear my lifejacket while I paddled because it
rode up under my arms.
I remembered how shockingly cold the out side can be compared to the
inside of a kayak when I once stepped out on an island on this icefjord for a
quick moment.
There is a huge advantage in terms of warmth when paddling a wood framed
kayak with your feet, legs and body elevated from the outer skin by a few
inches.
I was thinking of pulling over and camping but I was still game for
progress. I heard and saw boats coming
and going at full till. To my right was
routine sized bergs like chunks of land most of them. In the mid fjord were the city block sized ones “stay over there
thank you!” I thought to myself.
There were some islands and the
motorboats were passing a few miles out maybe five miles away. Most likely the density of the ice was less
over there.
As I grew colder I realized that I was not going to camp in this area
unless I absolutely had to.
8/11/03
I kept going and the ice became denser and denser. I was making my way west along not sure
where I was. I came to the opening
between Nutaarmiut and Aappilattoq Island.
I was very surprised to find that the ice was much worse.
There was all manner of icebergs about but aside from the bergs was the
flat ice. I found that I could not go
down this passage even if I had wanted to because there was too much ice for me
to attempt paddling through the ice was butted up against itself leaving no
room for me to slip through and there were large icebergs among this ice.
I was glad that I had not attempted to circumnavigate Aappilattoq Island
again as I had in 1992 when I encountered that same situation. That time I had come from the south. This time I was coming from the north.
It is interesting where ice collects.
Originally the village of Aappilattoq was located on the east side of
the island. For some reason the village
was relocated on the west side because the water was deep enough to accommodate
ocean going fishing boats and vessels.
The same happened to Upernavik.
I began to realize that the motorboats were staying a few miles out
somewhere beyond my sight to avoid this kind of ice situation.
I came across a couple small islands I had spotted on the map but they
would have not been quite large enough for camping even if this area had been
warmer.
Approaching the eastern end of the Aappilattoq Island was a long small
island with ice packed next to and what appeared to be several ice bergs packed
together farther on and just a solid wall of ice chunks.
I did not worry about the ice density because the ice was not that tall
or wide nor packed together. The wind
was pushing me now. The sun was
straight in my face and the sky was clear of clouds except a few very low on
the west horizon.
Then as I progressed I realized I could not see all that well the
possible places to pull in for camping and that it did not look all that
hospitable for camping around the end of this island. The rock formations did not offer any ramps just chunks here and
there or if there was a ramp there was no area large enough or with enough
grass to put my tent. I thought “well
just keep paddling but I am not expecting in this next five or so miles to find
any suitable campsites only a sparse possibility of some sort of emergency
site.”
And then at the second large peninsula, the ice density started to look
much more challenging. I thought to
myself, “oh boy, I can get away with passing between the chunks of ice but I
have to be careful not to brush hard against their sharp projecting knifelike
edges. They are mostly erratic shaped
chunks broken off from bergs not annual flat ice chunks. They can be any shape and they are also
moving slightly.
I dropped my rudder more and started taking seriously that I really do
not want to crash or graze against these chunks of ice.”
I was expecting my boat to turn like a whitewater boat forgetting that
this was my first time in a tight turning situation. I sort of bucked up and gave myself more manoeuvring room trying
not to become confused as to which side I would pass by a bow on ice
chunk.
Confusion was affecting me. I
had to consciously discipline myself.
Also I found it very confusing to break my paddling rhythm. The effects of cold and being tired were affecting
my ability to handle challenges.
However adaption was my necessary ingredient for not crashing or
brushing against ice bits two foot diameter and bigger. Ice weighs a lot more than it appears to.
Then another ingredient came into the picture there were also frozen
rafts of one foot square chunks of ice here and there. Not Good!
If I became entrapped between some of these I could see that the only
way out is between the rafts. Those
scared me because they were large and moving.
I figured that they were likely to be more mobile because of their
larger horizontal surface area.
The ice behind Aappilattoq Island on the eastern end became so dense
that I could only find an open passage twenty feet in front of me. I was lucky because I did make it through
much of the ice was plate ice.
I had an intensely frightening moment when I could have been wiped out
in an instant. A chunk of ice from the
foot of a small iceberg suddenly detached and erupted at the surface just
inches off my port side. The two by
three foot piece of ice had dissolved into a globular cluster of long solid
sharp sickle shaped spicules. This
chunk just from its shear thrust as it erupted at the surface might have either
tipped me over or punched a hole in my hull.
I do not know?
This moment was just as real to me as the spirit world Inuit know.
I could see a direct relation between the qivittoq images of Samuel
Knudsen and my fragile boat.
If I had been any closer that chunk of ice would have slammed up under
my kayak. Wow was I lucky and this
moment warned me not to make assumptions.
I thought about my options, I had paddled all this way to avoid the many
miles of completely vertical rock in Sort Huille / Akornat passage with no
place to land. I came to see the icecap
fjords.
Anxiously I continued through out the day I had been chanting “Lord have
mercy” but now I choose the Trisagion “Holy God Holy Mighty Holy Immortal have
mercy on us.” The words and rhythm of
this Trisagion synchronized exactly into my paddling and my mind set.
Now I was worrying but only God handles the unknown and his Grace
returned to me as I continued paddling.
Indeed this entire journey was a translation not just an earthly
journey. I found that I was being
transported by God´s grace. This is the
only way I can explain this expedition.
I ask God to take where he wishes. Although I can try it is God who
takes me where and when and how I go.
Our money all says “Trust in God” and indeed this the only possible way
to undertake living life. Without this
“Trust in God” I would be just a frightened nothing unable to exist.
Denial is not a river in Egypt!
Fright does not inspire spirituality but love for adventure in live
requires spiritual living recognizing that all is through the grace of God, not
our doings.
While crossing over I came to a no wind spot because the two winds from
the fjords met there. I measured my
speed with the GPS which read 3.5 to 2.5 mph I guess.
Then of course the wind was again in my face a little stronger 11 knots
maybe.
I kept chanting the Trisagion “Holy God Holy Mighty Holy Immortal have
mercy on us.” perfect for my spiritual journey and paddling rhythm.
The sun was making its way northward and clouds appeared to be building
on the west horizon. I started to think
about what if those clouds develop into a storm I had better just continue and
hope that I can reach Aappilattoq tonight.
Motor
boaters
I was worried because just before I got to the area where the water was
more open I had heard a motorboat running through the area at the speed of 35
mph.
I thought to myself how is it that dare devils just rush by not caring
if they should happen to hit an ice chunk.
They probably run this area everyday at break neck speed. Not for me in my tiny boat.
Then I thought if I slip into this water nobody will ever see me.
I thought again about camping the cold began to really hit me along with
fear the only way I could cope was by chanting the Trisagion over and
over.
In trepidation I just decided not to look so far ahead but to rather
just paddle through the immediate ice clusters. I was not seeing many more of those rafts of bits and to my right
it was more open. I passed by a large
berg to my right not noticing it during my passage. From this I realized that I was functioning in tunnel
vision. This is the type of vision
experienced during elevated anxiety.
I continued paddling toward Aappilattoq passing farther
off the Aappilattoq Island as I discovered this was much easier than to deal
with more heavily packed ice.
As I was making my way the ice was less dense and I began to feel
relieved. I realized that the ice had
packed behind that first island just before Aappilattoq Island and that I was
lucky.
The total amount of ice was not enough anywhere in the area to really
have stopped me but there is the other factor with ice is it can totally change
its density in moments. What can be an
open passage can just as easily change to a closed passage as the wind and
currents move the ice.
On the outside to my right was most likely to be more completely open
because there is not many obstacles such as rocks, islands etc. to corral the
ice.
I did see a small area of frazzle ice, which was a small collection of
fresh water floating on the salt water.
In the fall this would form sheets of ice nasty to boat through because
this ice is very abrasive to boat hulls.
Frazzle ice is like a bunch of razor blades. It is the most damaging to boats.
On a previous trip I brought a sheet of polyethylene to tie on the bow
for protection when I knew there was no escaping frazzle ice for miles. That was late august King Oscar´s fjord
northeast Greenland I think the motor boats were using that area farther out
from Nutaarmiut Island because there was less ice.
All this was new to me. I could
not decide where to go that might have the amount of least ice because I did
not know where the currents distribute the ice. .
I thought about this is the way to get in trouble, just trust in God and
again his Grace returned to me.
I for some reason thought I should head for that island, Satuit; and
sure enough there was plenty of room to pass by it. The coalesced big bergs in the distance were actually separated.
If all else failed I could have just gone out to the right heading
north.
The sun had now moved well north into the clouds and then at one a.m.
onto the top of the island to the right.
I found it very hard to allow myself to take pictures. I was too cold.
Before I reached this area I assumed that I would be able to just head
down between these islands, Aappilattoq and Akineq, and camp on the southern
tip of Aappilattoq where I had camped in 1993.
I knew that the tip of Aappilattoq was the only flat area I could shoot
for. However I remember that there
would be only water mixed with salt water in the large puddles there.
First I started heading downward deciding I had had enough of this
fearful journey along the fjord.
I realized that I did not want to camp along the Upernavik icefjord
because I might just as easily awake to what is called in Canada “drying
out”. I would awaken to find that I
was encircled with ice. The ice would
stay for an indeterminate length of time.
When the ice was to clear out would depend on the wind and
currents.
Now around midnight the light was dwindling I could see not see color
and judge depth of field. Without color
and depth vision everything looked the same as if all was packed together the
rocks and the ice looked the same. Not
good.
The wind was pushing me and I could feel its chill in my back especially
the very center of my spine. I was
becoming too cold.
Clothing for cold hat
scarf hood gloves pogies
Then I remembered that to stay warm it is very important to conserve
heat in my head as much as possible.
I stopped and pulled out my polyethylene fleece hood with a nylon
over-hood for the wind. Now I had on my
head beneath my baseball cap, my wool and silk scarf and the fleece nylon
hood.
I wore the hood over my mouth and nose so that I could conserve the
warmth of my breath in the fleece fabric of the hood.
My hands were in pogies with wool gloves wrapped outside my hands inside
the pogies to keep my hands warm.
I reasoned that since I had a wind pushing me it was helping me. Perhaps I would be able to make Aappilattoq in not too many hours. I would have no further choice for camping
because there were no campsites that I knew of between here and the town.
I knew that I was now opposite this long narrow island in the vicinity
of the end of this island opposite Aappilattoq Island.
Since the advancing darkness made it much more difficult to judge
distance so I dismissed the idea of heading south as it was a too touchy a
deal.
Don´t play with something you can´t see, especially sharp ice I resolved
to myself then and there. So I knew I
was committed to make Aappilattoq or some place over there. I felt better about at least I had a
definite decision and why I had the decision.
Upernavik Icefjord padding My most challenging experience was paddling the
Upernavik Icefjord for about 12 miles. The ice was in various quantities and
shapes. I had one really hair raising instant when a 2 x 3 x 3 ft chunk shot to
the surface right off my port bow. I thought of the spirit figures called
Kvitolker people make here and how that chunk of ice was just that to me in
that instant. I was very glad I did not happen to be running my kayak just at
the edge of that small bergie bit which shed that chunk of ice at that exact
moment. As I paddled along there were some really nerve testing moments when I
was not sure if I could make it through the configuration of ice ahead in the
failing light of the evening. I wound up getting off the water at 3 am.
The sun had set behind an
island but I had enough reflected light to continue. The wind had stopped for
awhile and then after midnight roughly it came from behind a gentle 10 knots of
truly icy wind believe me. As it´s source was from the ice cap. I donned
another hood of dense polyethylene lined with nylon in addition to my usual silk
lined wool scarf and sun hat. I felt colder and colder so I pulled the hood up
to cover my mouth and nose as a way to further conserve my body heat. I knew I
had to keep moving.
The ice as I neared
Aappilattoq Island at first seemed like I was not going to get through because
it was so dense. Then as I actually got
to the island it was less dense.
To my right in the fjord was
even less dense, however there were a few gigantic bergs out there to think
about and also thoughts about who might be among the ice like walrus and polar
bear.
I could hear boats on the
water but I realized as the evening grew later that nobody was out there and if
I slipped into the water believe me nobody would ever find me among that ice. I
also realized it was not a good idea to risk any impacts with the sharp ice
even though my fabric boat is probably impervious to this type of ice. I did
not want to find out.
As I paddled along I
realized how some people had adamantly told me no you can not paddle this way
to Aappilattoq and others said oh you can go by this island but you have to
then go this way. I realized that the ice moves all over so who knows from each
moment where the ice is going to be concentrated. So I realized that I had to
strategize my moves and make no assumptions.
Aha before I knew it I realized that I was coming up on the islands off Aappilattoq however the sun had set behind the island but I
had enough reflected light to easily see ahead of me.
I was glad it was not any later in August so the light would be more
reduced. I knew I was committed to
another unknown number of hours paddling and it was after 01:00.
The sun sank behind an island with an iceberg in front of it. I said to myself “so this is the first
sunset here.” Of course the sunset
depends upon perspective. I just
happened to be sitting behind an island that was in line with the sun at local
midnight. I took a picture of the
iceberg and of the sun behind the island.
The island was in purple.
Purple is a common color in Greenland in this light condition.
In fog and rain these colors dissolve to black and grey tones depending
on distances.
In evening sun colors loose their yellow becoming more blue in the
landscape of island peaks behind island peaks. http://www.noaa.gov/questions/question_071202.html http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/
Camera I found from
viewing the pictures that the camera has its most difficult time resolving
focus and colors in dark conditions so the pictures of the icebergs were just a
blurr. I couldn’t tell a thing, could
have been an elephant or maybe a mouse from what I saw but I let the camera
autoadjust for proper settings. The
picture turned out just fine.
I crossed the opening on the backside of Aappilattoq after some islands,
Avataerserfik and Serfalivik. The
opening to that bay a mile. I was about
half way across the northern edge of Aappilattoq Island.
There was a rocky peninsula that looked too jagged to consider pulling
in to.
In 1995 I had paddled in this area this is a beautiful area in full
sunlight, now everything was vague.
It was a good thing I was familiar with what to expect for how the town
Aappilattoq would look once I came upon it.
I kept on now as the morning was advancing and around each peninsula the
light was now brighter such that I could see the color of the rock and I could
see perspective.
However I was starting to become blurred in my judgement I could see
this island Inugsulik and it looked as though I should just head for that
rather than stick to the edge of Aappilattoq Island. Luckily I did not make that mistake.
Along Aappilattoq Island I went from peninsula to peninsula hoping that
this would be the harbour for Aappilattoq.
They all looked the same.
Finally I did come around a corner and there set down inside was the
town, Aappilattoq.
Ramp at Aappilatoq landing kayak
Their harbour lights were on and I passed by looking for a convenient
rock ramp. Sure enough there was that
same ramp I had used in 1993 and 1995 just at the foot of Ole Grim’s
house.
There was no other suitable place to bring my kayak in and be able to
roll it up the rock on my pool noodles.
I climbed out and nobody noticed even though some children had seen me
at the pier. Such a relief, It was Tom
Petersen who so kindly directed me to this ramp in 1992.
I was greatly relieved that there were no sled dogs tied up where I
would have to walk that I would have to deal with. It is not a good idea to walk through sled dogs.
I unloaded my kayak pulling out the essential overnight items, slung
them onto my back. Then I rolled the
kayak up as high as possible and tied it securely off bow and stern and closed
the hatches and sprayskirt over the cockpit.
Although my kayak was not all that high above the tide line this area
very rarely has storm surges high enough to reach my kayak. Still I was worried and I made sure my kayak
was well tied off.
I was also glad that the sled dog population is well controlled here in
Aappilattoq. There are no loose
dogs. A bored hungry sled dog could
easily do plenty of damage to my kayak.
I walked up the hill happy to be on land I was familiar with and arrived
at Adam Grim’s house at 3 a.m. I knew
this would not be a problem for Adam because he is often up at night enjoying
his computer on the Internet.
Hospitality was as usual, I had telephoned Adam months ago and he said
Oh you can stay in the room upstairs where you stayed last time.
We had a wonderful time together with his growing family. We talked about culture as usual and I
mentioned to him that I was interested in talking with people about
kayaking. He arranged for me a visit
with his father Rasmus.
I am very lucky because Adam speaks fluent Greenlandic, Danish and
English. He translated for me
everything anyone said. I learned a lot
on this trip because Adam guided me to wonderful resources those older Greenlanders
who live in Aappilattoq who have stories to tell about how they hunted and
travelled in kayaks and umiaqs.
Spirituality
About death in this area of Greenland when somebody does have a fatal
accident on the ice, Greenlanders, such as Adam Grim just dismiss it as that is
life. However they do say that they
miss the person.
Interview with Rasmus Grim, kayak umiaq hunter paddler hunting seal
walrus whale
Adam Grim translated the film and what his father Rasmus Grim said.
At Rasmus Grim house we watched a video titled Grønlansk fortæler Vi
husker by Nuka Film/ Magic Hour Films Karen Littauer. The book is Grøndlandske fortællere
nulevende fortællekunst in Grønland edited by Kirsten Thisded material
assembled and collected by K aren
Littauer published by Aschehoug ISBN 87-11-16699-1 www.aschehoug.dk 2002
The film involves a chosen group of elder Greenlanders who describe the
traditional life of their youth. With
those who were hunters they answered questions as to how they handled the first
hunting experience of killing an animal and dealing with the experience.
Rasmus told about what frightened him and how he overcame his fears
through amulets and the spirit world.
Rasmus Grim as a child began to kayak when he was about eight or ten
years old.
He told me about the time he and three other hunters harpooned thirty
six seals.
How they got them back was by towing them back behind their four
kayaks. First they made the seals more
buoyant so that they would be easier to tow, by blowing air into their body
cavities and plugging them. Then they
tied them into an array using the handles of their harpoons combined with
lines. Together they towed all the
seals back.
Another time Rasmus harpooned five or six seals and unfortunately he was
too far from home to tow them so he butchered them and put the meat and skins
inside his kayak. http://www.upernivik.gl/The%20Old%20Shop.htm
When he shot birds or caught fish he would carry them on the decks of
his kayak. Sometimes he would catch so
many that he would have the deck of his kayak covered.
One time he some ice happened to puncture the bow section of his
kayak. Luckily he was near an island so
he landed and found objects to plug the holes with. He put some rocks on the stern deck to raise the bow above the
waterline. He was able to return home
without taking water on.
This as a kayaker was very important information to me.
Rasmus told me when they got a walrus they would put into the walrus
abdomen a float of sealskin called an avadaq fill it up and close it. Then the walrus would be buoyant enough to
tow back. http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/walrus.html
He remembers that there were three umiaqs in Søndre Upernavik / Kjalleq
Upernavik. His father’s umiaq was rowed
alone by his mother while he and his grand mother followed in kayaks.
I was very surprised to hear that women paddled kayaks in
Greenland. There were no taboos against
women paddling kayaks in the Upernavik region of Greenland
With a whale they would take out the guts and tow the whale back. http://www.upernivik.gl/images/Den%20gamle%20butik/DSCN0033.JPG
He planned and built of the umiaq for the 225-year jubilee in Upernavik
in Aappilattoq.
I forgot to ask who got the bearded seal skins to cover the Umiaq with.
The Bearded seal is best for covering a kayak and umiaq it is large and
strong skin.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jaap/othphoca.htm
Suzie Grim Rasmus oldest sister died two years ago but I did interview
her about rowing an umiaq. She said
travelling in an umiaq was a good time because everybody got to visit and have
a good time. She was from Upernavik
Kujalleq.
Johanne Thorliefsen (Løvstrøm), Ole´s mother says in Grønlansk
Fortæler that she also travelled in a her father’s umiaq or konebåd from
Kangersuatsiaq / Prøven to Salleq, to Saattoq to Kingataq to Qeqertaasaq to
Upernavik Kujalleq.
She also says that they transported dogs, harpooned whales, they
transported seals and seal fat to sell to KGH, they fished at Eqalugaarsuit /
Laksefjorden. They would go for a tour
for fourteen days. They caught
muskoxen/ørreder and smoked their meat.
They returned to town with their umiaq full of ørreder. One time the kayakers hunted six reindeer
and put them in the umiaq. Then there
was no space for the kayaks and so they had to paddle home on their own.
They would go eider duck hunting in the umiaq in combination with the
kayakers by chasing the Eider. These
flightless ducks would dive under the umiaq to the beach where they would shoot
them. Some seasons they would get some
so many eiders that they would have to store them in a large meat cache lined
with stones and covered with sledges for the winter.
The Eider is valued for its feathers as well as meat. Traditional Greenland clothing undershirts
were made of Eider skin with the down left attached.
www.rmv.nl/publicaties/2groenland/e/e4bb.html
The umiaq was used extensively 30´s through 50´s I guess. There were 3 in Søndre Upernavik Kujalleq
and Karen Hansen of Aappilattoq said there was only one in Aappilattoq and she came here in 1931. She said you could do anything in a
umiaq. Kayakers traveled in the umiaq
and paddled alongside the umiaq was normal. http://www.travelvantage.com/arc_life.html
Martha Etah paddled a kayak from Thule to catch ulke she did not hunt
seals from a kayak. I did the same from
my kayak.
I measured Rasmus Grim designed kayak built by Hans Thomassen
kayak deck width in front of cockpit is 55 cm behind cockpit is 51.5 cm,
width of kayak cockpit itself is 46 cm and length is 43 cm. The stern to bow is 4.5 meters the length of
stern to bottom is 38 cm deck to bottom point is 18 cm bow to bottom is 50 cm
top of deck to bottom is 20 cm the chins first or width of gunwale board is 8
cm, next chine is 8 cm, chine to keel is 20 cm, the height inside front of
cockpit massik to keel is 21 cm behind cockpit to keel is 18.5 cm.
the paddle is 2 meter 46 cm width of blade is 9.5 cm loom is 4 cm
oriented to flat of blade and 3 cm oriented to narrow of blade the blade is a
fan shape with no loom it is especially long.
I have seen this design in Tassiusaq in 1993 but I do not know where it
has originated.
Friends 8/13/03
Today, Thursday, was the
first day of school here and as is the custom when it is the very first day for
a child the family holds a great party. So we attended a kaffimik and a dinner
at one of adam´s cousins home. Ole was here with his family for his brother´s
wife´s family too. What fun.
Kayak and hunting interview 8/13/03
And tonight I talked with
Karen Hansen a 76 year old lively lady who told me about what fun it was to
travel in the umiaq. She laughed and smirked saying you can do everything in
the umiaq. They had such a fine time they went fishing, did major summer
travel, went to the land hunting caribou, hunted seals and visiting from the
umiaq or konebåd.
Camera I
am pleased with the quality of my new camera although it is not like the slr
camera in the sense that it takes its electronic time to shoot a picture so
something instantly needing to be shot is not possible to capture on this
camera, Sony MVC 400CD. I will develop a sense of timing to compensate for this
limitation. The camera has loads of options I have yet to explore. It is an
interesting electronic adventure rewarding to pursue. I took some video with
the camera but that is another vague subject.
Did get a little bit wild
some moments and I did not always take pictures when I might have liked to
have. Some of the pictures were pure hip shots so to speak but the camera
handled them.
GPS My new
GPS, Garmin 76, does well at capturing
and recording way points so I have good data with that.
So hopefully I shall have a
fine trip to Upernavik if the weather permits.
Lichens and camera
performance I went up on top and gathered lichens for Eric Steen Hansen above
Aappilattoq. I also took detailed
pictures of lichens and small flowers the camera takes excellent detailed
pictures after I discovered that ist is very handy to find a good light
exposure and then set on AE for the upcoming picture then shoot it. Otherwise the camera has a huge problem
especially with reading exposure of extreme small white and green combined objects
at 0.1 m focal distance. I took a general
composition with similar subject matter and take the setting from there. I have to use my glasses to be sure that the
camera is properly focused on the subject.
local politics
Adam Grim told me that Aappilattoq supplies 30% of the tax income to the
Upernavik Commune is produced by income from the fish processed at the
fish-processing factory. This is
Halibut processing however the fishery in other towns of Upernavik Commune is
switching over to crab. The crabs in
this area are very large.
Fishing and boat
Dennis from Inarsuit arrived with his commercial long liner the Malik
#64 GR. And offered me a trip fishing for halibut at the ice cap they set their
lines for 10 hours at a time. This is
the same technique used by Lars Jensen and the fishermen in Kullorsuaq when
they fish under the ice. www.halibut.net/
8/13/03
I
am at Adam Grim´s house in Aappilattoq and Wednesday an overcast morning
then rain in the evening with fog.
8/14/03
Thursday
I expect to leave tomorrow Friday for Upernavik, however Adam told me that
there was a strong storm coming in on Friday so I should not leave.
8/15/03
Friday storm expected tonight wind here is
expected to be from the east. My kayak
is safe on the rocks below Ole Grim’s house.
There is a forecast of overcast turning into rain with 50 meter per
second wind coming in the evening from the east or from the south east into
Upernavik.
Beginning of the day the pressure at Adam´s
house 29.30 mb. At 16:20 the pressure
is 29.20 wind hustling along moving all but the grounded bergs looks like 20
knots south east. The bergs are really
moving right along now.
Hope the waves don’t grab my kayak off the rocks
in front of Ole Grim´s house.
8/16/03
Saturday At Adam´s house in Aappilattoq the rain
has been falling steadily at 14:30 and the barometer is rising from 29.10 to
29.15. At 15.00 it is 29.15 with wind
showing on the water east south east likely at 15 to 20 knots. Skud is showing overhead. The graph is up one block another four
points.
At 15:19 there are larger openings in the skud
but the icebergs are holding their positions so the current is probably
balancing with the wind.
16:30 slight rain wind c 20 knots some white
caps and barometric pressure at 29.20 graph showing a 3rd step in
rise. Brighter areas between skud bergs moving along toward the Northwest.
Last night´s wind pushed some large bergs over
toward Upernavik.
at 18:00 the barometric pressure has risen
another point on the graph 5 points the total reading is 29.25 mb. The wind is a good 20 knots.
At 19:30 the barometric pressure is 29.25 mb the
sun is starting to shine.
At the moment the barometric pressure is 29.10
light rain light wind. The barometric
pressure dropped from 12 hours ago in .10 mb steps steadily making a nice
ladder on my barometric watch with 29.10 .20 .30 x2 .40 .50 x3 .60 .80 .90
30.00. This is a drastic change
indicating a strong low pressure system this storm is. I am waiting for the pressure to turn and it
is foggy which makes the near islands about 2.5 km away difficult to see.
8/17/03
Sunday morning I decided to leave for Upernavik
although forecast was cooling wind 28 to 33 knots in Upernavik.
8/17/03 leaving Aappilattoq
Sunday morning I decided at 10 am that even though there
was a forecast for cooling wind 28 to 33 knots from the west that I would leave Aappilattoq for
Upernavik.
I forgot that I needed better pogie liners so after I
had paddle a couple miles my hands became cold because of the wind leaking though
the sides of the pogies on the paddle loom.
I stopped and stuffed them with what I could scrounge up of some pieces
of mylar scrunched up.
I was paddling west into a ten to fifteen knot wind with
two-foot waves.
I made the first island, Uigordlia. I took the north side sheltered from the
wind.
I could have paddled between Uigordlia and
Angmaussarssuaq. I have taken that
route several times before. Interesting
is that the bottom is lined with white feldspar and it is very easy to spot sea
urchins against this background.
I stopped for a short while to put on my
sunglasses. The sun was very bright.
The view angle from where I was off Uigordlia happened
to lineup perfectly with my next objective Atiligssuaq Island.
I did not expect that the passage to the Atiligssuaq
Island was going to be like the last time.
This time I had innocuous two-foot waves and a minor rip to deal
with. I thought well of myself because
these conditions did not phase me in my new kayak. Previously in 1993 this rip area frightened me
I saw three boats coming back from Upernavik when I was
nearly up to the land peninsula, Isussaa on the next island, Atoligssuaq.
In the quiet area I met a boat with Adam Grim’s wife’s
parents. He turned his boat around and
came over to me. He told me with
anxiety and deep concern in his voice that Upernavik was very bad saying
“Upernavik iaboq” meaning Upernavik is too dangerous to get to by boat. He really meant it! It takes really bad conditions for a
Greenlander in a powerboat to turn around and quit a trip.
As I was coming up the peninsula I found some larger
swells coming through among sets of three smaller waves and some wind riffles
darkening water.
Wind riffles on the water usually means wind of fifteen
knots and more. The wind did not seem
that formidable at that point, however I was in a protected area behind the
protection of a peninsula with a few twenty-foot rocks interspersed here and
there.
Still I had no idea what lay ahead. I thought that from what I had just
experienced off Aappilattoq of two to three foot swells generated by the ten to
fifteen knot wind that this would be the case when I rounded the peninsula
heading for the north eastern tip of Upernavik Island.
Little did I take into account the effect topography has
on winds. I had forgotten why they
describe Aappilattoq as being in the quiet fjords.
I was not able to see Sanderson’s Hope until I was well
involved with trying to cross from Atoligssuaq to Upernavik. When I could see Sanderson’s Hope I did not
take notice of the Hat on Sanderson’s Hope.
I had forgotten that the local dire weather warning about the Hat on
Sanderson’s.
I started toward my goal the northern tip of Upernavik
Island. I felt that I could easily make
that two to three mile crossing. As I
looked at the island harder and harder I began to realize that even though I
was already about half way across to Upernavik all that was happening was that
I was just paddling in place. I tried
harder and nothing happened, in fact I was loosing ground. Then I realized that I had to admit to
myself that I had better do something quick before I become exhausted.
Quickly I sensed that I was becoming overwhelmed by 20
to 30 knot broadside winds.
The waves were building to four and five and breaking
broadside. I was lucky so far and
missing them as they broke but I knew that sooner or later I would probably
catch one. If anything went wrong, my
spray skirt popped or I was thrown off balance by getting hit by a large
broadside breaking wave would put me in great peril.
I diligently paid attention to the waves paddling
between their breaking points by timing it.
However if the situation became more chaotic there would not be
predictable time positions where the waves would be breaking. I was lucky however I did catch a couple but
luckily they were not such large ones as to throw me around or give me a bath
across my face.
This is one of those situations when it is nice to be
well in control of your boat and to have it conveniently ballasted. Had I been in an empty boat I would been
thrown around like a cork.
With out a rudder, any progress other than straight down
wind would have been impossible.
I realized that I couldn’t make Upernavik, the Wind was
still picking up and that the hat on Sanderson’s Hope was real. I had been told that when there is a hat on
Sanderson’s Hope the 1042 meter high mountain, that the weather is very bad and
stay off the water.
With great effort I was just able to turn around my
kayak.
I checked the map remembering that I had visited a cove
on this the west side of Atoligssuaq Island.
I had been paddling roughly broadside to the local wind
from the south due to the local topography.
On the west side open to Baffin Bay the wind was coming
from the west.
Now I had reversed direction and was broadside to the
wind heading east. I thought that it
would be easier paddling in this direction.
My direction made absolutely no difference.
The paddling was very demanding and I had to keep a
strict eye on the waves to avoid getting grabbed and rolled by a breaking wave,
which were coming directly at my right side.
I had to be very careful not to loose my bow down wind
by applying heavy pressure on my left rudder pedal and occasionally
compensating with my left paddle to keep from losing my bow down wind.
Without the rudder I would have been almost immediately
exhausted. To anyone contemplating
expedition paddling have a rudder on your kayak.
The rudder on this kayak is longer and better designed
than the Klepper rudder.
I made one cove which I had visited in 1993 and saw a
blue Torsk or cod fish, however there was no place to come in for a landing no
rock ramps just boulders. No area to
set up a tent there was just rocks.
The waves were four feet high they were too high to risk
landing on anything other than a rock ramp.
It was agony getting there the rudder made it
possible. Spray was unavoidably blowing
off the paddle into my face from this 28 to 33 knot southwest wind.
I did see two powerboats heading for Upernavik they
crept along the west side of Atoligssuaq to Nutdlut point and then they headed
for Akutdliarssuaq Island and Ikerssuaq passage behind Upernavik. I had not realized that this would be a
likely passage with less intense wind.
I am not sure, however watching these yawls / motorboats pitching wildly
about in the waves made me really fear for their safety and lives. I actually heard one come right out of the
water. And I mean truly wild pitching
with the boat barely in the water.
I was more than glad that I was not in any of those
boats because the seas were much too high for such short boats. The boats were being operated at much too
high a speed for the conditions. I
wonder how many people drowned unnecessarily in these short yawls.
These powerboats are really are designed for ten to
fifteen knot sea conditions.
In my kayak although my limitation was my physical
strength was able to handle with a much greater margin of safety these seas
because I was in a closed craft dressed for immersion. The wind was not gusting quite enough to
cause me concern enough to tie my paddle to the kayak. have seen these conditions in this area
just around the corner in the passage called Torssuut in 1992.
Now I realized I had a serious situation where could I
find refuge, however I knew that there was another bay I could try for called
Qaarusuk.
It was a major expenditure of strength to get the boat
turned around again using major strength on the rudder and paddle to get the
boat around.
The wind 28 to 30 knots was really pushing me
around. Now I was paddling dead against
the wind. It took me along time to
reach this bay as I worked very hard to get there.
As I rounded the peninsula into this bay, Qaarusuk,
strange to me the wind stopped blowing.
The bay was about half a mile deep flanked by hundred foot tall cliffs
and rocks.
At the end to the right side I saw a possible landing spot
on some rocks. This was a flat area not
quite large enough with submerged boulders along the edge and to the left and
backed by steeply angled but rounded granite.
The inside of this bay was where the winds met and
stopped.
The waves flattened to swells but the swells were still
three and four feet. . Usually in the Arctic the wind is everywhere
because usually the topography is such that the wind just veers around corners. Here the wind just canceled itself out, a
very interesting situation, which I cannot quite explain.
I looked at the rocks and looked at the waves, which
were swells. I realized that there
would be nowhere in this area where the swells would be any smaller other than
if I were to completely retrace my steps and return to back side of the quiet
peninsula on the north side of the island a couple miles away.
I decided that I could probably successfully land,
however as I looked at the rocks appearing and disappearing beneath the swells
I realized that this was a risky landing.
I could easily become injured performing this landing
with these conditions. Subluxing my
artificial hip was a possibility.
The back of the kayak seat was much too high for my
single as it had been designed for the higher decked double. The kayak was very difficult to get out of
because the seat was way up there in the air.
I decided to go for it anyway. I
made ready with my long bowline in hand.
A safety issue was that the site happened to be in full
view of any boat on the way to Upernavik.
On my way out I was okey until I happened to
accidentally have hooked my right foot into the armhole of my lifejacket. I had forgotten about that lifejacket which
had been lying over my legs.
I fell out of my kayak because I could not step out as
the wave dropped me over the slightly submerged rocks.
As I was in the water one leg in the water my body in
the water and my right leg in the armhole of my lifejacket within my cockpit,
very conveniently my bootie just slipped off my foot.
I floated free from my kayak leaving me wearing only my
drysuit boot sock.
My head did not go underwater which helped because I did
not have to experience that level of cold-water shock.
Instinctively I immediately reasoned that I must grab
the boulder I was floating over.
Luckily the boulder was only two feet under water.
I grasped the boulder just beneath me as the surging
wave pushed me over it. Luckily it was
only an arm length beneath me. I did
this just before the wave was about to rebound carrying me out into deeper
water.
From my white water experience I knew that I had to
quickly get up on my feet and get out of the wave surges otherwise I would be
nearly helpless floundering around in the water, especially water tempered with
ice. Any leak in my drysuit would be
further fuel for disaster. I was
completely alone.
In a moment I was able to stand up in the water with my
bowline in hand and climb the rocks up onto dry land.
The fit and design of my Kokotat drysuit coupled with
the thin coating or water repellent silicon Scotch Guard gave me the greatest
mobility in water such that during my climb out of water onto dry land I
experienced nearly no resistance.
I was very lucky that the rocks I happened to be
climbing on were smooth surfaced hypersthene
granite.
If the surface of the granite had a course crystalline
surface texture it might have been sharp enough to slash open my drysuit sock
instantly. www.geologynet.com/canning.htm
I had one neoprene bootie on and one drysuit sock
on. The Gore-Tex material in the
drysuit booties survived undamaged. www.kokatat.com/
I was very glad that I had adhered to one of my leaned
maxims from past ice experiences. A
long bowline of twenty-five feet polyethylene or so is a very necessary line on
a kayak because this line allows me to handle situations involving ice and
difficult landing situations as well as to tie the boat down.
Once I was up on the rocks I had to choose a place to
bring up the boat. I decided my only
option was a slightly short but dry ramp flanked with very steep granite rising
another eight to ten feet above the water.
I lifted and pulled up one end of my kayak out of the
water on the surges and then the other end with relative ease just above the
waves.
I was very glad that Kokotat had chosen a type of
Gore-Tex material that was not slippery when wet and was also tough enough to
withstand walking on granite rocks without lacerating or puncturing. I had not appreciated their wisdom of choice
in materials until this moment, but this was the moment when that choice meant
the ultimate difference between direct exposure to deadly cold water and my
complete safety.
I choose to get my kayak out of the water into a stable
situation first before trying to retrieve and put on my neoprene kayak bootie
first because my life depended more completely on my kayak than on my kayak
bootie situation.
Once I had positioned my kayak safely out of the wave
surges, I retrieved my bootie from the cockpit and put it back on my foot. The multi adjustable Velcro straps make
these Thunderware booties clad with flexible
razor cut soles hold securely enough to my
feet that I can rely upon these booties for boulder and rock climbing.
Now the next decision was how to handle getting my kayak
up these sheer rocks without damaging my hull.
These rock faces were so steep that with just my slightest mistake I
could loose my kayak by it rolling over back down right into the water.
My first line of order was to lighten my kayak by
unloading as much as possible so that I could relatively easily get the boat up
the rock face.
I opened my deck ports retrieved my shoulder cargo
carrying bags I had sewn myself from nylon pack cloth. I filled them with the tent bag, sleeping bag
dry bag, clothing bag, food dry bag, cooking stove, pot, and utensils. I gathered together and carried up to the
top of the rock face everything I would need for the evening including camera
and electronic gear.
I closed up the loading ports and the cockpit so that
nothing would fall out should my kayak roll over.
Getting that kayak up those steep rocks without it
accidentally cutting loose was an engineering challenge.
In most places I could not walk directly across the rock
because the rock was too steep and slick.
I had to go down to the bottom and walk where I could from one end of my
kayak to the other.
I decided to design a capstan system for my kayak. With the aid of the capstans I could
maintain control and position of both ends of my kayak while I was lifting one
end at a time my kayak up the face of the rock.
My capstan system would be made by looping separate
lines from my bow and stern around the shafts of my paddles then returning to
me.
I was going to lift my kayak from each end while I held
the ends of these lines so that I could limit the distance the kayak would roll
if I lost control of it.
My paddles would need to be secured. Although they say don’t dig clams with your
paddle I have no fear the Werner Wenatchee paddles are more than strong enough
for this project.
I needed some crevasses or boulders as high on the rock
face as my line would allow above and off to the side of my kayak.
I saw some crevasses and boulders on both sides of the
rock face in usable positions.
I wedged my paddles into these and propped them up
making them into levers. I did not
think I was going to exactly lift or open the granite with my paddles but the
paddles would be sturdy enough to bare the weight of my kayak.
I ran my bowline around the shaft of one paddle and my
Colorado Kayak Supply fifty-foot polypropylene throwline on the stern around
the shaft of the other paddle and ran those lines back to me at the kayak. http://summitkayak.com/store/index.cfm?item_id=162&do=detail
I knew just by looking at these rocks that they were
much too steep for me to get my kayak up it end over end with out it cutting
loose and rolling straight down into the water. These rocks were too vertical to use chocks under my hull. Those would have just rolled into the water
too.
I tied two pool noodles as circles under the hull a
third of the way back from the bow and the stern to keep my hull off the rock
and to make the kayak easier to lift because it would not be resting on the
rocks.
I planned to lift the hull by sliding my forearms
beneath the hull or by lifting from above depending on what position I might be
forced to use to lift the hull. I expected
that I might have to resort to lifting the boat from beneath on my forearms to
have the most stable position for my kayak and me.
I wanted to be able to set it down and then just as
easily reposition my kayak.
Each time I moved my kayak I needed to find the most
stable new position.
This would require setting it down without it resetting
repeatedly until I found the most stable position for it to rest in.
I positioned myself below my kayak at the stern and
tensioned my capstan lines. Both lines
had to be kept tensioned at all times because each time I lifted one end of the
hull the hull might just pivot on a bulge of rock in the rock below instead
pivoting on the opposite end. The kayak
would just seesaw back and forth No progress would be made.
With line securing the opposite end, the bow, the kayak
would pivot on that opposite end.
From below I lifted my kayak bow up the rock face as
high as my arms would reach adjusting the tension as necessary so that the
kayak would climb the incline. Then I
readjusted the tensioned the lines as I was walking to the opposite end. I did not want to loose any up hill progress
by a momentary slackening of the lines.
I positioned myself under the bow and lifted adjusted
and set in a stable position.
Foot by foot I lifted the kayak without loosing it up
the incline.
I had to set up a second capstan position farther up the
rock because I was lacking my second throwrope.
I had one precarious moment near the top when I was
limited to setting my kayak on bulbous rock and it leaned over on its side just
about to rollover. I was glad I had
closed up the cockpit because loose objects would have tumbled out and down the
hill.
Once my kayak was up on the top it was just another
sunny day in the Arctic.
I was glad I was wearing my now old pair of Thunderbay
booties, which had served me well since 1989.
These booties have a rubber sole made for sailing shoes. I have used them for climbing rock faces
before. The most memorable was in 1994
in Arctic Bay Canada for scaling a steep rock face twenty feet high to get
above the water up to dry ground above.
I was glad I had brought my wool silk lined scarf and
fleece hood covered with rip stock nylon hood.
I erected my tent without any problems now this escapade
in alternative tents had become routine.
I was amazed that I landed in a place, which was out of
the wind. I never thought that it would
be possible to find any bay out of this intense wind but here it was just as
calm as could be. A bog with a pond
probably of snow water hosted lush plants flanked the campsite. The lush plant growth signified that this
must be another one of those areas with slack wind.
I had failed to relieve myself soon enough and
unfortunately found myself urinating in my drysuit I was just not able to get
it off before I urinated.
In the bog water pools there was enough warm water that
I could easily rinse out my drysuit.
I turned my drysuit inside out and carefully dried it
with the Pak Towel taking care that no water might lay puddle
somewhere in some fold.
I had to rinse out and dry my underwear, pants and socks
and have them dry before setting off the next morning. My warmth is completely dependent upon my
clothes being dry.
I dried my underwear and socks by using ringing them in
my Pak Towel to extract the water from the polyethylene fibers and then I would wring
the Pak Towel as dry as possible and
repeat this process as many times as I could until I could not extract any more
water from the fabric with the Pak Towel.
http://www.escape-co.com/cooking_accessories.htm#camp%20towel
Then I hung my clothes in the waning warmth of latter
part of the day’s end. When I crawled into my sleeping bag to sleep
I put the clothes on my stomach so that my body heat would drive the rest of
the moisture out of them.
The next morning I used my Pak Towel to
absorb all water out of the bottom of my kayak in the wood frame. Nothing else will soak up water as quickly
and as completely from among the frame members of a folding kayak as well as
this highly absorbent Pak Towel.
I set to experimenting again with cooking over a
campfire made from local plants. The
whole project was an ill experience.
All I accomplished was to thoroughly blacken my pots with the copious
resins, which makes these plants freshly pulled up from the earth burn
fiercely.
My mistake was in not building a large enough
hearth. I should have created a very
carefully constructed bee hive shaped hearth roughly a foot or more with by a
foot tall closed in at the top just enough to support the pots.
I learned with my excessively minimalist attempt that
the fire has to have enough volume to support itself.
I wasted lots of matches and the lighter with numerous
relightings in my vain attempt at “well maybe it will burn this time” approach
to boiling a few liters of water.
Ah some experiments can be a little humiliating but oh
well one does have to experiment.
I had watched Greenland ladies make these fires many
times but I had not quite realized that the dimensions of the hearth was so
important despite the very high flammability of these tiny arctic plants.
I wound up with slightly warm water instead of the
boiled water. And my seemingly tasty
simple meal of dehydrated and dried food turned to be displeasingly rugged
unsatisfying fare. I deluded myself
into thinking it was not all that bad as I downed the grim meal.
I did not have the patience to figure out what was wrong
with my hearth at the time or to just resort to boiling some water with fuel
cubes.
Previous fires for heating water with fuel cubes did not
work out that well. I was not sure if
it was because of my substitution of another stove for the recommended stove or
I needed a heat shield around the pot.
The cube always seemed to burn out before the water came to a boil.
At 10:30 the sun is setting behind the local topography
and the temperature will go below freezing I imagine. I was very anxious about the waves and hoped that the next
morning might be much quieter and that all would go well.
I read my bible and said my evening prayers. My bible was a gift from Jonhardt Dal
Jacobsen’s wife in 1993 when we were discussing our spiritual lives at that
time. I had just experienced great fear
during a very threatening crossing on the east side of this island. I found that the waves became more
threatening as I neared this island. I
prayed for my safety and then found myself becoming so calm that I nearly fell
asleep while paddling.
This Bible fit just exactly into my jacket breast pocket
protected by a zip lock plastic bag. I
was glad that over the years I had kept this bible. There were times when I should have used it much more that I do
at this time.
I knew when planning this 2003 trip that only by the
grace of God could I undertake this journey.
The next morning I was so acutely anxious the only way I
could calm myself was by reading a number of the psalms. The psalms have an incredible energy and
life reality to them, which reaches out to allow me to realize the power of
God.
8/18/03
Although I wished differently the next morning the waves
were still rolling. The wind had
slacked off.
I was able to safely get my kayak down the rocks
reversing the technique I used the day before.
I launched being very cautious about my legs as I sat on the rear deck
on top of my paddle while I putt my legs into the cockpit and slid down into
the seat.
It would have not mattered to me if I had rolled over
because of this unstable position. All
that mattered was that I not injure my leg.
The seas were still three and four feet but not so
fierce. They were just going on the
momentum set up the day before.
I took a few pictures to illustrate forgetting to take
some other pictures I ought to have taken.
The day before taking pictures would have been not wise to say the
least.
I made the crossing to Upernavik Island and took the
shortest way into town using the north route.
There were some interesting waves here and there which I took pictures
of to illustrate how water, topography and rocks interact in the sense of what
is going to dominate. Will the waves
crest and break and what will cause them to break. Will they swing around a peninsula and follow the coastline or
not.
I took a picture of Upernavik to show how it looks on a
grey day from the water just as a reference to compare with a sunny day.
I paddled along the edge of the island passing all those
familiar rock landmarks I knew so well but in this sea the character of those
landmarks was very different. I had
trouble recognizing these places I had studies on sunny calm days in great
detail.
Watching the wave formations was very interesting, now
the waves were only two to three feet.
I passed by the ramps I once camped at and launched
from. I am glad they are still there
untouched by the advance of change.
I rounded the heliport all was quiet because it is now
reduced to only being used in the winter time for transportation in late
November.
I headed into Upernavik harbor thinking about how the
water would behave with this size wave coming in. I was not sure because there is an area where waves can break
over rocks and then slam into the harbor.
Luckily it was calm and I paddled to the ramp for small boats. They cleared a place for me next to the
floating dock and helped me. Once again
my fully loaded Mark I was lifted up by some strong Greenlanders, carried up
the ramp and put on the ground where I wanted it.
Next time I do this I will come into the Old Harbor
because it is much easier to handle my kayak on those granite ramps.
As I was dealing with my kayak unloading it an old
friend turned up Mattias Løvstrøm whom I had met in 1995. We are born on the same day in the same
year. He is an artist as I am also.
I went to the Upernavik Museum to visit as I always
do. There I met the Simpson family from
Canada who had returned from exploring north of Upernavik Icefjord. We shared notes and they told me how lovely
this area was.
I met Peter Aaronsen a hunter from Tussaq the last
remaining resident. He told me that I
must come and explore north of Upernavik Icefjord because there is much more
wild life there since very few hunters with the exception of himself go there.
Throughout my trip this time I saw no seals. Peter told that seals are not around when
there is heavy boat traffic on the water.
I hope to once again visit Upernavik and explore its
fjords in 2005.
Gail
E. Ferris gaileferris@hotmail.com
