|
Upernavik Greenland Travel Notes Gail Ferris |
|
Leaving on SAS from To my sorrow the Ilulissat Sports
Hall no longer rents beds however it is very nice that there is free camping directly
in front of the airport and up at the heliport. A taxi ride from the
airport into Ilulissat now costs 100 Dkr to town so what I did was to find a
couple other riders to share this expense. In Greenland Air costs half
price for people over 60, so I made sure that I began my flight on Greenland
Air from This time from |
|
You can see our airfield on
top of |
|
#001 |
|
Flying into Upernavik this
time I was allowed to sit on a special seat that was elevated and between the
pilots. From this seat I could take
precious still shots of what it looks like. I was just delighted to at
long last be able to take digital photos of all those precious landmarks I have
known from being on the water in this area since 1992. I was especially interested in capturing
how the ice to the east looks this year, 2009. I have some previous photos
in my collection which are interesting to compare with 2009. This photo below is of the
ice density looking east toward Aappilattoq and the Upernavik Icefjord. |
|
#002 |
|
The year before, 2008, I
had been taken by motorboat over to the other side of the icefjord. This time I planned my
paddling to be in Ammaqqua region looking at archaeological sites with the
aid of Google maps showing their locations. I think you can understand
why I was heading south to paddle in Ammaqqua rather than into this photo. Below is a photo of what
Ammaqqua passage looked like as we approached from the air. |
|
#003 |
|
We had a very gentle
landing in our Dash 7 at the airport.
The weather was sunny quiet as you can see in the photo above. John picked me up at the
airport with a pickup so that I could fit all my
luggage in it only this year I had only one piece of luggage to save the
expense and trouble of bringing my folding kayak and camping gear in five
bags. I was worried about finding
my kayak and could I get it but when I recognized Jan, one of the cab drivers. Most thankfully since
Martin was not around Jan was able to tell me that my kayak was sitting
safely in Martin’s cellar since I left town in 2008 and that the door was
unlocked so I could just stop by and get it.
I was so glad all was
working out because I had worried about what I would do if the door was
locked and nobody around had the key. I found the cellar door
below porch down stairs and the boat was fine and dry. The five bags of kayak and camping gear
were heavy to haul up the stairs. Having to carry heavy
weight at times is a major consideration to doing this sort of travel. I am focusing more and more each year on
how I can reduce the overall weight of my camping equipment. Being physically able to handle carrying
heavy weight and paddle long distance is one of the reasons why I am a
landscaper at home in Connecticut. My kayak, Long Haul Mark 1,
is heavy but there is no other folding kayak that compares to this one for
solo kayak paddling in these waters. John drove me and the kayak
down to the old harbor the best place to put together the boat and launch
from. |
|
Gina and Kristina were
home. We ate dinner and went fishing
for cod near some islands east of Torssut passage. We had just the best time Gina made sushi
tide. At this time is extreme very low.
We ate some sea urchin eggs Uni.
Wow they were good. I live for
these moments in Upernavik when I can catch some sea urchins just to eat
their eggs. Sunday we ate breakfast and
John invited us to go with him. He
went hunting near Sortehulle we were dropped off on an island on the edge of
Torssut to harvest Mussels. |
|
#004 |
|
In this photo above you see
me standing there in the middle but in the background there are several
icebergs and some fog blowing over the water behind me. When I paddled here in the 1990’s I may
have seen one iceberg at this time of year here. |
|
I was luckily able to wear
Gina’s knee boots so we both could rake up mussels. Wow we had fun and raked up plenty of
them. We boiled and shucked one batch
of our mussels put them into plastic gags for the freezer. Then we raked up some more
which we boiled later and feasted on. We took some Sea Urchins
off the rocks and ate their eggs. They tasted better than the
urchin eggs we ate the day before from a more exposed island. I think that the flavor of Uni depends on
where the sea urchins happen to be located in relation to the currents that
go by them. We also found a few square
shelled Arctic clams which have very square shaped shells but are similar to
soft shell clams in New England are much richer and tastier. We relaxed and dozed in the
warm sun. Then we tried to fish but because
we were using boat rods we just created endless bird’s nests in the reel and
nothing bit. Our lures were designed
to be used over the side of a boat.
All in all, our fishing was a noble experiment anyway. |
|
#005 |
|
We eat some of our mussels
at our special table without proper table linens and gawked at the
surrounding views. Actually it was
very funny this whole thing because here we were in the middle of nowhere
with an actual tiny table to set our dishes on it just struck me so funny
because of the many times I have been by this point in my kayak never
imagining that here we are dining on our freshly caught mussels in 2009. We had such a good laugh
about our table without proper table linens and napkins. Below is a photo I thought
was just wonderful to take of a split rock with this view through it. What is in front of the
rock is actually a willow tree with some black crow berry growing next to the
willow. It is hard to believe that
this plant with its fuzzy leaves and red stems is actually a willow, but
windy desiccating cold growing conditions only allow this size and type of
tree to survive in these conditions. |
|
#006 |
|
John returned from fishing
from his motorboat with two Arctic Cod.
For unknown reasons just a half a mile from here it is easy to catch
many of these cod between two islands in the shallows. Gina cleaned them for us to
eat in soup later at home. John described to me that
he encountered the tide change in Sortehul.
There were six foot standing waves he had to cope with in his
motorboat. Below is an aerial photo of
this area looking from the narrows in the west end to the east toward Aappilattoq. The
right side of the picture is Nutamiut island the largest island in this area. |
|
#007 |
|
The tide change created six
foot standing waves because a lot of water flushes through that
restriction. I had suspected that it
could be like that in Sortehulle similar to the Race between We started home back to
Upernavik which was in fog. John
turned on his GPS with maps showing where we were as we motored away. We encountered fog just outside Torssut
that was already thoroughly enveloping Upernavik to the west. |
|
I took this photo of the fog
blowing wisps between high cliffs and over the lower islands as we were
speeding by in John’s boat. I felt the
ominous power of fog as I witnessed this fog shrouding the iceberg and
enveloping the water making its way in among these islands we were leaving. Fog, just innocent water
vapor, scary stuff to deal with. |
|
#008 |
|
From John’s motorboat I was
able to take photos of fog with a rainbow over an iceberg with the fog
glowing. I had seen this before in the
Innarsuit area but missed the opportunity to photograph this exotic phenomenon. |
|
#009 |
|
Nearer Upernavik we had swing
away from the narrow passage near the island because of the heavy fog. We swung out into the icefjord where the
fog because of the low air temperature coming out from the glacier to the
east did not allow fog to drift in from outside to the west. Then as we got outside and doubled back
south toward Upernavik we were enveloped in fog. Now we were totally dependent on our GPS
map locator to show where we were as we motored along. Gina and I are unaccustomed
to relying on instrumentation we could see nothing, but John confidently
motored on. John has adapted to
motoring in dense fog using GPS with mapping.
GPS is a wonderful instrument for sailing in fog. Upernavik is well known for its many fogs. It is kind of a joke all the fog in
Upernavik and since they built the airstrip on top of the island instead of
the helicopter port next to the water, it is much easier to fly into
Upernavik. Often times you can be up
the hill, so to speak, and the town below is just enveloped in fog. As we were on our way in we
passed by a nasty rock. It would have
been all too easy to hit that rock with a motorboat. The rock showed clearly on the GPS map and
showed exactly our position as we passed by.
The rock was just exposed at low to mid tide right there. When I have paddled in my
kayak rocks such as this are of no concern but in a motor boat it is
different. |
|
What a delight again now it
was Sunday and John invited us to go motorboating again. He was going to hunt and fish. We were going to gather some more mussels
and feast on some more Uni. I thought I died and went
to heaven because for me being able to go get mussels and fish with them was
just the best. When John and Gina Kislov
and I launched his motorboat in the morning the harbor was at such a low tide
that we almost were unable to navigate through the complicated mass of
outhaul lines just below the surface. I can tell you that launching
their motorboat was about like threading the eye of a needle because it
happened to be perigee low tide, the lowest time of the month. I was wondering how we would
possibly be able to do this but at least the boat was afloat in three to four
feet of water. There was loads of thick
seaweed on the bottom, Laminaria, but luckily this seaweed was not thick
enough to choke up the anchorage, that would have made launching only
possible by resorting to oars. Luckily on our return the
tide had filled in making the harbor not so difficult. |
|
We landed at the dock, emptied
the boat and slogged up the hill to the house with our buckets and
things. Before we leave our fishing
and shell fishing Gina always cleans the fish on the rocks and cooks and
shucks the shellfish. With this type of arctic
cod Gina also saves the livers to boil and eat. At home Gina cooked up her
own chili cod fish soup. I was fascinated to find
out that she brings back a few mussels in the shell cooks them saves the
broth for the soup and uses onions, some canned tomato and olive oil. The soup tasted fabulous. For the chilies that she
adds to the soup she grows them on the window sill. Into the soup she put five –
four inch long chili peppers cut up. She used the long skinny chilies
and some black pepper and she added our mussels too and fish livers as well. Whew the soup was burning
hot with all those chilies, the cod really took on a life all its own. Gina and I have such a good
time eating spicy food together while her husband, John, and their daughter,
Christina, wonder what Gina and I are doing.
Gina makes such a face when she eats too much hot pepper. We had such a grand time burn up our mouths
when we ate sushi with too much horseradish – whew. In fresh salad she adds
cucumbers she also grows on the window sill. After all this eating I
thought that we must be outrageously healthy because it is impossible to be
lacking any vitamins or minerals. |
|
There were some dark clouds
on the horizon west on this Sunday afternoon.
These worried me because I knew all too well from many past experiences
that there must be a storm was out there to the west on |
|
Monday July 30th, 09 morning
7:30 am was sunny as I was drinking coffee I looked out the window at the
Upernavik Harbor below when I instantly noticed that there were cat’s paws on
the water. Cat’s paws are indicators
of strong gusty winds especially on this sheltered harbor below meant that
this was really nasty wind, definitely not just some slight breeze to
blithely go paddling in. |
|
It was my day to put my
kayak together and deal with all.
Unpacking bags, figuring out what is what, assembling the kayak,
figuring out all the rest of the camping and traveling equipment is always a
project that makes me anxious. Last time in 2008 I had the
five bags just plopped into a motorboat and taken out a lovely protected
island in a passage near Innarsuit as my campsite. I was very glad that I
happened to have this time chosen the |
|
One thing I know about
paddling in this area is make sure the weather is okey, I do not launch just
because it is another day. In Upernavik I have several
times seen moments when a fierce wind storm socks in and stays until it is
finished. The storm takes however many
hours or days it may take. All I do is
just sit it out. Below is what the water
looks like in this area when there is a 30 knot wind storm. It is not a nice place to be attempting to
launch any boat. |
|
#010 |
|
Walking south down to the
old harbor I found myself having to force against the driving squalls of dust
and sand. The photo below is taken in
1995 of what the mountain Sanderson’s Hope looks like from town. This was that same bright type of day but
when I was there in 2009 the wind was scudding across the water. In a short time the iceberg
in this photo had moved elsewhere on the currents as they are always doing. |
|
#011 |
|
Luckily I know this area
very well and I knew that I could assemble my kayak using the shelter of a
building on the side of old harbor to put my kayak together. It was bright sunny, good light for dealing
with all the details. Sure enough I ducked behind
the shelter of the building and it was calm and there was the very convenient
wood boat ramp where I could assemble my kayak piece by piece out of the
marauding wind – whew I was glad for that. As Monday, the day
progressed even though the sun was very bright the wind blowing more and more
as had been forecast by DMI, Danmark Meteorological Institute. |
|
#012 |
|
I forgot and failed to follow
matching the numbers on ribs face to face with the numbers on the floorboards
Really I want you to know
that I assumed that getting the numbers in order was all that was necessary. When I attempted to fit the
stingers and sideboards onto the ribs. The sideboards and ribs did not fit
together. Oh, Oh now I am in trouble! This
is not good! Then I recalled Mark saying
that the numbers on the ribs and floorboards must face each other. I had to disassemble and completely
reassemble the ribs with the numbers on the ribs facing the numbers on the
floorboards because the ribs have angular cuts on them that affect the
fitting of the side pieces. I could not get the
stringers to seat inside the C fittings.
Later I came back and
resorted to using fishing line that had been left lying around on the ground
to tie the stringers in place outside the C fittings on the ribs. The stringers unfortunately changed the
hull shape because they stick out farther widening the hull footprint but
that had to be okey. I figured that the
hundred pound test fishing line used on hooks was both the smallest and
strongest material available I could use. So another problem is now solved. If I had not devised this tie down solution
these stringers would not securely anchored to the ribs along the length of
the hull. I really did not want to
take that risk even though there is amazing latitude in what you can get away
with when assembling a folding kayak and still have it function close to
normal when paddled. But I was going
to be on the water for hours at a time miles from landing sites and numerous
days it is better to solve the problem now while the kayak is apart and
repairs with their needed materials can be done. Years before when launching
from an island I had a problem and I was very glad someone happened to have
left large amounts of assorted fishing line on an island which I used to make
a repair. In the photo above later
after I returned from paddling I was able to borrow a reamer and ream the C
fittings out so that the stringers fit into the C fittings on the ribs as you
see in the photo above. The effect of paddling with
stringers outside the C fittings slowed the hull speed down perceptibly and
made paddling much more arduous. I noticed that this was
stressful to the ball joints in my shoulders causing me some pain. I really do not like compromising my long
term health by having made such a foolish mistake. How many people do I now
know have had to have their shoulder rotator cuffs replaced because of just
plain physical abuse? Below is a photo
illustrating tying stringers into C fittings but this photo is taken after
they had been reamed. |
|
#013 |
|
The worst problem I had was
that I could not attach the rudder foot pedals bracket onto the floorboard
bracket because I could get the skewers to line up with the holes that
clamped them onto the floorboards. I must have spent a good
hour lying every which way on the ground with the boat slumped over me trying
to get the skewers to slide into the improperly aligned holes. I finally became so
desperate and realized that my only hope was to find some glasses to help me
see the holes. Luckily I happened to find that
I had left a pair in my life jacket along with my sunglasses in my lifejacket
pocket. Still I had to resort to
lying on the ground and rolling the kayak on its side to get to see the holes
match up for the skewers. Any port in a storm! Whew
was I glad when I was finally able to make those skewers slid into the holes. Below is a photo of these
rudder pedals. |
|
#014 |
|
Initially I had a problem
with the skewers being slightly too large for the holes when I first tried
assembling this new system in 2008. As a simple solution I
thought that stopper nuts and bolts could be substituted for the skewer
system. After I paddled for a week
in 2008 the nuts worked their way off the bolts and I could not get the nuts
to thread back onto the bolts again. Then I realized that nuts
and bolts were not nearly as good as the original design of skewers. This time I brought with me
a new pair of skewers from home. Whew! Was I glad when I found that the
skewers fit because I was very concerned about the skewers fitting but the
holes had worked large enough for the skewers to fit through easily. Below is a picture of this
modified sailing rudder. I can tell you that it controls this boat in 25
knots of wind. This rudder does not
have to be fully immersed but can easily be depth adjusted for use depending
on wind conditions which reduces friction drag considerably. |
|
#015 |
|
Paddling my kayak without a
rudder in this area is just not an option as a rudder is always needed in the
winds and currents. |
|
Below is a photo of my
seat. The bottom is partially inflated
air cushion and the back is foam covered the height has been adjusted so that
the back of the seat does not project above the cockpit coaming. The rudder cables inside their housings are
tied to the sideboards to get them away from my sitting area so that my legs
and hips do not bind on them. I have
had the cables bind on my legs when I am operating the rudder and getting out
of my cockpit. I can tell you that I have
had that fun experience of finding myself trapped inside the cockpit unable
to exit my cockpit by normal heisting myself upward on my arms because the
cables were overtop of my legs. I had such a struggle
getting out that I nearly had to just fall over and slide out of the cockpit
into the water. On the stern deck is a
fifty foot polypropylene half inch throw line. Throw lines weigh almost nothing and I
always carry two of these on the deck while paddling. There are times when both have to be used
whether in dealing with a difficult landing situation or when there is a
severe storm to tie down the kayak and tent. |
|
#016 |
|
Next I worked on my camping
gear looking through what I had and putting it into the various drybags. I always use expedition
weight urethane coated nylon roll over seal bags with tyvek liners. To my surprise I discovered
that my supply of solid fuel cubes had decomposed into some sort of non-flammable,
corrosive liquid glycol. This liquid
totally ruined all of my matches, even the unusual kinds of matches, lighter
and my stove. My stove was nothing
more than a simple steel stand that folded open to hold the fuel cube and
supported a pot a few inches above. |
|
#017 |
|
Later I decided not to
bother carrying this stove because I was afraid of the corrosive qualities of
these aging fuel blocks. The last
thing I would want to have happen is some chemical get into the hull of my
kayak and destroys the hull adhesive or artificial rubber / hypalon fabric. Somehow I do not think that paddling with a
delaminated hull is too feasible! I knew that I could rely if
necessary on building fire from local plants.
There is always white heather, crow berries and other flammable plants
growing in most areas for making fires. I decided that I would be
able to sustain myself with eating dehydrated food without cooking because,
in preparation, all the components had been already cooked and were edible
even though dehydrated. The simple dehydrated food
combination of chicken, pork and vegetables with sesame seeds as a source of
oil with a few whole cumin seeds, some old fashioned oatmeal, almonds and
dehydrated blueberries. Chewing food for lengthy
periods of time works out well for me because I derive more satisfaction in
eating by chewing food for long periods of time rather than rushing to eat
cooked food before it cools. All these foods were
dehydrated cooked that could suffice nutritionally if I resorted to chewing
this mix of food for long periods of time before swallowing them. |
|
The wind in the afternoon, Bo and his family were
going to Nuuk for at least a year because his wife, now that she has had her
family, is going to live one her lifelong dream of getting professional training. I am very excited that she is able to do
this. Beattie Møldrup is
returning to the |
|
I visited the police to
tell them about my travel itinerary and they kindly gave me a print out of
the weather report. We noted together that the
report showed that the wind would drop overnight but resume in the morning
Tuesday, July 28th. I told the police officers
that I anticipated that I would leave when the wind slacked off as was
forecast to happen in the early hours of the morning. I told them that I was
heading for Ammaqqua passage which I had been in before. I was going to head down to the glacier and
explore in detail places I had not seen especially archeological sites where
people had lived. Where people live before
there were established settlements depended interestingly enough on tiny
points of land where sod houses could be built with good sealing and fishing
in the winter. In summer large land areas
where tents could be used with good kayak and umiaq launching areas. Summer places would be chosen with readily
available water on the land. There
needed to be good hunting for land animals and birds and places to gather
berries. The map below shows bird
colony nesting sites as red stars. |
|
#018 |
|
After I had finished
assembling my kayak I went to the KNI store and bought some wool socks just
in case I had a problem with cold feet.
I choose to buy the thin
wool socks because wool is warm even when it is wet. I went to the commune
office building to visit with Gina while she worked. We went home and I ate my last dinner with
Gina and John before the trip. Knowing that my matches and
lighter were shot Gina very kindly gave me matches and a lighter from Gina. I
always in case of a dire emergency situation carry matches and a lighter to
make a fire with. One should never paddle in
this area with out a means of making a smoky fire. A fire can be used as an emergency beacon
using the common plants which are readily flammable because they have low
moisture and high oil content. |
|
Sure enough on into late
Monday evening the waves were still showing white caps when I went to sleep
at A couple hours later on
Tuesday morning at GPS # 41 It took some time to pack
my boat. All that planning stuffing
the bags through the loading ports. I
culled more thoroughly through my gear and further jettisoned some more
unnecessary items. I just said to
myself “now really! are you going to actually need this?” Then again I decided that even
though my mega-mid tent is somewhat heavy I ought to use this tent again. This floorless tent I had used since 1992. It can be erected on very uneven ground and
has throughout the years stood up to the most ghastly wind storms. I have tied it off with 50 foot throw lines
to huge rocks, weighted the edges with rocks while the wind blew so strongly
that it was difficult to stand up outside.
It has a good inner ripstop liner to keep the condensation from
dripping on me. |
|
#019 |
|
By the time I finished
packing my kayak a couple hours later to launch there were no white
caps. Perfect time to launch. Below is a photo of my kayak just as I was
about to launch in 2003 at about mid day from this same slab. |
|
#020 |
|
Once again as I did in 2003
and years earlier I launched from the Old Harbor off the same old rock slabs
that I and everyone has used for eons.
The Now its rocks are not so
slippery with seal fat. It is a
wonderful quiet harbor just perfect for launching kayaks. On these rocks I can just
roll my loaded kayak on foam rollers gently in to the water and leaving
soundlessly. There is nothing as lovely
as this moment when I have launched and am once again on the water in my
kayak. |
|
The time was about The rudder pedals worked
fine and the lines to the pedals were just the right length, wow that was a
major relief. |
|
In the picture below you
can see the one foot waves off my bow.
There are two islands, Griseøen a just a mile away and Lange Ø about
two miles away from Upv. Lange Ø is
the farther of them. You can see the
over to they layer of fog that is off Qaersorssuaq/Sandersons Hope at Agpagdiit
point and the ice that I encountered a few miles later. On the right side off in
the distance is an island Nord Ø which is actually four to five miles away. On the left side are the
ends of both Griseøen and Lang ø and these even though they look like they
are side by side are actually a mile apart. From where I am the Griseøen
is about a mile from me. Looking at this photo you
can see how tricky it is to guess how far things are away and what the
distance is between them. |
|
#021 |
