Report from Captain Rick Miller:

We arrived in Nuuk the morning of 6/14, after an eight day passage from St. Johns. The weather forecast upon departure was unsettled with vastly different forecasts every 6 hours. We left anticipating favorable conditions (light wind and fog) but saw the possibility of gale force winds out of the Northeast by the evening of day two. Moving mostly with our diesel engine we made our way north and only experienced moderate wind from the east and were soon sailing away from the stronger gale winds. We shut down the engine and sailed for 2 ½ days in 20 to 25 kts of wind on our starboard quarter. Seas built to about 10 ft. but the ride was comfortable and we were making great progress. As the big low pressure system to our south created strong winds, we stayed north of the adverse weather and raced along.

As we closed in on 60° north latitude the darkness never came! We would experience about 3 hours of twilight at night. We began to see bergie bits and growlers. These smaller pieces of ice ranged in size from about the size of a school bus to basketball size. We soon found ourselves dodging these pieces as they became more frequent. These little course changes took us on a route closer to the coast. Suddenly I saw the pack ice! A white sheet not more than 4 miles from Bowdoin and little ice chunks were all around us. I could see that any more sailing to the east would not be a good idea. We gybed over and took a WNW course, continuing to dodge ice, until about an hour later we were in ice free water. Occasionally we would see a radar target that we assumed was an ice berg, and we did confirm this several times. The bergs are huge!
Impressive masses of ice with odd shapes and beautiful blue color seeming to glow from inside the ice mass. That evening we had rain. Temperature was about 40 F, so very cold on deck. I was awoken by my 2nd mate Chris Moore at 2330. The rain had stopped and the sun was setting, there was a double rainbow, each one spanning the horizon behind us. The fog returned and we made landfall in the thick of it. We took a scenic southern approach to Nuuk, and as we made our way into the inside passage the fog slowly lifted to reveal a rocky, mountainous, barren land. The mountain continued to rise in height with snow fields spotting the steep sloops. Cameras were clicking left and right!

Our stay in Nuuk has been pleasant. The locals are friendly, but many do not speak English. We are an attraction, with many cars driving to the wharf to look at us.
The crew is doing great – this is truly an experience that is incredibly unique. We all feel lucky to be here and exploring the top of the world!

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