In September 2017 a small lifelong dream came true: a week-long sailing expedition in Greenland. After a stopover in Reykjavik we flew the next morning to Kulusuk in East Greenland, and already on the approach we saw big icebergs drifting off the coast.
Arrival in Kulusuk
The airport is little more than a small arrivals hall and a gravel runway; no fence is needed. A week before my arrival a polar bear is said to have strolled across it. The crew picked us up and took us to the Aurora Arktika, our home for seven nights under Captain Siggi. From Kulusuk we sailed towards the Sermilik Fjord and Tiniteqilaaq.
With drone, kayak and hiking boots
The drone was of course on board and delivered spectacular views of ice and water. During the day we went kayaking or hiking through the impressive landscape, there were delicious blueberries to pick everywhere, and we always kept an eye out for polar bears. In the evenings there was fresh fish and, now and then, northern lights.
The first part of the sailing expedition
So here is the first part of the trip.
A small lifelong dream begins: “My North” on my lap, on the way to East Greenland.Under a high cloud cover, a flat mountain ridge lies above the water.The propeller beside „FLUG“ on the left, the coast in the oval window on the right.Already on the approach, the first icebergs drift in the dark blue sea.Deep blue sea twice: several bits of ice on the left, a single speck on the right.Snow-flecked ridges rise out of the sea of clouds, the valleys staying white.Snowfields on the brown rocky coast, one iceberg in the dark water.Arrival in Kulusuk: a sign, a small hall, the propeller plane on the gravel strip.On the spit at Kulusuk the colourful houses, an iceberg drifting in front.Colourful houses and paths on the rock at Kulusuk, boats along the coast.Rocky islands in the water on the left, Kulusuk and its houses on the rock to the right.Washing dries in front of the red house in Kulusuk, sledges and snowy mountains beside it.On the blue gable in Kulusuk, dried fish hangs beneath the white window.Kulusuk twice: grey huts among the rocks on the left, red houses by the water on the right.The woman in a white robe holds a frame drum and beater, mountains by the water behind.The white double door is peeling, set in the red wooden wall in Kulusuk.Several icebergs in the dark water, the long snow-covered coast behind them.Small icebergs on the horizon to the left, a blocky chunk close up on the right.Two tall blocks of ice in the grey-green sea, the sky in long streaks of cloud.Three icebergs in the pale sea, the largest block rising on the right.Pale blue and large, the iceberg lies in an almost white sea, a chunk on the left.In front of steep rocky peaks flecked with snow, an iceberg drifts in the dark water.Between scree and stream the colourful houses, pointed mountains by the water behind.The reddish mountain peak on the left, bare hills with small pools on the right.Dark mountain lakes in the hollows of the rocky plateau, snowy peaks behind.From the rocky ridge, lakes and islands give way to drift ice in Sermilik Fjord.A signpost in Kulusuk, the boards naming Tiniteqilaaq and the North Pole.Green aurora passes over the pale iceberg and the black mountain silhouette.Northern lights now and then in the evening – here green above mast and shrouds.A hand in a red patterned wool jumper on the chart, Kulusuk and Tasiilaq legible.Dense grey cloud over the snowy mountains, a single iceberg in front.A tabular iceberg under a dense cloudy sky, a bird on the right.An iceberg twice in a narrow crop: small and distant on the left, larger on the right.Under a high cloudy sky, mountains and icebergs along the rocky coast.The brown rock face drops almost sheer into the water, the sky grey above.Rigging and the wooden boom sharp in front, the mountains by the ship blurred.Patches of snow on the steep face, the iceberg reflected in the water.In the turquoise bay between rocky mountains lies the small sailing ship.An iceberg by the rocky coast on the left, one with a turquoise rim on the right.Wide as a panorama: a still mountain lake between snow-flecked rocky peaks.The Aurora Arktika, red with a black hull – our home for seven nights.Turquoise water lies in the hollows of the brown rock.With poles across the scree, a glacier and a milky lake behind the group.Snow in the hollows of the steep rocky ridge above the dark water.The milky green fjord arm in front, the water turning blue behind it.Between the rock walls the glacier tongue reaches the grey-green water.Beyond the glacier ice, fjord and mountain range lie under cloud.Up close: narrow cracks run through the white and blue glacier ice.Shallow water between the stones holds the reflection of the rocky peaks.One person sits in the red inflatable, the sailing ship lying in front of the glacier.The tall iceberg tapers to a point in the greenish water, with clouds above.The red two-masted ship in front of the glacier and the snow-covered mountains.Behind the red boat a long white wake stretches through the green water.An iceberg in the dark water, snow-covered mountains along the edge of the frame.A turquoise rim around the large iceberg, the water around it almost black.The snow-covered range is reflected almost symmetrically in the still water.Orange kayaks on deck – by day we took to the water, the mountains mirrored in it.A small boat lies on the lake beneath steep, snow-flecked rocky slopes.Wet rock slabs with pools on the left, the rugged mountainside on the right.Under a grey sky, scree, small lakes and snow-covered peaks in a panorama.Peaks twice: broad and snow-flecked on the left, a pointed rock tower on the right.Ochre and grey: dark cracks run through the rock in close view.Between large rocks the white dog, the puppies on brown ground.Shrouds against the low sun and a bird on the left, sunny peaks on the right.Warm light and haze over the houses of Kulusuk on the rocky coast.The silhouette of a motorboat, the sun low over the dark hills.The sailing ship between steep walls, scattered chunks of ice in the fjord.The coast twice: ice by the rock on the left, the colourful houses of Kulusuk on the right.The houses of Kulusuk on the rocky island, icebergs in the blue water.In the warm light, large icebergs drift in the blue water off the coast.The sun sits low over the dark coast, flat icebergs on the water in front.Bits of ice in dark water on the left, Kulusuk on the rocky ridge on the right.The sun behind the mountain range, a wide field of ice floes in front.The rocky coast on the right, scattered ice floes in the dark water beside it.Small ice floes lie close together in the almost black water.Floes twice: one large block on the left, several smaller ones on the right.In the rocky bay lies the red sailing ship, the small tender beside it.Pink mountains on Sermilik Fjord, the sailing ship and the houses of Kulusuk.Dark rocks in front, a starry sky and the ice field on the horizon beyond.Under an almost black sky lie ice floes, mountains only on the horizon.
