Greenland!
How many people can actually say they’ve been to Greenland? Most people know where it is on a map (it’s the big white splotch with a green border between Canada and Europe) but I can’t think of too many who can say they been able to visit the world’s largest island.
Well, neither have I! Yet. Today was our scheduled day to arrive at Greenland after having crossed the somewhat turbulent Denmark Strait. Except for one slight problem.
Fog. Thick peasoup-y fog. So bad, at times you could barely see the bow of the ship. Now, have no fear blog readers, our fine vessel, the Clipper Adventurer, is equipped with state of the art navigation system, radar, etc. But according to the latest ice charts, the area where we were scheduled to first visit Greenland was surrounded by thick ice. So the pragmatic thing to do is slow down, even in clear weather.
After a full day at sea, and a lot of seasickness, I think it’s safe to say that were all eager to get out and touch terra firma. So there was a sense of anticipation on board as we all clamoured out onto the deck to see what we could see.
And we waited. Aaaand waited. More fog. A few birds that seemed to taunt us. The main thing of interest was a nice intense fog halo, courtesy of the low lying morning sun.
Then, in the distance, appeared something in the water. It was definitely something floating, and it was white in color. As it grew closer, it became apparent that this was… an iceberg!
Well, OK, it was not REALLY an iceberg, but what’s referred to as a bergy bit – essentially a small chunk of ice that either was a bigger iceberg, or was a chunk from a large iceberg that broke off. And in reality – it was barely the size of a kitchen stove. But that didn’t stop 100 cameras from swinging starboard and click-clicking away to capture this momentous occasion from every possible angle.
Laughter ensued as we realized how excited we got over one little ice cube. But then cheers erupted as a second BIGGER ice cube came by. And another. And another. Finally the water was pockmarked with bergy bits, growlers and good-sized bergs themselves.
At that point, Geoff came over the loudspeaker to announce that were finally nearing the coast of Greenland! But at that exact moment, the fog cleared enough for us to see what lay ahead. One giant field of ice. Now, the Adventurer is capable of plowing through some good-sized ice. But she’s not an icebreaker. Her reinforced hull DOES have limits.
So it became very obvious that we weren’t going ahead with Plan A. So in typical Students On Ice fashion, we went for Plan B. The ship turned south to hug the coastline of Greenland, looking for a break in the ice field and an attempt at another fjord.
But as minutes turned to hours, it became obvious that Plan B wasn’t going to pan out. Or Plan C. In fact, by the time the day turned to evening, Plan F was in full force. Rather than waste more time attempting to push through the ice, we would continue full steam ahead to the southern tip of Greenland in an attempt to get well clear of the ice and enter Prinz Christian Sund, a nice little series of fjords with long, tendril-like mini-fjords snaking off of them. It essentially carves a path across this tip and would hopefully provide us with an opportunity to move in and actually see Greenland.
But that wouldn’t happen until morning. A wave of disappointment ran through the students at the thought of a second day at sea without touching land. But as disappointed as I was, too, I reminded myself (and anyone who cared), that in 2010, we didn’t see ANY ice. So to have sailed past a few larger icebergs and come across a field of ice – well, that was a plus.
Luckily, SOI’s backup plans kick into full gear, and students and staff were kept busy with workshops, activities and presentations to pass the time. Journals were rapidly being written and sent home to go up on the SOI website. There were even some cutthroat games of Euchre to be had.
Tomorrow morning, we expect to be at the entrance to Prinz Christian Sund. This is mostly virgin territory for SOI – only a handful of staff (and a couple of students actually from Greenland) are familiar with it. So fingers crossed for some good karma and clear skies!
Photo by Lee Narraway
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