Our trip from Labrador (Canada) to Greenland went quite smooth considering we were expecting some serious weather. We left in a 4m swell and luckily it calmed down a bit. Low pressure systems cross the Labrador Sea every few days so it wasn’t a matter of picking a good weather window it was a matter of jumping on the end of a front and hoping for the best.
We’ve noticed that up here the Grib weather reports aren’t that accurate when it comes to wind direction and strength. We were expecting gale winds on the last day of passage but we ended up motoring due to light winds.
Salty is pretty comfortable with anything (minus a hurricane) except head winds so we headed more east than north so we could sail then eventually motor sail, this put us into Paamuit, Greenland instead of it’s capital Nuuk.
Capri was sick once and so was Michelle. For the first few days I took Sturgeron that kept my meals down.
The strangest thing on the trip was that the further north we got the longer the days, now that we’re in Nuuk the sun doesn’t set. This is a novelty but I’ll be honest I can’t wait to see some darkness again but that won’t be for a while.
Here are some of the specifics:
- Miles travelled: Fox Harbour, Labrador to Paamuit, Greenland: 738nm
- Average speed: 6.7kts
- Time taken: 15th to 19th of June, 5 days
What I took away from the passage:
- make sure you take Sturgeron if you would like to eat at all during a passage
- carry a good stash of movies for kids on board, it’s a good distraction if you just need some quiet
- sharing a king size bed is not always comfortable when heeled over
- screaming at the fridge every time you open it will not keep it’s contents in place
- canned chicken really is good
- did we buy enough ritz crackers?
With the cooler weather and water temps we ended up buying some camping mats to line the bunk bed walls when we got to Paamuit, even though the boat is insulated the frigid water temperature penetrates into the boat. By putting an extra layer of foam on the kids’ walls it keeps them extra cozy at night.
Another issue I had on this extremely rolly crossing was diaper changing. To successfully change a diaper on a rolly boat you need to keep one hand on the baby, one hand on the bag of diaper accessories, one hand on the dirty diaper and one hand braced against a wall. Wait a minute to successfully change a diaper on a rolly boat you need to be an octopus! It was not an uncommon site for the crew to come down to see a shitty diaper travelling at warp speed across the boat.
I would post some pictures of our passage but honestly I had my hands full with kids and cooking and when I wasn’t doing that I was laying on the sofa trying not to lose my breakfast.
I’ve also put in some pictures of us sailing to Nuuk.
Zetty says
Great post Carly! Now I’m dying to get to Greenland!!
Martin says
You guys are awesome, and living the dream. Can’t wait to get started next week and then meet up with you guys somewhere in the middle.
Fair winds,
Martin
Carly says
Hope to see you on the way through!