1998. Clipper Yacht “Ariel” – Greenland, Cape Farwell and Angmagssalik

Two Clipper 60 yachts were taken to Greenland this season to explore around Cape Farvell and the south-east coast as far as Angmassalik. June is early in the season and ice still protected the coast. Nevertheless the yachts managed to get into the maze of fjords, but once inside, the ice out at sea closed in, and they were trapped in the fjords for 3 weeks. Time was passed exploring the fjords with the guidance of two Inuit, and Chris Bonington managed some climbs. When the boats cleared the fjords, they sailed to Keflavik, re-stocked and returned to Angmassalik where once again, 4 miles of closely packed ice floes had to be negotiated to get into the fjord. The problem with exploring the Greenland east coast is the shortage of good anchorages. The fjords are extremely deep and the sides mostly vertical. Only at their heads does it shallow enough but even here the anchor might be dropped in 45 metres of water and the vessel will bring up 2 metres from the shore. Whilst the large bergs will ground before they reach the boat, floes can drift right in and threaten the boat at any time so a constant anchor watch is required. The simple rule is to keep clear of large bergs as they can roll without warning and look for fjords which do not have a glacier emptying into them as these tend to be much more free of ice.