Circumnavigate Greenland

Tim Good

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I know there has been various comments and questions as to if and when it will be possible but... does anyone know of / read about / overheard of any person or team waiting in the wings to attempt this via sailing?
 
It's always going to be difficult to pass the north coast of Greenland, for the following reasons:
  1. The Arctic sea-ice tends to accumulate on the north coast of Greenland as it drifts from the Siberian side to the North American side. Despite recent losses of sea-ice, that is a place where there is still likely to be ice.
  2. There are several major glaciers and ice shelves along the coast, all of which calve icebergs that would be hazards to navigation.
  3. If anyone wants to have a go, http://www.polarview.org/services/index.htm is a useful resource!
 
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These guys took the long route around Greenland - the Northern passage..

This blog is in English
http://www.ousland.no/category/northern-passage-2010/page/15/

Map-of-route-LR.jpg
 
My plan is more modest and is to get from UK to the USA and Canada within my steaming range of 1,000 miles and Scotland - Faroes - Iceland - Greenland - Newfoundland seems the only feasible routing.

Pitching up in South East Greenland and finding no diesel available would put a damper on the trip! If you know of any ports suitable in July/August on the SE corner of Greenland I would be grateful for your input. Thanks for your help.



Phillip Carr

TSDY TOPIC

Portland
 
My plan is more modest and is to get from UK to the USA and Canada within my steaming range of 1,000 miles and Scotland - Faroes - Iceland - Greenland - Newfoundland seems the only feasible routing.

Pitching up in South East Greenland and finding no diesel available would put a damper on the trip! If you know of any ports suitable in July/August on the SE corner of Greenland I would be grateful for your input. Thanks for your help.

Phillip Carr

TSDY TOPIC

Portland

Phillip
Why not go South and make the trip in your shorts?? . A local chap went to USA and back in a 21 foot Hurley and told me his longest single passage was 400 miles - somewhere around Turks and Caicos islands. Others will know far more about this than me but anywhere colder than Scotland (and this year England) has to be worth avoiding
Martin
 
I know there has been various comments and questions as to if and when it will be possible but... does anyone know of / read about / overheard of any person or team waiting in the wings to attempt this via sailing?

Why on earth would you want to ? Isnt it cold enough here for you?
 
Hi Martin, thanks for that. Would dearly like to meet your local chap!

Cape Verde to Barbados is excess 2,000 miles and Azores to St John’s Newfoundland is excess 1,200 miles.

I prefer to stay about 21 degrees C but having sailed these seas for some years, North-about seems the only way and the urge to take my little boat to USA is an itch I can’t seem to scratch!

Phillip Carr
TSDY TOPIC
Portland
 
Short way by north route, not necessarily so cold too. This is actually rather warm place, up to Labrador, though some UK residents think they live far north... I have colder here at home, snow falling... :mad:
May be rough about Kap Farwel, better to give it wide berth.
Not many go this route but we met a lone sailor from USA in Reykjavik; Norwegian actually, coming home the short way. He was content with fast passage.
 
Yes, when we published a map of the Arctic, it had the Shetland Islands on it. Our boundary was 60 degrees N; in fact we had to extend it slightly to get Cape Farewell on Greenland in!

Perhaps that explains why so many people who claim to have "sailed around Britain" have never seen Shetland, never mind passed north of the Muckle Flugga, the most northerly light house in Britain (at approximately 60 degrees 51.4 minutes north - but watch out for the stack to the north east of it). Its quite funny watching how they react when asked "what was it like off the Flugga?".
 
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