Nuuk. Airport to yacht, how?

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IanCC

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I just wondered if anyone knows what the current situation in Nuuk is re getting from airport to yacht.

Noonsite says Nuuk harbour ".. is out of bounds.." and suggests using " some small bays around.."

I have emailed the harbour master in Nuuk but as yet no reponse.

All input very much appreciated.
 
Out of interest, I looked at Nuuk harbour on marine traffic (AIS data) it looks normal to me. 40 vessels in port, almost all small fishing boats, some of which are moving in and out of the harbour.
The harbour is close to the airport, 12min by car.
There's also a live YouTube channel of the airport. I can see plane arriving and leaving. Nice day and looks normal to me.
Gooling Nuuk new, with last 24hrs as a filter and there's nothing amazing.
Get close and call on the vhf?
 
Ian_Edwards said:
Out of interest, I looked at Nuuk harbour on marine traffic (AIS data) it looks normal to me. 40 vessels in port, almost all small fishing boats, some of which are moving in and out of the harbour.
The harbour is close to the airport, 12min by car.
There's also a live YouTube channel of the airport. I can see plane arriving and leaving. Nice day and looks normal to me.
Gooling Nuuk new, with last 24hrs as a filter and there's nothing amazing.
Get close and call on the vhf?
Click to expand...
Good thoughts, but my understanding, of which i am confident, is that sailing yachts are banned from the harbour effective beginning of this year.
 
Yes, I eventually found the official notice, banned from July 2024.
It says because lack of space and facilities.
There's a harbour on the opposite side of the bay.
LP Marine Services
Tuukkaq 6, Nuuk 3900, Greenland
+299 31 11 10
They appear to have pontoons and are close to the airport, I guess a short taxi ride.
You could try phoning them, if it's not too late ...
 
👍 I will try them. Thank you. I will email. Both my Greenlandic and my Danish are not good. I will report back.
 
I don't have greenland chart, so can't help there. Using google translate it looks like it's a sales outlet for power boats. Not what I'd think of as a marina.
You may be able to anchor off and use a dinghy to transfer.
It depends on how long you need to be there, they may allow you to come along side (if it's deep enough) for personnel transfer and resupply and possibly fuel and water.
I was looking for somewhere with road access and not too far from the airport.
I'm "grounded" at the moment, at home, waiting for a back operation.
Board out of my skull, beautiful sailing weather ... I should be sailing my Southerly 46RS.
So if I can help, PM me.
 
Ian_Edwards said:
I don't have greenland chart, so can't help there. Using google translate it looks like it's a sales outlet for power boats. Not what I'd think of as a marina.
You may be able to anchor off and use a dinghy to transfer.
It depends on how long you need to be there, they may allow you to come along side (if it's deep enough) for personnel transfer and resupply and possibly fuel and water.
I was looking for somewhere with road access and not too far from the airport.
I'm "grounded" at the moment, at home, waiting for a back operation.
Board out of my skull, beautiful sailing weather ... I should be sailing my Southerly 46RS.
So if I can help, PM me.
Click to expand...
Thanks ian, will do. I have a ticket to Nuuk on 18th July to meet a friend coming over from Labrador. Pocock 45.
 
I've only been to Greenland once, and that was with a major science experiment supported by the US military, so this is based on general understanding of Arctic conditions rather than specific knowledge.

  1. Logistics are difficult; most food other than native subsistence hunting is imported. There is no agriculture so most non-native visitors outside any tourist industry are expected to be self-sufficient, one way or another. In Svalbard a routine question at the airport was "Where are your supplies?" and if you didn't have a good answer, you were going back on the plane you arrived on (it has relaxed a bit since I was last there, but a visitor outside the tourist industry can expect to have to explain how they will support themselves). Greenland is not that tight, but the logistical situation is the same.
  2. Local facilities are provided for locals, not for visitors. Generally that means that you have to have specific agreements in place to use them.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I've only been to Greenland once, and that was with a major science experiment supported by the US military, so this is based on general understanding of Arctic conditions rather than specific knowledge.

  1. Logistics are difficult; most food other than native subsistence hunting is imported. There is no agriculture so most non-native visitors outside any tourist industry are expected to be self-sufficient, one way or another. In Svalbard a routine question at the airport was "Where are your supplies?" and if you didn't have a good answer, you were going back on the plane you arrived on (it has relaxed a bit since I was last there, but a visitor outside the tourist industry can expect to have to explain how they will support themselves). Greenland is not that tight, but the logistical situation is the same.
  2. Local facilities are provided for locals, not for visitors. Generally that means that you have to have specific agreements in place to use them.
Click to expand...
Yes, i understand that. I am just trying to work out how to get from a plane to a close by yacht in the capital city of that country. It will be possible, it is just how.
 
IanCC said:
I just wondered if anyone knows what the current situation in Nuuk is re getting from airport to yacht.

Noonsite says Nuuk harbour ".. is out of bounds.." and suggests using " some small bays around.."

I have emailed the harbour master in Nuuk but as yet no reponse.

All input very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I believe you need to contact Godthåb Bådeforening (the local marina - link to contacts here). The relevant email for you is: havnemester@ghb.gl. A 45ft boat might be too large for the marina, but if that’s the case, you should be able to moor alongside a larger fishing vessel or similar. Let me know if you can’t get hold of them via email - I'm happy to give them a call on your behalf.

I understand the information regarding the prohibition of sailboats was sourced from Noonsite.com, but I believe that likely only applies to Nuuk Harbour, which is an industrial-scale port for large container ships and the like. However, I couldn’t find anything on their official website (Sikuki Nuuk Harbour A/S) to confirm this. In a place like Greenland, rules like these are more like guidelines anyway. People probably understands that a boat arriving from far away can’t just be turned away, so if you present a friendly, can-do attitude to the people you meet, solutions should present themselves.

You should be able to get a taxi from Nuuk Airport. The main service is Nuuk Taxi, but there are usually a few other options, as well as helpful locals.

I'm sure you're already aware, but just to mention: Sailing in Greenland is no laid-back trip. You’ll need to be on constant lookout for black icebergs, and anything above a medium breeze can count as extreme weather. You’ll often have to figure things out on the fly. A Danish couple local to Greenland made a documentary sailing along the coast and then through the Northwest Passage. They weren’t amateurs - they had sailed around the world a few times and spent decades sailing locally in Scandinavia and Greenland. In the first episode, they come across a lone girl shipwrecked far out at sea, her boat having gone down with the rest of the crew tragically drowned. They hit hidden icebergs at sea, face rogue waves from collapsing icebergs, get caught in unexpected violent weather, and end up stuck in ice with little warning - just to name a few challenges.

Just a reminder that the 500-meter trip from the airport to the harbor shouldn’t be your biggest concern 😉!
 
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Totally off-topic: A quick and interesting video of a tsunami in Greenland. These don't get much attention in the medias but are such interesting phenomena's. Make sure to watch to the end!

 
roa312 said:
I believe you need to contact Godthåb Bådeforening (the local marina - link to contacts here). The relevant email for you is: havnemester@ghb.gl. A 45ft boat might be too large for the marina, but if that’s the case, you should be able to moor alongside a larger fishing vessel or similar. Let me know if you can’t get hold of them via email - I'm happy to give them a call on your behalf.

I understand the information regarding the prohibition of sailboats was sourced from Noonsite.com, but I believe that likely only applies to Nuuk Harbour, which is an industrial-scale port for large container ships and the like. However, I couldn’t find anything on their official website (Sikuki Nuuk Harbour A/S) to confirm this. In a place like Greenland, rules like these are more like guidelines anyway. People probably understands that a boat arriving from far away can’t just be turned away, so if you present a friendly, can-do attitude to the people you meet, solutions should present themselves.

You should be able to get a taxi from Nuuk Airport. The main service is Nuuk Taxi, but there are usually a few other options, as well as helpful locals.

I'm sure you're already aware, but just to mention: Sailing in Greenland is no laid-back trip. You’ll need to be on constant lookout for black icebergs, and anything above a medium breeze can count as extreme weather. You’ll often have to figure things out on the fly. A Danish couple local to Greenland made a documentary sailing along the coast and then through the Northwest Passage. They weren’t amateurs - they had sailed around the world a few times and spent decades sailing locally in Scandinavia and Greenland. In the first episode, they come across a lone girl shipwrecked far out at sea, her boat having gone down with the rest of the crew tragically drowned. They hit hidden icebergs at sea, face rogue waves from collapsing icebergs, get caught in unexpected violent weather, and end up stuck in ice with little warning - just to name a few challenges.

Just a reminder that the 500-meter trip from the airport to the harbor shouldn’t be your biggest concern 😉!
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. Very much appreciated. My skipper spent a considerable time there with Willy Kerr and is mentioned in the acknowledgements of the current imray pilot plus patagonia. I have confidence in his abilities.
 
roa312 said:
I believe you need to contact Godthåb Bådeforening (the local marina - link to contacts here). The relevant email for you is: havnemester@ghb.gl. A 45ft boat might be too large for the marina, but if that’s the case, you should be able to moor alongside a larger fishing vessel or similar. Let me know if you can’t get hold of them via email - I'm happy to give them a call on your behalf.

I understand the information regarding the prohibition of sailboats was sourced from Noonsite.com, but I believe that likely only applies to Nuuk Harbour, which is an industrial-scale port for large container ships and the like. However, I couldn’t find anything on their official website (Sikuki Nuuk Harbour A/S) to confirm this. In a place like Greenland, rules like these are more like guidelines anyway. People probably understands that a boat arriving from far away can’t just be turned away, so if you present a friendly, can-do attitude to the people you meet, solutions should present themselves.

You should be able to get a taxi from Nuuk Airport. The main service is Nuuk Taxi, but there are usually a few other options, as well as helpful locals.

I'm sure you're already aware, but just to mention: Sailing in Greenland is no laid-back trip. You’ll need to be on constant lookout for black icebergs, and anything above a medium breeze can count as extreme weather. You’ll often have to figure things out on the fly. A Danish couple local to Greenland made a documentary sailing along the coast and then through the Northwest Passage. They weren’t amateurs - they had sailed around the world a few times and spent decades sailing locally in Scandinavia and Greenland. In the first episode, they come across a lone girl shipwrecked far out at sea, her boat having gone down with the rest of the crew tragically drowned. They hit hidden icebergs at sea, face rogue waves from collapsing icebergs, get caught in unexpected violent weather, and end up stuck in ice with little warning - just to name a few challenges.

Just a reminder that the 500-meter trip from the airport to the harbor shouldn’t be your biggest concern 😉!
Click to expand...
Sorry, my previous reply sounded a bit terse. I do very much appreciate your input. The boat will be essentially provisioned in St John's for the trip to Greenland and maybe Baffin.
I just walnt to nail down the transfer as comms between boat and me may fail, and don't want to be dragging 30kg or so of baggage hither and thither uncertain of what i am doing, especially with this ban in place. I don't know Nuuk but get the impression the port area is very commercial and unweloming to people on foot. Thanks again. I may take you up on your offer. Do they speak English do you know?
 
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