sailing in the far north - glaciers
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
oldbilbo
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You want wild northern landscapes, snow down to the waterline, strange sheep and raptors? Try Aberdeenshire or Moray in March.... 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Well-Known Member
My dream is to go sailing in the Arctic circle and close to glaciers; but I need the right yacht and I need to wait until the kids leave home so I can get more time and money to make it happen. In the meantime, sailing in the Solent and the extremely wet West Wales will do for now.
alant
Well-Known Member
You want wild northern landscapes, snow down to the waterline, strange sheep and raptors? Try Aberdeenshire or Moray in March....
Are they responsive though?
Uricanejack
Well-Known Member
I liked those, hope to make it up there one day.
Holland America keep sending me invites for $349 but not appealing,
Very luck to see goats so low. or very good lense.
Holland America keep sending me invites for $349 but not appealing,
Very luck to see goats so low. or very good lense.
oldbilbo
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There are wild goats on Scarba.... some rather big ones.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I too would love to sail in the Arctic; I've had experience of both Arctic and Antarctic in a professional capacity, though, and have a good idea of what to expect!
However, you don't sail close to glaciers. It is extremely dangerous, as glaciers calve often and unpredictably. That means that anything from a few tons of ice to many thousands of tons of ice falls off the front of the glacier. If you're too close you'll get crushed, a bit further away and you'll get swamped. Similarly, you don't sail close to bergs, even small ones similar in visible size to your boat - they are unstable, and can rotate without warning. As 90% of them is below water, that means that you are liable to be struck by the ice that was submerged.
In any case, the sea close to a glacier will be full of small lumps of ice, and this of course complicates navigation, and can make it impossible.
It is a good idea to give all forms of ice a wide berth - far enough to allow the wave from a massive calving even to dissipate a bit, at least.
jdc
Well-Known Member
Another problem I found is that because the glaciers in the arctic are in fairly dramatic retreat there are what we'd call moraines and accidentals were they on land, so reefs, shallows and rocks, up to a km or two in front of the calving face of the glacier. It was the sight of rocks sticking up and the chart saying 'unsurveyed' which put me off getting too close.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
All perfectly correct - even the charts of Ryder Bay (next to BAS' main base at Rothera Point) have vast areas marked "unsurveyed". In this case probably safe enough - but the areas are often too dangerous for the reasons I mentioned for survey work to be undertaken. But glacial geology certainly means that you might very well find unsurveyed rocks and reefs.
lenten
Well-Known Member
thanks dylan----good find ---great photos----regards lentenrose