Comes Greenland Out of Fog

July 23, 2019

Day 250

Noon Position: 64 10N  51 44W (Nuuk, final approach)

Course(t)/Speed(kts): N 6

Wind(t/tws): N 15

Sea(t/ft): —

Sky/10ths Cover: CLEAR!

Bar(mb): 1012, steady

On-deck Temp(f):–

Cabin Temp(f): —

Water Temp(f): —

Relative Humidity(%): —

Magnetic Variation: —

Sail: Motoring

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 101

Miles since departure: 32,845

Leg Newfoundland to Nuuk

Day: 7

Miles: 1026

My timing wasn’t perfect.

By 11pm, we were just a few miles off shore, and while there was light enough to see, and would be the night through, the fog continued thick. My intended route into Nuuk, the Narssaq Lob, had two passes that appeared tight. I was tired. At ten miles out, I switched off the engine and hit the bunk. Mo drifted in undifferentiated gray.

By 3:45am, we were underway again. Flat calm. Motoring. Heavy fog.

At 7am, land ho. The sentinel of this entrance, Saattut Island, came briefly into view to port–a black smudge on a gray background. Then a wave of fog, and it was gone.

The next five hours saw similar momentary sightings of land; islands and rocks, all barren and ice-scared and only briefly in view.

At sea, I make log entries every two hours. On this leg, each entry under the category “Sky” has had the notation “Fog” or “Overcast with Fog.” And it wasn’t until we were an hour from port that the ceiling lifted.

Then it was as though we had been transported from a northern place to the true and mythic North.