Yachting_Monthly_2016-01

58 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com JANUARY 2016

ARCTIC PILOTAGE

Glaciers in East Greenland may be melting faster than anywhere else in the world but, as Brian Black discovered,

global warming doesn’t always allow a yacht to get there

ARCTIC PILOTAGE

Glaciers in East Greenland may be melting faster than Glaciers in East Greenland may be melting faster than

In East Greenland,

the ice decides

PHOTOS: BRIAN BLACKthe voyage had been planned around the idea of starting where we’d left off in 2009.

charted an anchorage on our previous visit was clogged with pack-ice. To make matters worse, the wind was up, pushing This time, a minor fjord where we had

us headlong into extensive areas of large fl oes the size of football pitches, the narrow gaps between them closing rapidly as we surged along. I picked the biggest gap

and went for it, hoping that in the lee of the fl oes we would fi nd open water to the northward. It was immediately obvious that ice concentrations blocked our route ahead

so the only option was to run along the edge of the pack and out to sea before heading southabout for a long, hard slog to Amdrup Havn in Scoresbysund for shelter and rest.

tatters, it would take time for the ice to open suffi ciently to resume the voyage Whatever plan I’d had was now in

M

y fi rst attempt to reach East Greenland was in 1998, when we sat off the ice-edge waiting for a lead

we ran back to Iceland for shelter. Over my subsequent fi ve voyages to this coast, covering an area from 65° to 72°N, the until my nerve snapped and

ice did allow us through. In fact, the leads opened earlier each season, supporting the evidence of accelerating ice-melt due to climate change and tempting a small

but increasing number of sailors into this brutally spectacular land of fjords, glaciers and mountains. Then, this season, the rules changed again. Pack ice clogged

the entire coastline from the polar basin right down to Cape Farewell. Months of planning came to nought as we sat in Isafjordur in the Horn of Iceland waiting

for the break that refused to open until we ran out of time and had to head homeward.to talk about a plan. That’s a sure way Every sailor knows that it’s dangerous

to amuse the sea-gods who like nothing better than messing it up. After fi ve successful seasons I was getting used to claiming credit for the smooth unfolding

of a carefully devised strategy. Others less kind might say it was the random grasping of any opportunity that came our way to get there and back. The truth

lies somewhere in between. In planning a cruise to East Greenland, preparation and careful study of ice-conditions are essential, and while some risk to boat and

crew must be accepted, the fl ipside of any plan is knowing when to abandon it. Perhaps a dip into my logs and photo fi les from various voyages to Greenland will

show the mix of hazard and delight that keeps drawing me back to a coast that has held me spellbound over the years. In 2009 I was able to circumnavigate

what had once been a headland. Due to global warming the glacier connecting it to the mainland ice had melted, thus creating the appropriately named Warming Island.

Three years later, in 2012, heavy ice off Liverpool Land forced us to turn back for the comparative shelter of Scoresbysund. This was a hard decision to make because

Spectacular mountain scenery with bergs and pack ice making their way to the sea