Neqajaq is the Inuit name for the wind that blew us across the Greenland sund. In winter this wind brings snow storms and lasts for days. In summer Neqajaq is accompanied by torments of rain! Where we are normaly accustumt to the passing of fronts, on these arctic latitutes we travel on top of the systeems! Lucky for us we made landfall in Tasiilaq befor the real force of the wind was felt.
The fjord systeem around Ammassalik Island has much to offer as a cruising ground. Distances are short and there are many little secluded anchorages. Al of them spectacular in there own right. The little alpine oases stand out against the 1000 meter high mountains in the back.
We make the most of our time here! After our morning cruise we set of on a hike up a hill in search of the perfect vieuw acros the fjord. Every time we step out of the dingy a cheerfull song welcomes us. It does not take long to find the artist at work. It is a brown and wite bird standing a proud 16 cm tall. The male Snow bunting. Weighting 35 grams it is hard to belief that this little bird fluw acros the same Greenland Sund, mabey a month earlier. Nesting under rocks in the alpine forest of dwarf willow it takes 14 days to incubate there eggs and two weeks later there litter “arctic sparrows” is scaterd around and fledging.
Incredible how fast tings go in the arctic. Early May saw the first breakup of the ice in the fjords. On the icechart we downloaded before departure we were going to be dealing with 5/10 th of ice. On our arrival all we met was some big bergs of land origin. Al the sea ice was gone! The fjords will be clear of ice until late December when the storis from the north arrives and eases the motion of the ocean out side. They freeze over in just a few days and that is when the hunting season for the polar bears starts again. They are after the seals that live under the ice. And are easy targets when they pop up to take some air in their breath holes.
On our way further south now with one last stop before Kap Farvel. Timmiarmiut has a protected anchorage and an abandond weather station. Bathing in the sun under a sky of arctic blue the icy landscape is hard to beat!
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