Prinz Christian Sund, Greenland

Day 8,     Link: Prince Christian Sound

Sunrise at 0430 also brought my rise. The ship had stopped in calm waters outside the western entrance to Prinz Christian Sund. 0515 I spotted a berg. The weather was clear and sunny and soon we were slowly entering the sound. The next 12 hours were passed slowly moving along several of the channels crossing this southern tip of Greenland. With the sheer rock faces just outside the ship and mountain peaks, some 3,000' high, there was much to look at. Lots of waterfalls, several glaciers, ice bergs and rock formations demanded attention. This entailed dashing about ship port-starboard-front, aft, up and down decks to get the best views of everything. The best viewing was from the fore deck for a 180 degree view ahead and unobstructed view of the towering ridges and peaks alongside as we passed. From our deck and cabin we could sit comfortable in our chairs and watch this pass by. A running commentary from the bridge was provided so we wouldn't miss anything. Here are some of the oldest exposed rock formations of our Earth; 3 billion years old and older. The channel is too deep to anchor running about 1,000 feet deep in most places. We surprised a seal sunning on an ice slab which didn't notice the ship until it was alongside. Whales were spouting and diving. We saw only one small village, named for sea anemone, remote, with a population of 160 and accessible only by boat. We spotted one lone fishing or sealing boat.

Entering sound from the West

Glacier

another glacier

seal upon awakening

whale diving

Rotterdam's route this day

At 1710 we emerged from the East end into the Denmark Strait which runs between Greenland and Iceland. Several bergs were grounded and a few floating nearby. The sky closed in but the wind and temperature remained tolerable.

Huge berg at sea

berg aground next channel

 Next it was time to dress for the evening and as this night is a Gala Night, tuxedos and gowns or coat-and-tie and evening wear were the dress code. (Although some ignore that and wander about in dress-down attire looking quite out of place.) The crew worked hard to prepare the dining room for a special dinner.

On this day the ship and company were fortunate weather wise. The previous visit was blocked by ice at the channel and other visits had rain, clouds or fog.

The noon report shows position 60º 09.94'N, 049º 07.95'W. Wind SW 1. Clear conditions. Seas flat. Temperature 46ºF 8C. Speed 7.2knots (varied throughout the day from stopped to 7.2, mostly 3 knots) Humidity 79%. Sunrise 047, Sunset 2136. Noon to noon mileage 152 nm. Total voyage 1,922 nm. Next port 676 nm.

Qaqortoq, Greenland on Day 7

About as close as I can get to the pronunciation is this is Kuh core tawk. Please add corrections via comments.

Last night was foggy and the horn was blasting once every 2 minutes. This morning we entered the channel in clear conditions. The ice berg guarding the channel was quite distinct. At 0830 the hook was dropped about .3 nm off town then at 1030 we hitched a ride on a shore boat. There are no ship tours here so the plan is to wander about town and take in what we can find. There were some enterprising locals who did run some short tours but we elected to just walk around. The building are colorful and originally painted to reflect the needs/employment and so on. A few vendors had set up stands in a grassy area across from the pier. Carvings and bead work were featured.

Guard berg

We first took in a museum to view artwork, traditional clothing exhibits and kayaks. Then another museum for Viking and other historical local artifacts. Then a walk on a higher street with a visit to a general store, down to a grocery store for pastries and finally back to the waterfront. No restaurant.

Museum display traditional clothing

museum

Pleasant and a fine experience. The locals welcomes us though we could not understand each others languages. Here they speak Siniluarit or Kalaallisut (an Eskimo-Aleut language) and/or Danish. A supply ship comes in once a month. A helicopter delivers mail to outlying villages.

Once our visit was over the hook was pulled and we headed for the sea which was just outside the channel and blanketed by a dark cloud and fog.

Noon report: 60º 42.59'N and 046º 02.18'W. At anchor. Depth 380'. Wind 9. Temp 52F, 11`C. Humidity 65%. Clear. Total voyage 1,174nm. Next port 830nm. Sunrise 0428. Sunset 2150.

Looking back on departure

For more information visit Qaqortoq here or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaqortoq .

Day 6 – At Sea. Fog.

The fog started about 2am. This was serious fog. The automated fog horn switch was moved to the “ON” position and left there until about 0630. My job was to get up, go out on deck and listen for other fog horns out there. This was a very quiet part of the ocean (excepting our repeated blasts) so I returned to my usual night watch station, fluffed the pillow and resumed other duties. By 0730 the fog dissipated enough for me to resume deck watch and switched duties to whale watch. At 1bout 1230 the fog came upon us again.

On a sea day one may catch up on laundry, napping, reading, attending lectures on upcoming ports, play games, knit, sample cocktails, eat, visit, etc etc etc. I needed the port lecture to find out just where we were going and how to pronounce the port names.

The noon report came to something like this: Position was 56º 36.03'N and 050º 35.60'W on a course of 034º with a speed of 16 knots. Depth (get this) 11,970' .Fog. (16 knots in the fog?) Temperature 46 F, 8C. Apparent Wind NNE 37k, true wind NE 23k (force 6). Distance noon to noon 382.8nm. Total cruise 1,486 nm. Humidity 99%. Sunrise 0442, sunset 2113.

This evening blessed us with another time change of ½ hour.

Village of Red Bay, Labrador and a whale of a good time

Day 5 Red Bay, Labrador

                           (Note, click on tinted names for more information.)

Coming from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, yesterday and last night, we went up the Gulf of St Lawrence, crossed a time zone from Newfoundland and Labrador Zone to Atlantic time and entered the Straits of Belle Isle.

The ship pulled into a bay at 0645 and dropped the hook off Saddle Island. Barren land and rock was our view from the port side. 0845 we caught a tender ashore to Red Bay which is a small village with a history dating back 400 years. Now the population is 160. The local school has 12 students. Last year 4 cruise ships visited. COSTCO is a five hour drive from here. Walmart is back in Corner Brook so plan on driving down and catching the ferry, crossing then driving to Corner Brook. Load the truck and return the next day. There is a small grocery in Red Bay in case you forgot the milk.

A young guide led us on a walking tour of town which was quite compact. Up a hill then down the hill and we came to the community center for a viewing of the skeleton of a Bowhead whale and we learned about the whales of the area.

Back up the hill and down the other side to the Park Service Visitor Orientation Center for a look at a few more pieces of whale and a 400 year old Basque whale boat called a chalupa which was recovered from the depths of the bay.

Bowhead whale

400 year old Basque chalupa

Next was the Visitor Interpretation Center for a viewing of artifacts recovered from the wreck of a galleon found in the bay. All this is now a National Historic Site and UNESCO site. This spot was settled in the 16^th century as a Basque whaling station.

whaling gear found in wreck of galleon

The local restaurant was doing a lot of business today but we managed to scare up a table and got a couple of orders of fresh fish and chips. Locally caught fish. Great lunch at the Whalers Restaurant.

After that we walked back to the landing and took a tender back to the ship. By noon we were back in our cabin. 5 pm the hook came up, the ship slowly pivoted to face the marker buoys and we moved out to the Belle Isle Strait to the Atlantic. At 1720 I spotted an iceberg along the shoreline. Five more appeared in the distance. Another we passed on our starboard side.

Red Bay from the water

Former light station, Saddle Island

the first iceberg

More on Red Bay at: www.pc.gc.ca/redbay

Noon report: 51º 43.16'N and 056º 26.44'W . At anchor off Saddle Island. Temperature of 57ºF, 14C. Sky clear to PC. Wind 13 knots (force 4). Humidity 57%. Depth 380'. Noon-to-noon run of 108 nm and total for the voyage to date is 1,118 nm. 

 

Moose stew in Woody Point, Newfoundland

Day 4 Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Before retiring last night our timepieces were reset to a ½ hour time change. It's kinda a local thing, eh?

Up the channel we went, quite a ways this morning then did a 180 and slid next to a commercial wharf, portside to town. The sky was cloudy and again looked like making our day damp. This is a walk-off port but one needs to take the shopping shuttle for supplies or individual wandering. We had scheduled one of those out-of-town-on-the-bus days. So, for 7 hours we left Corner Brook in order to take in another UNESCO site.

After an hour and a half in a bus without a working audio system, in which the people in the front could hear the guide and the rest could only her each other saying “what did he say?” we reached the

Tablelands at Gros Marne National Park. There we met a specialist in geology who guides us on a short walk and explained the geology and flora of that particular place. In short, we walked on the Earth's mantle. I won't try to explain the details of this site with tectonic plates, core, crust, mantle, ancient continents and rocks. It was fascinating. The sun had come out and the mountain tops could be seen.

Next came the Interpretative Center with a video of what we had just seen and a nice duet song by two of the park staff, then on the bus again to the Old Loft Restaurant on the channel for Fish 'n Chips and Moose Stew.

Lake view at Woody Point

Back on the bus again and back to Corner Brook. The AC wasn't working either so were had neither audio or cool air. Another tour suffered a break-down of their tour bus and managed to get back to the terminal just before sailing time.

At 5pm we sailed. The cruise up the channel was through high hills and bluffs, in the sunlight. This is good scenery. At 7pm we were back in the St. Lawrence channel and heading up toward Labrador.

For those inclined, the noon report is: Position 48° 57.55’N and 057° 56.57’W. (At the wharf in Corner Brook.) Sunrise 0514 and sunset 2110. Noon to noon run aw 221 nm, total cruise 910 nm. Next leg 209nm. 

Headland. Note lighthouse lower left.

Pilot Boat departing

View from out cabin leaving the channel

As in interesting aside, this cruise line is now charging $150 per person to tour the bridge and engine room. My nickles and dimes will go fast if I don't watch them. It's a good thing we have seen a few Bridges and Engine Rooms before so we won't be coughing up for that.