We depart St Johns Newfoundland bound for Nuuk Greenland. Our original plans to cruise the Prins Christian sound are scuttled by ice. We have learned from Illiusat Control that Air reconnaissance and ground reports show the are completely iced in. This alters our cruise plans significantly, we will now sail approximately 700 miles further north towards 70 N to the Disco Bay area.Departing St Johns we are armed with the Canadian Ice Reports. These are maps that show the number of large icebergs in a certain lat/long grid. The data is collected by satellite images, air reconnaissance and compulsory ship reporting. We plot a course swinging wide of the densely ice populated areas. Even with the ice data at hand we must be very diligent in our watch keeping. The further north and east we go the more danger their is of ice. The icebergs that show up on the Ice Reports are no the primary concern, these are the size of large houses. These are picked up clearly on radar and also cause a noticeable drop in the water temperature as you close on them. The real danger is the ice that is the size of Volkswagens Bugs.. If we hit one of these doing 9 or 10 knots we will be scrambling for our Ice Immersion Suites and Life Rafts as they will most likely rip a hole in the hull. To be safe when in near any ice threat we slow way down, with the option of heaving to in dark. I would much rather arrive one day latter than take a cold, deadly swim.
The further we go the further we get away from the well worn path of man the more wild life we see. It is common to see whales every few hours, this is a treat. No matter how many you see, you do not get spoiled. It's automatic to stop the boat and admire their massiveness and respect their space. The show lasts until you see their tail go into a "terminal dive" this is the classic photo shot of the wails tail as he waves good bye.
