Greenland 2015 - Sailing Expedition "Over Green Islands"

Leg: 15.9

Cruise rout: Nuuk - Ilulissat



Dates:
from 2015.06.13 to 2015.06.28
Duration:
15 days
Skipper:
Konrad Sudba
Contact with skipper:
+48 660 381 603, email: konrad.subda@episteme.com.pl
Vacancies:
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The cruise start in Nuuk which is considered the capital of Greenland - in one of the blocks of flats about 1% of the population of Greenland lives! Be sure to visit the National Museum of Inuit settlements and traces of the Vikings. There you can see the famous Eskimo preserved mummies...  the rest you will see yourselves. The capital has its nightlife, quite specific, but we recommend to visit one of the bars, “Cheers” in Greenlandic  - "qassuta”!
After leaving Nuuk we will visit: Maniitsoq (Sukkertoppen), a charming place, but difficult to navigate. The tiny port is located in a very narrow cove at the entrance is shallowing, but you can stand there even a large yacht.
Then we will go to Kangamiut. We recommend this little village as a place to start a trip to Evighedsfjord fjord. The entrance to the small harbor is difficult and requires a lot of attention and concentration, it is possible to enter it only in good weather conditions.
The next goal (1 day sailing) is Sissimiut located just outside the arctic circle. It is the most northerly located port with the ice-free entrance in winter. Sissimut is the second largest city of Greenland, after Nuuk, with a population of 5,600 inhabitants, with full service and supply. In Sissimiut to see the reconstructed Viking turf houses.
Sailing further north, after one day shipping (80 Nm) we will reach Kangaatsiaq (which means "quite small cape").  The city is the youngest Greenland settlement, it gained the status of the city only in 1986, but the village itself is of course much older. Kangaatsiaq is a small undamaged town where there are no big hotels or travel agencies - in fact, there are only private houses, and one Internet café.
From there we sail to Assiat through one of the most beautiful archipelagos north, called "archipelago of thousands of islands" which is a unique system of fjords and navigationaly difficult route to Disko Bay. Aasiaat - or Egedesminde - was built in 1759 by Niels Egede, the son of the famous Christian missionary, Hans Egede. In 1763 the settlement was moved 125 km north to its present location. Today, the old Aasiaat is a regional museum, with an excellent exhibition of the Inuit history and culture, where there are also paintings of the world famous Danish artist - Per Kirkeby. It is worth to see the museum and an interesting sculpture in the center of the town.
After leaving the Assait we will see one of the most beautiful bays in the Arctic, Disko Bay and the port and the city of Ilulissat (Jakobshavn) in the northeastern part of it.
With its population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut. The town was established as a trading post by Jacob Severin's company in 1741 and named in his honor. The name was sometimes anglicized as Jacobshaven.  The Zion Church (Zions Kirke) constructed in the late 18th century was the largest man-made work on Greenland in its time.
Ilulissat means iceberg in Greenlandic and the town is beautifully situated at the mouth of the almost 60 km long ice fjord, filled with enormous icebergs from the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere, Sermeq Kujalleq. The largest icebergs run aground at the mouth of the fjord at depths of 225-250 m and they only break free during high tide or when they are so eroded that the iceberg's point of balance changes. In 2004, Ilulissat Ice Fjord was included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
Sermeq Kujalleq glacier is one of the fastest (19 m per day) and most active glaciers in the world. It annually calves over 35 km3 of ice, i.e. 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice and more than any other glacier outside Antarctica.
We will finish sailing here, having a tour to the glacier. Although it will take us just one day,
memories will remain forever.



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