Greenland - Karale to Sermilik - 20th-23rd July 2012

We left Karale glacier very slowly - the air was totally still, and the water mirror calm. We didn't want to leave such an enchanting place.

Leaving Karale Glacier

Our route then took us back past the Bluie East 2 airbase and a camp at a fishing cabin.

An early start to catch the high tide to enable us to pass through a shallow channel saw us arrive at the village of Kungmuit where we could restock provisions (beer....) and freshen up.

Kungmuit

Carrying on we camped on an island at the start of a long channel that separates Angmagssalik island from the mainland. Martin calls this channel the "Lairig Ghru" as it feels like the Cairngorms feature of that name - maybe not quite the same views, but more to do with the significance of how it cuts through a great land mass.

The "Lairig Ghru" took us a whole day to paddle, and we camped again just short of the village of Tiniteqilaq.

We got up the following day excited at the prospects of the day's paddle - we knew there would be a lot of ice in the Sermilik fjord, and we were not to be disappointed.

We stopped of in Tiniteqilaq for a look around and to view the ice in Sermilik. A local fisherman sold us some Arctic Char that we would have that night for supper.

Inspecting the ice in Sermilik from Tiniteqilaq

We ventured up the Sermilik fjord for a few kilometers, but it was not long before the ice became too thick to continue north, so we turned towards the land and camped. Due to the amount of ice in the vicinity, we thought it prudent to maintain a "bear watch" overnight, so we took shifts of an hour each to maintain a lookout over the camp for any unwanted visitors.

In Sermilik Fjord

Karale to Sermilik

Greenland - En Route to the Karale Glacier - 15th-19th July 2012

Our first camp was the old whaling settlement at Amitsivartik. We explored the remains of the settlement that included old earth buildings, children's play areas marked out with rocks and human burial cairns.

Above the settlement a hill gave us a great view of Angmagssalik fjord where we sat and watched whales.

Our route took us through various channels and around islands. Our initial plans of taking a more seaward route were thwarted by winds that kept us on the more sheltered side of the islands. We encountered numerous icebergs - some adrift in the channels, others aground in the shallower waters. Each one strangely mesmerizing with its hues of blue and eroded shapes.

On the forth night out we camped by the deserted US base, Bluie East 2. Abandoned quickly in the 50's, the evidence of a quick departure is all around - from the trucks through to more delicate intact 1950s coke bottles.

From the airbase we paddled into Sermiligaq fjord and as as we neared the top of the fjord the water gradually changed colour - from wonderful clear water to the milky green characteristic of glacial meltwater. We had a view of the Knud Rasmussen glacier but turned west towards the Karale glacier. A wonderful scene of glaciers and their calved icebergs greeted us - the main Karale glacier plus two other glaciers feeding into the same fjord.

In front of the Karale Glacier

We camped on the rocks and moraine on the south side of the Karale glacier and trekked onto the glacier itself.

Tasiilaq to Karale Glacier

Greenland - Outward Journey - 11th-14th July 2012

On the 11th July 2012, five members of the North West Sea Kayakers (Jim, Kirstine, Chris, Stephanie and myself) left Manchester to fly to Reykjavik to start a near three week trip that would take us to the east coast of Greenland.

We stayed in Reykjavik for two nights, camping at the city hostel, meeting the rest of the team on the last night - our Greenland guide, Martin Rickard from seakayakadventures.co.uk and Dave and Jules from Shetland.

We spent our time in Reykjavik sight-seeing and enjoying the thermal pool adjacent to the campsite. Reykjavik and Iceland seemed very pleasant and I'd like to return for a longer visit with the family.

Reykjavik from the cathedral tower

On the friday, after a short delay waiting for fog to lift in Greenland, we boarded out flight to Kulusuk and we were on our way. As we approached Greenland we could see sea ice and massive ice bergs followed by the dramatic fjords and mountains that make up the east coast of Greenland.

Our planned transfer to Tasiilaq via boat was somewhat delayed - Martin and Lars the boat owner had got their wires crossed over dates, so we nearly had to camp at the airport and wait an extra day! - but luckily Martin managed to track Lars down in Tasiilaq and he came out to pick us up.

Waiting for the boat transfer to Tasiilaq

The boat trip was pretty spectacular - our first close up view of ice bergs, plus a number of whale sightings.

The campsite in Tasiilaq is nicknamed "Vietnam" by Martin due to the campsite's proximity to the village helicopter pad and rubbish tip!

Tasiilaq campsite

We had a chance to explore the village and stock up on provisions for our trip. Apart from drinking water, we were essentially self sufficient with food for up to 12 days away from the Tasiilaq base.

Jim is a sponsored P&H paddler, so he was keen to be seen and paddle a P&H boat, so he had arranged a deal for Martin to buy and ship out a P&H Scorpio for him to paddle. Only problem was that because of our late arrival on friday we missed the chance to get the boat out of the harbour warehouse and we could have had to wait till monday to get it. Luckily, Martin pulled a few strings and the harbour master managed to get us into the warehouse saturday morning to collect it. Inside the boat just happened to be two weeks supply of Clif bars for all of us, plus a wine box! - so it would have been a shame to leave on the trip without it.

The Harbour Master's kids try the Scorpio out

We completed our packing of the boats late saturday afternoon, and we decided to head off that evening on our journey.

Under way at last!

Macclesfield Canal - 1st July 2012

Launched at Clarke Lane with the intention of testing out some gopro camera angles, but once on the water I didn't feel too good. Not sure what the problem was - either a dodgy curry from the night before or some stomach bug, but either way I was glad to get off and packed up to go home.

This may have been my last paddle before Greenland! - scary.

On the water for just over an hour, 6k paddled.

Conwy Ascent - 23rd June 2012

Nice social event, but I'm a bit unfit for racing and I was puffing after the first 100 metres... maybe half the problem was I was still laughing at the carnage of the launching attempts of some of the K2s.

There were surprisingly few waves up to the bridges, but once we swung round the corner we caught the strong westerly wind and it was a bit of a slog giving more problems for the thin racing kayaks. At least two boats capsized and I lost a little time going over to a k1 that was being rescued. In the end I was the third veteran, so I got a mention in the prizegiving that I was not expecting.

After tea and a butty, Jim, Aled and I toured back to the start at a slightly more leisurely pace and we finished off the day with some fine fish and chips in Conwy.

I think my race time must have been at least 1:20, and I expect the return paddle was about 1:40, but I wasn't really keeping an eye on the time.

Update 26/6/12: Race time was 1:26:55, 11th single kayak overall.

Macclesfield Canal - 18th June 2012

Short paddle trying out some camera angles with the gopro mounted on a pole on the rear deck. Not had time to process the movie yet, but the system seemed to work OK. On the water for 35 minutes.

Portland Harbour - 2nd June 2012

Short 1 hr potter on the water with Allen and Gavin. First time we've actually managed to paddle with all 3 of together! Would have had a nice video, but didn't realise the battery was flat in the GoPro :(
We launched at Castle Cove beach and they enjoyed the small waves and going in and around the reefs. Gavin said it was a lot more exciting than paddling on the canal, but still thinks there are sharks everywhere!... Too much watching "The World's 50 Deadliest Animals" or such like.