Fuel, calm seas, and green vegetables: all things expeditions need at times in varying proportions. In the night, the ship’s officers decided to steam ahead to Sisimiut Greenland ahead of schedule in search of all three. Our expected fresh provisions had not arrived as anticipated with our guests on the charter flight yesterday in Kangerlusuuaq, high winds and seas in the Davis Strait rocked the ship, and National Geographic Explorer had been weeks without fuel, so going to port made perfect sense.
Most of us on board awoke with surprise to find ourselves tied alongside a pier surround by exposed rocks topped with colorful buildings. Although named for once-prevalent foxholes, today, we only saw burrows from the pervasive and photogenic Greenlandic sled dogs picketed around the outskirts of town. Our timing was perfect, as the village elders happened to be having a festival and outdoor dance today, which they invited us to attend. They served dried fish and coffee to anyone who wanted to come sit and enjoy a dance with them.
Our day ended with the lively cocktail party hosted by Captain Leif Skoog, and a superb dinner, which was marked midway with a cheer as the container of fresh produce arrived at the gangway by boat and sooner after the throb of the ship’s engines as we departed to the Davis Strait, and soon, Baffin Bay.
It was a day marked with clean, brisk Greenlandic air, sunshine, and a sense of excitement of things to come.
