Safety Gear for Greenland Trip

Open offshore sailing in high latitudes demands good gear for safety and crew comfort while in a potentially hostile environment. 

First chosen is Gill’s top-end foul weather gear. Waterproof, breathable and with a good base and mid layer beneath - warm. These jackets and bib trousers are built for this. If necessary, one can literally sit in water in the cockpit and still stay dry and warm. Fortunately, sv Polar Sun has a full cockpit enclosure to help keep us out of the weather as much as possible. 

Next is the best inflatable PDF we can find - a Spinlock Vito. Designed specifically for the Volvo Round The World Ocean Race, these life jackets are hydrostatically auto-inflated and have a harness that attaches to the boat by a shock absorbing tether to help prevent a man overboard situation. Should the worst happen, an Ocean Signal AIS MOB1 beacon attached to the lifejacket automatically deploys and initiates a loud distress signal on the boat. The GPS navigation computer display shows exactly where the MOB is located allowing the crew to return to and retrieve the MOB.

Spinlock PDF

Tether

AIS Beacon

Crew MOB training will take place.

A double-floor life raft is fitted on the boat with the crew donning drysuits should the ultimate disaster occur. An EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon) would be deployed in the raft to alert rescue authorities via satellite link.

Drysuit

EPIRB

Ultimately, the best safety considerations are a good, well found boat, an experienced crew, careful lookouts, weather routing services, good gear and careful planning.

By the way, the maximum water temperature in the Labrador Sea near Nuuk in June is 35f.

It’s gonna get cold.

Greenland Trip Route Planning - Ice

When planning a trip to Greenland from Maine, one has to deal with ice and icebergs.

Our route starting June 1 takes us from Portland, Maine across the Gulf of Maine, passing Cape Sable, Nova Scotia and clearing into Canada in Lunenburg, NS. From there we will transit to the Bra d'Or lake and stop in Baddeck, NS. Leaving the lake, our next planned provisioning stop is Saint Anthony, Newfoundland. To get there we have to cross the Cabot Straight then sail up the west side of Newfoundland through the Strait of Belle Isle. 

The SBI is notorious for ice this time of year. I've been watching the Canadian Ice Service charts which have the daily ice reports in many forms. Here are two Ice Charts showing the changes from April 17 to April 30.

Then there are icebergs. Canada has charts for iceberg observation with the number of bergs for each Lat/Lon grid square. Here is the May 1, 2022 chart:

Once we depart Saint Anthony, the route skirts the southern extent of the pack ice carried south by the Labrador Current then we cross the Labrador Sea to catch the northbound Greenland Current to help us  up the west coast of Greenland to Nuuk.

Labrador Sea Current Chart

In the Labrador Sea one finds icebergs. Navigating near icebergs requires diligence as the downwind side of a berg has truck sized bergy bits, smaller growlers and brash ice that could ruin your day. 

Bergybits and Growlers shed from iceberg

The planning continues.

Headed to Greenland

When I was a kid, I remember many late nights pouring over my grandfather's and father's collection of old (1900-1950's) National Geographic magazines, looking at articles about arctic expeditions and glaciers and snow. I spent my career around snow, cold and sometimes adventure.

With that in mind, I've been invited to crew on a boat from Maine to Nuuk Greenland. I am invited because of my sailing experience and mechanical knowledge. After a doctor visit to go over my physical limitations and issues during which he said "go for it", I'm 100% committed to go. Pretty excited about the opportunity as I've always dreamt about seeing the fiords, glaciers and icebergs of Newfoundland and Greenland. Lots of balls in the air to get ready. I've known the leader, a world renowned explorer and author, for decades. I have great confidence in the boat and know the extensive upgrades that have been made to it for the trip. The boat "Polar Sun" is a Stevens Custom 47. 

We will be leaving Maine on June 1 and arriving in Nuuk, Greenland around July 1 with several stops in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I will fly from Nuuk to Iceland and back to Boston when I leave the boat. I will be keeping this blog updated on the preparations as we get ready and progress underway, when connectivity permits.

It's gonna get cold.

Spring 2022 - time to get ready

 It's time to consider the job tasks for getting sv Oriane ready for launch. 

Friends are going to help Kathy get some tasks done next weekend. 

List to launch (not all will be done prior to launch)

• Cover off
• Batteries hooked up and charged
• Solar panel hooked secured in temp location
• Engine commissioned
• Interior teak oiled
• Hull waxed
• Bottom paint touched up - multi-year ablative
• New zincs installed
• Dodger and bimini installed
• Water system flushed and filled
• Sails bent-on
• Interior cleaned and straightened up
• Solar panel affixed in summer location
• Distance log reset to zero
• Check safety gear - update as necessary
• Documentation on board
• Deck cleaned
• Exterior wood refinished
• Anchor chain - measured, length markers painted and anchor swivel installed 
• Personal gear onboard - PFD, Foulies, etc
• Holding tank pump out fitting replaced/fixed 

"You'll miss sunrise if you close your eyes"

 It’s the kind of Maine morning that’s worth getting up early to experience. A brilliant sunrise lightens the eastern sky until the horizon to horizon dome above turns to a rich light blue. We find ourselves anchored in still waters off Hay Island in Seal Bay. A gathering of boats with friends new and old surround s/v Oriane.

Every man made thing is quiet. Undisturbed, nature has reclaimed the area for the moment.

Gulls squawk and maneuver for advantage, sea crows shout alarm as yet another eagle overflies the shoreline. Pogies boil the water’s surface chased by uncounted hunting seals. Osprey proudly displaying their catch after loudly plunging feet first into the water.

It’s the kind of Maine morning that’s worth getting up early to experience. It’s got the promise of yet another day of wonder and discovery. 

It Doesn’t Matter

s/v Oriane has traveled the waters from mid-May until this moment. We have traveled from multi-layered clothing to tee shirts and shorts back to long pants and sweatshirts. We have seen many wondrous things along the coast of Maine this season from Portland to Mt. Desert that can only be seen from a boat.

Today it’s raining; it doesn’t matter.

We find ourselves in snug Perry Creek after Friday’s sporty and speedy broad reach sail across the bay. Saturday was calm. A day that warned of forecasted rain that didn’t materialize. A day of exploring the anchorage with dinghy and paddleboard. A day of wandering Vinalhaven Landtrust’s A.W. Smith Preserve trails to vistas previously unexplored. A day of visiting old friends and new; a day of performing minor boat chores.

Today it’s raining; it doesn’t matter.

Yesterday saw simple gourmet food passed out of the galley and arranged on the cockpit table then savored with pleasure and view as if in the most sought after coastal restaurant. Book pages were turned, music was played and a movie watched.

For me today is two-score and nine on s/v Oriane.

Today it’s raining and it doesn’t matter.

sv Oriane has over 700 nm under her keel so far this summer.  Today we find ourselves hunkered down in Northeast Harbor on Mt. Desert awaiting the effects of TS Elsa. I can't think of a better place to be in this kind of weather.

Yesterday was a day to remember. Here are my thoughts about a Somes Sound day.

"Today was one of those perfect mornings on the coast of Maine. A loon's gentle, haunting wakeup cry alerts us to the new day. A single lobster boat’s distant wake creates a soothing rocking as the fisherman presses slowly around the orchard of multicolored buoys. The air and the cockpit are dry and comfortable as the sun rises over Mt Norumbaga on Somes Sound’s eastern shore.

Man o’War Brook astern gurgles a soothing cascade as fresh water seeks sea level over the last rocky precipice.

It’s a coffee then fresh blueberry pancakes enjoyed in the cockpit kind of day. A sail up to Somes Harbor (photo) and back on a easy breeze. The perfect coast o’Maine morning."

In Somesville for a morning stroll.

Shrimp and fresh Lobster pasta dinner