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Zora
Skibbereen
Sailing with my Wife, Niamh, on our 38 foot steel custom expedition boat, Zora
This was the last trip on our Atlantic circuit, and the first time in our home port for 3 and a half years. We caught up with lots of friends and had some awesome welcome parties meeting us along the way.
This was the most challenging 800 miles out of my near 20k offshore miles. We battled extreme current at the start, followed by a day of ok sailing. A midnight squall and a jammed furler resulted in a line in our propeller, all in the space of 15 minutes. We sailed engineless until the next calm, the best of which still had 2.5 metres seas. Mark, the crew, jumped in to the arctic water and cut our propeller free, and we were able to motor ahead of a looking system that would have brought near survival conditions. Our arrival to Iceland was no less challenging as we beat hard into 25 knots, a wave crashed over and ripping half of our spray hood off, a lot of water coming in through our newly exposed hatch. Arrival to Vestmanaeyjar was a sweet victory
We spent two weeks in Greenland exploring totally uncharted Fjords, fishing the rivers and documenting the anchorages. The ice, fog, wind, and poor charts maks this country a beautiful challenge.
A dream became a plan, and that plan is becoming memories. Thanks to so many amazing people who have helped us achieve the dream of sailing in higher latitudes, sailing amongst these ice giants has become a reality I wasn't fully sure we would manage. The last 2 days were relatively nice, easy sailing, thanks to the epic crew we were so lucky to gather with @solosailingsapphira and @luke_franklin01. We arrived into the ice zone almost exactly as the sun started to come up, and it was very quickly evident as to why the advice so strongly says not to approach these ice laden areas in the dark. There were monstrous icebergs and a lot of smaller bergy bits and growlers in our way as we sailed slowly towards Qaqortoq. At one point our visibility was reduced to less than a quarter of a mile, but between the three of us we managed to make safe progress until the fog cleared. The final miles into Qaqortoq were dotted with huge icebergs that were amazing to see. And we were lucky enough to find a smaller berg that was safe to approach and spend some time around taking photos and soaking it all in. For now the crew needs some rest and beer. Then we will venture into some of the more remote areas of Greenland on our way to Iceland. Ps, first iceberg photo on seapeople?
*Distance and speed are almost definitely not accurate* Once the wind and sea settled down a bit over the last 24 hours, we found ourselves motoring for several hours before the wind filled back in to give us beautiful sailing under reefed main and assymetric. As the day went on, the wind kept a steady 10 to 15 knots off our port quarter, and as the sun set, we decided we had the manpower on board to leave it up over night, something normally unwise to do. The very bright nights also make sail handling less difficult at night, aside from the biting cold. Around midnight, the wind picked up a bit and shifted more to the north, so we took down the assymetric and ran all night with the Genoa and main. Very straightforward night of sailing, the windvane keeping us on a very steady course.
Track is very wrong# We are within 100 miles of Greenland now, and the closer we get, the more alert we need to be for bits of ice floating around. The last couple of days have been far colder and more overcast than the start of our trip, and the wind is biting cold. Thanks to @onboard.ie sailing Orlanda just 60 miles ahead of us, we've been able to get live reports of ice conditions and what to expect as we get closer via WhatsApp. We also use the dmi service that sends annotated satellite images and ice charts for the area so we couldn't be any more well informed. The crew are excited to go ashore and find a pub, meet some locals, and get some sleep.
We got a bit of a kicking from the left overs of that low, trying to make progress against the Labrador current, sloppy big seas, and strong wind. The wind died overnight, and the seas got smaller along with falling temperatures. The heating is working like a dream, keeping the crew warm and comfortable inside, with the cockpit enclosure providing the person on watch with plenty of protection from wind and spray. Yesterday was one of the first times I've tried to go upwind in those conditions on Zora, and it was no surprise to me that she took every big wave in her stride. The mix of current and swell pushed us off the rhumb line for several hours but we are back on track again.
We left Fogo Island in Newfoundand yesterday morning with a faint hope that the weather would line up for a straight shot at Greenland Unfortunately as the passage went on, we realised it wasn't realistic as a developing gale offshore mid week would put us into some pretty nasty conditions. Even though experiencing gale force winds are pretty much guaranteed at some point up here, it seemed pretty stupid to knowingly head offshore into one. We did however see out first ice berg.
After a solid night of drinking and dinner on zora with some local lads, we took off with a great forecast to get to Fogo Island. We had everything up to 32 knots on all angles, and made good time. We saw an unbelievable amount of whales.
After a week of preparation to leave for Greenland, we pushed off from the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club. We stopped with Linnea for a quick lunch and motored the rest of the way to Bay De Verde where we found a pub.
Our final staging point for Greenland 🇬🇱 Bit of an overnight slog under motor and a hard beat up the bay
Flat calm motor trip to a beautiful anchorage surrounded by trees and nature.
Mix bag of good and bad sailing on the way to St Johns. ETA Sunday night. Quick stop before departure with our Swedish buddy boat Linnea for Fika.
Motoring again, but this time a stop over for lunch at Baddeck and then on to Big Harbour
We passed through the lake first thing in the morning.
A very gusty and interesting sail to Jeddore Harbour, plenty of reefs and speed Avg speed around 6.2
The wind has died and the engine is on, to save the assymetric from any more torture
Provisioning has begun for our upcoming foray in the high latitudes. Ice conditions are still relatively concerning, but its still early days
