Cruising Prince Christian Sund

Thursday August 10th – Cruising Prince Christian Sund

 

The Plan:

 

Weather permitting, our home at sea is scheduled to make the first of two approximately 6 hour cruises through this early beautiful waterway in southern Greenland, that separates the mainland from Sammisoq and other islands of the Cape Farewell Archipelago near the southern most tip of Greenland.  The name was given in honor of the Prince, later king Christian VIII of Denmark. (Text courtesy of Wikipedia under CC-BY-SA license)

The Reality:

 

Prior to our arrival in Qaqortog  our captain announced that there was a possibility that we would not be able to transit Prince Christian Sund, because the east entrance to the Sund (sound) has been blocked by sea ice and icebergs for some time. Our ship had contracted the service of two Danish ice pilots that, along with the captain, would board a helicopter and fly the length of the sound for a visual inspection.

 

Upon their return the decision was made that we would sail to the west entrance during the late evening/early morning hours, enter the Sound and sail as far east, as possible, arriving close to the blockage (covering 90% of the sound) turn and reverse our course and exit where we entered, around 1 PM.

 

Their plan worked perfectly and we spent the morning in awe of the magnificent scenery just yards away from our window while snacking on lentil served by the Lido staff.

As we sailed out into the Sea of Labrador , very close to noon, we were treated to a profusion of beautiful “ice sculptures” traveling south propelled by the currents and wind.  One other thing; the pesky fog that had accompanied us since our departure from Corner Brook must have been afraid to follow us into Prince Christian Sound because, as we awoke from our peaceful slumber, only high scatter clouds were evident, with brilliant sunshine breaking though occasionally.

Throughout the night the next day, and the next night, we had set our sails for our next port of call; Reykjavik.

 

Jack W Cummings VOV 2017 – Sailing on the Sea of Labrador