Greetings from Nuuk, Greenland local time 0900 -1GMT Lat N64 10′, W51 44′. The Arctic schooner Bowdoin and her 15 crew have arrived with a healthy ship and crew.

A recap of the voyage: after departing St. Johns NFL, Bowdoin continued N along the NFL coast, passing E of Belle Isle and then on to Labrador’s eastern seaboard. Just abeam of the old whaling outpost Hawk Harbor and the neighboring island, Stony Island (Andy Chase and crew erected a Cairn in 1990), we set a course to the east, which we would hold for a day to clear the ice edge (sea ice limit) but also the more condensed bergy waters. The wind was forecasted to be NW for a few days, so we wanted to get as far north as possible to take advantage of this wind angle to reach GL. We sailed among massive icebergs for about a day but also stayed well clear of the mentioned dense bergy waters just to our north, about 60nm. At this point, we still had about 5 hours of darkness, but we reached clear water by nightfall.

The remainder of the passage was spent in various weather conditions/sea states as we negotiated the Labrador Current and then the West Greenland Current at times, as this helped with speed and others hindered it. The ship’s routine fell into place as it does. However, within a few days, the sun remained up for 24 hours after sunset. Basically, after sunset, the sun starts to rise again. If you are not on a watch schedule or unaware of the time, you might forget to go to sleep. When the weather was fair, and people seemingly rested, lessons were had for all hands at noon covering weather, celestial nav, “how it works” regarding engine room systems, and more. At this point, the crew is becoming well-versed in running our Schooner Bowdoin and jumps at the opportunity to take on and learn new tasks.

Now we will give the crew some time to explore the town, fuel up, and take on small repairs, and on Monday we will depart for Disko Bay on the other side of the Arctic Circle which we plan to cross on June 19th becoming true “Blue Nose” sailors.

And for the foodies out there, Steward Kimberly has been keeping the crew well-fed and always looking forward to what’s on the menu. Pork chops with apples and cabbage, chicken casseroles, jambalaya, beef stew, delicious soups, baked bread, brown bread, cookies, cakes, hot drinks, and much more.

Sincerely,
Capt. Peacock

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