The Arctic Schooner Bowdoin Crosses N70

Posted on: July 4, 2024

Crossing the Arctic circle, navigating the ice capital of the world, Greenlandic foods, abandoned settlements, the thunder of Glaciers cracking, whales breaching, and making new friends are just a few of the incredible experiences Bowdoin and crew have had the past two weeks. Just now, at anchor in Godhavn, a small village on Disko Island, I have taken a moment to reflect on our high latitude experience that has just taken this crew north of the 70th parallel. The landscape is breathtaking and, most of the time, too surreal to comprehend, considering we are seeing it all from the deck of Bowdoin. I witnessed crew members overtaken with emotion by the towering snow- and ice-covered fjords with the outpouring of waterfalls––a scene words or pictures cannot fully capture.

Looking at the days, we spent nine of them in the company of S/V Arctic Earth and her team, owner David Conover, Captain Magnus, Mate Julia and Captain Andy Chase. I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for our time spent with Arctic Earth as the highlights of the trip were under their guidance. Together, we explored new fjords, calving Glaciers, abandoned settlements, weathered strong katabatic winds, and we even named a couple of Bays along the way.

Now, we begin our return home and think about all the places we will not see along this icy frontier that will have to wait until Bowdoin returns. We meet other sailors who are just now setting for NW passage or heading to eastern Greenland, where sea ice even now is still thick. Those headed to NW passage race the calendar to be back in these waters this time next year to get another season of icy adventures–– we, however, will still make some last stops here in Greenland, one in Sisimiut and the other in Maniitsoq, but that will conclude our time in Greenland before we set course towards Nain Labrador.