Weekend in Ittoqqortoormiit

The northeast East Greenland settlement.

When sailing you should never assume you will arrive at your destination at any specific time. Because of that, there is widespread suspicion among sailors, that you should never write down your destination port in your logbook. As they say: We are sailing ‘towards’, not ‘to’ some port.

On the last leg from Jan Mayen, we made good progress and 290 nautical miles in less than 3 days. However, because of some earlier delays we were a little bit behind schedule. Still, we had a few days in reserve so arriving in Greenland on Saturday instead of on Friday as planned didn’t seem to be a big deal.

So much so, that when we spotted our first big iceberg we made half a mile detour and took the time to round it 3 times. Of course, all pictures must be done properly. Then a few miles later, when we spotted whales we followed them for an hour instead of going straight to our destination. In the end what difference did it make what time we arrived?

Finally, we entered Scoresbysund, big gulf, and fjord system in East Greenland. The wind strengthened and we were not sure if the bay would have given us enough protection. At one point we considered going first to a nearby fjord to search for shelter. However, in the end, the wind eased and we headed straight to Ittoqqortoormiit.

It was early in the morning but the time didn’t matter much to us. During the arctic summer, the sun shines 24 hours a day so it is always difficult to know if it is morning or afternoon. Besides, on a yacht, time always has its own rules. It is not morning or afternoon but on-watch or off-watch which are important.

Ittoqqortoormiit — the place of many houses — as some translate, the name of the settlement was now clearly visible. From few hundred meters away we saw all of the colorful houses, but not many of its 450 inhabitants.

We called the harbormaster on VHF — assuming there must be one. The place doesn’t have a true port but just a bay where big ships could anchor. There is only a small jetty for RIBs and small motorboats, not big enough for yachts. However, it was the biggest settlement in this part of East Greenland. We know Greenlanders don’t like bureaucracy and in a country of fewer than 60 thousand people, all institutions must be scaled down. But this was our port of entry. After the long journey, we deserved some formalities.

There was complete silence on the radio.

It was a bit inconvenient. It will be helpful if someone with local knowledge could suggest us better place to anchor. In front of the city, the water was too deep for us even close to the shore. Besides the seabed was very uneven and we expected rocks underneath — after our adventures on Jan Mayen, we knew our anchor will not hold here very well. The place also looked quite exposed. By now the wind had died down but the weather could have changed again very quickly.
The pilot book suggested a bay just one mile north which looked promising. We slowly circled twice to check it out and finally dropped the hook in 8 meters of water.

We arrived in Greenland, but despite it’s name, it didn’t look very green. In contrast to Jan Mayen, which is on the same latitude, the mountains here are very rocky and without any vegetation. It was August but on the north slope of a small valley, there was still big areas covered by snow. The cold current running along the coast from the Pole was shaping not only East Greenland weather but also the mountains.

But here outside of the settlement finally we spotted some people. There was a fisherman on his small dinghy rowing between buoys close to the beach and checking his nets; someone driving a quad on the stony road to nowhere and then back again. The group of people just walking on the beach. It was time to launch our dinghy and meet them.

Spotting us, a group of three women stopped and waited till we secured our tender. They welcomed us and asked all usual questions: where are you from, where do you live, how was the sailing etc. Hearing we didn’t have a gun they decided to escort us. They said they were coming back to village anyway. They told us, that just 3 days prior, a polar bear was spotted in the center of the village. There was also a case in the past where someone was attacked on the road we were just taking.
This confirmed what we already knew — we should not go anywhere without a gun.

All three women were nurses in the local clinic. The youngest who was carrying the rifle was there from Denmark for just a few summer months. Another normally worked in a hospital in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, and came only for a short visit. The oldest of them was local and lived in the village most of her life. It was her who was the most excited about the yacht from Poland was visiting Ittoqqortoormiit. Years ago, when studying in Denmark, she shortly visited our country.

From them, we learned why the place seems to be so deserted. The night before there was a big family party which involved half the village as here, everyone is related to everyone else. It was also payday, so they were able to party till morning. Other residents who preferred a quiet weekend left the village for hunting.

Before leaving the UK we arranged to hire a gun. In the Arctic, you are required to carry a gun to protect yourself against polar bears. However, laws and airport regulations make it more and more difficult to travel with your own arms. The travel agency with whom we exchanged emails, confirmed it will be no problem to hire it from them. They were anticipating our arrival on the previous day.
The nurse gave us the private mobile number for a girl working at the tourist office and rough directions how to find it.

We called straight away.
Again silence. No one answered the phone.
We hoped they were just resting after the party.

The gun was important but there were also other pressing issues. On board the yacht we had strict water restrictions.
A thousand liters sound a lot but is not much for 10 people for 3 weeks. There are ways to keep up personal hygiene without water like dry shampoos etc., but nothing can replace a real shower. While searching for the travel agent we also asked about a place to take a bath.

We tried to get help and directions from locals, but this was surprisingly difficult. Some teenagers were still in party mood and offered us a beer. Others obviously had a strong headache and avoided contact with tourists at all cost. Also, there were one or two persons whose sense of direction was so distorted we didn’t bother to ask anything. We were very hopeful when an old man stopped and greeted us. He wanted to help, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find any common language. We didn’t spoke Inuit or Danish and he didn’t understand English.
There were a lot of children but somehow they were all playing alone without parents.

The group of two Europeans and one Inuk distinguish stood out in this environment. They were definitely sober and more than happy to chat with us. Soon we learned that the Danish guys are social workers and were accompanying the man in his one week visit to family. We didn’t press for details, but there was some not so happy story behind it.

They all were very helpful. First, they allowed us to take shower at the B&B they were staying in. The local men also knew someone who could help us to find relatives of the girl from the travel agency.
Soon we asked for her in a shop just a few hundred meters away. The old lady there called on her mobile, someone from the house where our travel agent lived. Unfortunately, she was not at home as she had gone hunting with her father deep into the fjord and will not be back before Monday.

This was a major blow to our quest. In desperation, we went to the local police station. Of course, it was the weekend, so it was already closed but someone should be still there. The idea that the local police would help us find a gun doesn’t sound so absurd there as it would in Europe.

We knocked few times and finally Danish policemen opened the door. His one-year contract in Ittoqqortoormiit was coming soon to the end. He didn’t say that, but maybe it was not the happiest year of his life. He could not hide his disappointment with the locals and especially their attitude to work and business.
- You should complain about it. They should wait.
- This is not the way to run tourist office!

He tried to call other people who may have had keys to the building but our hope was short lived. It looked like they took the keys with them or no one knew where it could be.

We asked the policemen what we should do then. He agreed we should not go anywhere unarmed and to ask the local hunters to lend us a gun.
With some disbelief, we asked if that was legal. He paused for a long moment and finally said:
- Ask them. Someone will.
We didn’t felt like pressing him for some more detailed legal advice on this subject anymore.

Finding hunters in the village was easier said than done as most of them had already left for a weekend hunt. While wondering around, we met a woman walking with her old dog. This was quite an unusual scene, as most dogs lived on the outskirts of the village, sleeping directly on snow and we didn’t spot any old looking dog among them.

She was Canadian and worked as the teacher in the local school. This probably explained her different attitude to pets. She said she didn’t have a gun. Probably meaning a second gun, as even nurses here were armed. On the other hand, she could be one of few people in Greenland without a gun. Opposite to us, she chose it to be this way. She said she doesn’t speak the local Inuit language and therefore doesn’t know a lot of people close enough. We could ask her neighbor though but he was not at home.

Disappointed, we went back to our yacht. Half the crew had stayed there on an anchor watch. We replaced them and gave them the chance to take a shower. Maybe they will have more luck in the afternoon.

Soon after the second group landed on the beach they called us on radio. They met hunters!

Apparently, the bay we stayed was not only an official anchorage but also the best ground for hunting seals. Our yacht was on the firing line and they asked if we could move few hundred meters. Of course, but how about renting us a gun, so we could leave the bay entirely and explore the rest of Scoresbysund.

Meeting the right people — the hunters who didn’t leave before the party — we know we may have one bargaining chip. The Danish guys told us that in Greenland shops don’t sell strong alcohol. One liter bottle of whiskey may be worth hundred of euro here and you could get a lot of things for it.

We had assets then worth few hundred euros on board!

The deal was done quickly. They took our friends to the village on top of the pickup truck. Soon, they all came back with a gun. We got not only heavy ammunition against polar bears but also light ammo for practice or hunting. The rifle was a Mauser from 1917 and the guy asked us to take good care of it, as it was his first gun he got when he was 11. The gun was old but in good condition and was the same make and not much older than the one we rented before in Svalbard.

Soon after we raised our anchor.
Let’s explore the rest of the fjord!

The text is part of relation from the sailing expedition from Svalbard to Jan Mayen, Greenland and Iceland on a yacht ‘JoinUs’ in August 2016.