Season 2, Expedition 002

ArcticEarth Journal / By
s/v ArcticEarth anchored at farmland once farmed by the Norseman Leif Erikson, and now being fertilized as a hay pasture, with the help of a good farm dog! (all photos by David Conover unless otherwise noted)

Day 1 to 3. Expedition 002 was a Compass Light scout and pre-production trip. After Expedition 001 with our partners at the Climate Change Institute (the video is at bottom of email), we sailed to Qaqortoq to meet with the visionary and energetic Sarah Woodall (Director, Travel sector) and her team at INNOVATION South Greenland. Qaqortoq is my new favorite town. Over 42 active outfitter and travel/expedition support services exist in this southern region of Greenland (see business index here). Sarah shared a powerful articulation of a storytelling guideline, when working internationally within a community that is not directly your own, “Nothing about us, without us.” We aspire to integrate this principal into all our international work at Compass Light.

(l to r) Sarah Woodall (Innovation South Greenland), Magnus Day (Captain, ArcticEarth) and Julia Prinselaar (Mate, ArcticEarth)
In Qaqortoq, ArcticEarth is docked astern of a vessel from Denmark. Increasingly, Greenlanders are exercising self-rule, which we support!
Most of these kayaks were built here, according to a club member who I talked with. He was building a new boat for his 3-year-old son!
The champion kayakers of the Qaqortoq Qajaq club (photo: A.Jakobsen) More information at the facebook newsgroup https://www.facebook.com/groups/494157177363567

Day 4 to 12. Then we slowly moved north for 300 miles on the western coast of Greenland to Nuuk.  Along the way, we scouted future productions in Greenland.  We also looked at a few fantastic sites to integrate into private sail and dive expeditions for 2023 and beyond.

The Greenland Shark is the oldest known vertebrate, capable of living 372 years -and perhaps as long as 600 years! (photo: Nick Caloyianis)
Strange geologic structures in a film we shot about Mono Lake, California. They also exist as 80-foot high underwater structures -with amazing biology- in a fjord we discovered in South Greenland. Next year! (photo: David Wright, Compass Light)

We also shot a 10-minute-long pilot film exploring the possibilities of an ArcticEarth Cooking Journal, featuring our Mate Julia Prinselaar (and hopefully some local Greenlander talent!) Our goal is to convey something about “place, simplicity, and good food.”

We’d love to hear any feedback you might have on the pilot below.

Enroute to Expeditions 003 and 004 in Disko Bay.  ArcticEarth’s swing keel and rudder permits an “upright careen” with relative ease, far from boatyards, hoists, etc. Magnus tested this capacity, as seen below in a remote Greenland fjord with a suitable mud bottom with the right profile.

Julia next to the Rocna anchor, as ArcticEarth rests perfectly upright on the "hard" at the other end of the chain (photo: Magnus Day)
ArcticEarth escapes the ice with the ability to go from 9 feet draft to 3 feet draft. Drop the dive ladder off the transom and Bob is your Uncle! (photo: Magnus Day)

Coming soon, expedition reports from 003 and 004, but then the 2022 Arctic summer season is starting to wind down.

Worldwide headlines this past week, amidst distracting political news, is that the Arctic is warming FOUR times faster, not TWO times faster, than the rest of the planet. To see what this really means, check out the source article behind the headlines at NATURE communications earth & environment, Aug 11.

Thankfully, the US government is starting to make substantive headway with its new commitment to Climate policy.

Not only is Magnus Day one of the most experienced captains for high-latitude expedition sailing.
He also has the softest skin, thanks to the fine glacier-ground Arctic mud.
And then the mud dries.