Steve Bradley 24th July 2023
After going to 80 degree North we had planned to anchor at Ytre Norskøya, where a part of the beach off limit because off 160 graves. When we got there the wind where almost 10 knots and the anchorage was not a very protected one, so we decided to continue to the near by anchorage at Sallyhamna. Beautiful and next to a glacier. We needed a secure anchorage for the night as we had planned to celebrate 80 North with a bottle of champagne brought with us all the way from Scotland.
While Sarah knew sailing included a lot of alcohol, she didn’t know that it is mandatory to celebrate all the crossings. This means that going south and crossing the arctic circle has to involve another celebration, though it doesn’t need to be as big as the first.
When we got to Sallyhamna we found a small motorboat anchored there with the brilliant name Boaty Mcboatface, apparently a name from a competition to name an official British survey vessel, which then cancelled the competition when this name was the most popular.
We moved on to the bay called Bjørnhamna, slowly sailing close to Danskøya in hope of finding the bear from our last stay. Unfortunately it had moved on, and we hoped it was to Bjørnhamna (Bear harbour). Going to Bjørnhamna thus felt like it must have felt for the people first seeing Greenland. We expected multiple bears like they probably expected fields and trees.
Bringing lots of butternut squash has been a good way to eat greens after 3 weeks away from a supermarket, but we are starting to miss raw vegetables. This has made even made Steve exclaim that he miss cabbage! Luckily cabbage also last forever, so we can eat that fresh tonight.