For the final blog, we’re hoping that you at home will be treated to a final blog from everyone onboard for our last month of adventuring around Greenland.
The reason for this, is that every one of us has a very very different story to tell regarding their final chapter.
I won’t spoil any surprises, but I am one of the fortunate ones who walked away unscathed from the last few days, which amuses me greatly when I look back at it! 😂
Please don’t jump to any conclusions that I was not sympathetic to others, as others less fortunate than me had my deepest sympathy at the time, but bloody hell, what a ride!!!

Storm Erin? Ha. Nothing was stopping us getting home!

After calling into Tasillaq on Tuesday morning (26th) to top up the fuel tanks of Umiak so she could carry us home, we motored the hour and a half to Kulusuk where we needed to drop Olly off to get his flight. (Olly will take over from here regarding his travels)
Mike and all of us onboard had been watching Storm Erin developing on the Eastern Seaboard in the days prior to our intended departure, as it had the potential to create chaos in the Atlantic, and subsequently anything else in her path, so great care was needed not to expose ourselves to any unnecessary risk.
After dropping Olly, we had made the decision to anchor in a protected area that Mike had used previously, as high winds were expected overnight in our area, so we decided it was safer to set off at first light and get ourselves acquainted with the conditions during daylight hours. This, as it turned out, was a much smarter idea than we realised at the time!
Having filled our bellies with a nice meal, the five remaining crew hit the sack for some beauty sleep. At 4am our alarms all woke us up to tell us it was time to go and face the elements. Tracey cooked us up some porridge, and we got ourselves togged up ready for battle.
We lifted the anchor and begun motoring out of the fjord past the airport, at which point we discussed some key safety elements that were going to be key for everyone. Mike highlighted the use of lifejackets / tethers, and  also issued each of us a personal AIS beacon that we each were to keep on us at all times. We also discussed protocol regarding anyone feeling sick, and what should be done, where to sit, and how to deal with themselves if it were to happen.
Other highlighted topics were reefing the mainsail, keeping the boat + ourselves safe & secure both on deck and below, and then lastly the weather update and discussing the possible conditions that we were likely to expect, and the timeframes for them, as it is very important to keep everyone aware of how long the expected weather would last before improving.
So out we went with full main (as we had no wind tucked within the islands / fjords).
From this point on, my perception of times is a little vague, as it all turned into a bit of a blur, but we seemed to have a couple of hours of nice easy motor sailing to get us out and clear of Kulusuk before we started experiencing an increase in wind strength. We knew more wind was coming, so we were ahead of the game by hoisting the staysail  and tucking the first reef in. The sea was building slowly from the chop we started off with close to shore, to a swell coming down the coast from the NE.
The rest of Wed 27th was spent doing battle with Erin who was throwing everything at us including the kitchen sink!
The swell turned into waves, some of which were probably 5-6m on occasion, with the forecast sea state being approx 3-4m., and the wind increased to a solid 30kts on the nose. This proved to be rather disappointing for some, and trying to move / function was almost impossible let alone difficult.
The first day was spent adjusting to life on a boat that was getting thrown around like a rubber duck in a jacuzzi, at the same time as trying to keep food and drink going in to each of us (with varying levels of success).
The biggest single benefit of leaving at dawn and having the entire day heading east, was to safely pass any ice that was lying in wait. We had seen that there was a lot less icebergs in the area, but one thing we did not consider was that the icebergs that were
in the area, were also getting a battering from Erin, which meant they were breaking! This lead to very dangerous growlers being unleashed which are very hard to see by eye, and almost impossible to detect on radar.
This was something I had never faced before in a stormy situation, and I have to say it was not a relaxing experience, and one I would gladly not do again. As a sailor / racer over the years, you get used to managing dangers in terms of wind, waves and looking after boat / crew. But one thing that is impossible to control is dodging something you can’t see, which effectively makes a nasty game of Russian Roulette.
So this was what I meant at the beginning, in terms of being our best idea to anchor overnight, as we would have had zero chance of spotting these growlers whilst sailing overnight.
After approx 14-16hrs of receiving a good old slap from Erin, we had safely cleared all ice, which we could also see by the increase in sea temperature on the instruments (sea temp went from 2 degrees up to 6 in this time). We had also beaten the worst of the waves / sea state as we had sailed into deeper water which noticeably changed the seas state from a battering into a more organised large swell.
At this point, I think it was getting dark (maybe 10pm?) I went down for a kip and left Mike at the chart table. I distinctly remember saying I was going to get myself warmed up and shut my eyes for half an hour. As it then happened,  i was asleep before my head hit my pillow and woke up almost 7 hours later!
Mike was still up in the same place I had left him. God knows how he had stayed awake, as i was buggered, so I took the reins and let him get some much needed sleep!
We sailed through the night and into Thursday with improving seas state as we went and the wind reducing, which was a huge relief as we knew that the worst was behind us and we could relax and start to look after ourselves better (in terms of food & drink)………
I won’t spoil any of other peoples stories, but I think it was Thursday afternoon / evening when Umiak had a crew reunion, with a full headcount of 5 humans! 😂
From here onwards, we continued on our delivery to Reykjavík in light winds and even motor sailing, which felt like a dream come true compared to the previous days.
We were also treated to some whale watching, which included a couple of very large Finn whales (we think), which are second biggest after the Blue Whale.
I also saw my first ever Humpback Whale breaching, when it throws itself out of the water headfirst and crashes down on its side.
I’ve been incredibly lucky over the years to see many whales & dolphins, but this was really special treat for me!
Umiak arrived safely into Reykjavík at 11pm on Friday night, where we had a celebratory drink with each other onboard before hitting the sack.
The remaining crew of Mike, Jon, Tracey and
myself (Karl left in the early hours to catch a flight home) gave the boat a damn good clean on Saturday morning and carried out a few jobs / checks before going for some well earned Icelandic fish & chips and a beer.

And there we have it, my time on Umiak with Mike and the team had almost come to an end, as I was flying home on Sunday to get back to work / real life.
He won’t like me for saying this, as he isn’t really into taking credit / thanks, but I need to say a massive massive thank you to Mike for doing such an incredible job of organising / preparing / planning / executing such an incredible adventure for everyone who had an involvement in it. It really is an enormous task, which has taken a lot of time and effort not only prior, but he has been away from home for months, compared to most other members who have done a few weeks at a time. This thanks must also be shared with Pam, as she has had to put up with Mike doing all of this, which has probably been almost a year in the making. You are a saint Pam, and I hope you enjoy getting your salty sea dog back in a few days! 😃
I also want to thank Olly, Jon, Karl & Tracey for being such a fantastic team, and for looking out for each other and sharing so many laughs along the way. It was great group of people with a huge range of experience both on water and on mountains, that enabled us to achieve everything we wanted to safely, in a very remote corner of the world, and arrive in Reykjavík in one peace and unscathed.
So Erin, you can kiss my ass!

Safe travels home to Mike, Jon & Tracey who still have the last few days sailing back home to Umiak’s home of Ardfern where she can have some well deserved R&R!

Signing out……… Gringo 👊