13th Aug
Up early...........wind shifted in the night and took us nearly onto one of the bergs in the harbour.
So off we go, Sam Ford Fjord next stop. The wind and waves got a bit dire as it went on, so we pulled into Cape Eglinton to ride out the weather for a few hours.
Later in the day, early afternoon i reckon, we set off for Sam Ford fjord, again.
On the way i was on the helm, watching the world go by, icebergs and Erik Point, then suddenly i heard a snort and a grunt / growl on the port side of the boat, a polar bear was swimming by about 8 feet away...it was ASTONISHING !!!!!! I could see his eyes, he was that close..................bit bloodshot, but hey...whatever!!! So i very nearly had a "hit & run" on my hands..............we slowed down and did a big circle around him, so as not to scare him...............the photos are just insignificant in relation to that experience.......bet not many people have been 8' away from a polar bear and lived................it was a just incredible !!!!!
I still can't believe i'm here half the time............
On we trundled to an anchorage just inside Sam Ford fjord..............we were knocked about a bit, but managed to get a half decent sleep.
14th Aug
We awoke about 08:00....grief...a lie in........we had left over spuds and beans for breakfast.............mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
We carried on into Sam Ford.......................good grief, just amazing.....i know i keep saying this, but this place is the most astonishing place i've ever seen. A climbers paradise if we ever i saw one.........something for everyone to play in / on.
We went into a couple of the main inlets to look out some good anchorages and then moved past "Beleverdere Ridge"...............round the corner...............and this appeared...
then as we motored around looking for an anchorage for lunch.............we very nearly missed, but at the last minute saw..........."Dodos Delight"............Bob Shepton...the famous sailor / climber.
We come alongside him and hail them............4 or 5 blokes are up on deck.............hey hey .....hi all ok???
It turns out Bob has the 4 guys on board that won the Piolet D'Or in 2010 :
Nicolas Favresse, his brother Olivier, Ben Ditto and Sean Villanueva, they and Bob won the Piolet D'Or in 2010 for their climb on "The Impossible Wall" in Greenland .................arguably some of the best climbers in the world at the moment !!!!
Bob calls them the "Wild Bunch"............what a day........phew..............staggering.
We decide to put some shore lines out as the anchor is pulling, we are 34m in depth !!!! .............ANCHORED !!!!.......................................................................................................... The lads went bouldering before supper (and skinny dipping in the lake over the rise), just to keep the fitness up !!!! :-) I made them and Bob a Thai Chicken & Green bean curry with rice for their return
What a fantastic night we had..........well evening............Olivier on accordion, Nico on mandolin, Sean on tin whistle and Ben on spoons and harmonica............they played mainly irish jigs and sailing songs, with a few of their own melodies thrown in............just brilliant. They had a few beers and a few red wines, all had an ace time. They left about 22:00......they intended to climb a wall next day. As they left we discussed the weather, it supposed a decent night and fairly ggod tomorrow, i said to Nico jokingly, you may as well go now..............blooming heck, no sooner had i said it and they were off !!!! GAWD..i wss only kidding !!!!
Nico and his brother Olivier went onto Walker Citadel to do a route at 23:00 and Ben & Sean were taken across the fjord by Bob to start a climb on another peak..........don't know the name of that one....
15th Aug
......I woke about 02:00 with the chain rattling across the rocks on the sea bed ( no great worries with the shore lines out)........Bob had just returned from dropping Ben & Sean off, he was trying to pick up his shore lines and drop his anchor. This guy is 80...........gawd, he nearly fell in the water twice while i was watching him. I stayed up until i was sure he safely back on his boat.
We arose about 06:00, to retrieve the shore lines and try to collect some water from a nearby stream (in case the watermaker still played up). What a hard job that was........i was stood in the stream for nearly an hour funnelling water in the 20 litre containers we had on board. We gave up after collecting 180 litres.
Steve had offered Bob some diesel last night, so next job was to go over to Dodo's Delight with the 4 jerry cans of diesel we had....approx. 80 litres. Bob came up promptly when Ding and i hailed him from the dingy. There is something about American plastic jerry cans, the spouts they have on hem are fixed inside for transportation, so obviouslyas soon as you get the spout out it is covered in diesel............i HATE diesel !!! The wind had picked up a bit by now, so as soon as i started to pur it into Bob's funnel in his tank filler about 2 litres od diesel blew all over me ..........AGAIN !!!!!!
Anyway, we soon had Bob's tank filled.......he was so grateful, he was running low and had to get back to Greenland yet.
Away we go, bidding farewell to Bob, i must say we were a bit concerned as he was complaining of a pain in his stomach................not my food i might add !!!! WE had given him a bottle of Ibuprofen before left, lets hope that works.
On the way out of the fjord we have a bit of fun trying to get the dingy back aboard.........Steve is nearly thrown into the sea........whoops scotties .......crackle crackle goes the VHF on Channel 16........it's Sean on the crag above us, turns out he's on a really good belay stance...................
"Hey just watching you sailing by, can you see us ???"
No, we reply........give us clue where are you........explanation follows .........GAWD...they are 3/4 the way up the 1.3 Km vertical wall (well, nearly vertical.........vertical enough for me anyway !!!!).
Yeah we see you now...................we'll take a photo of you.
Sean replies....."yep, i've taken one of you guys...........have a good trip.......stay safe all"
Hopefully see you soon
We're off to Pond Inlet............
I make no excuses for the next load of photos................this place is just staggering..............my literary knowledge is no way near adequate enough to describe it properly...............just look at this lot !!!!!!!!!!!
Entrance to the fjord
Bit of a waterfall halfway down the fjord...................2000 feet high !!!
Truncated hanging valley and glacier and another bit of a waterfall
You can clearly see here how much this glacier has retreated
View back up the fjord
Panorama of the central peaks including the "Belevedere Ridge"
Swiss Bay
Belvedere Ridge
Ding taking a photo of Belevedere Ridge..........Walkers Citadel behind him
The Wild Bunch had a guide book for the region and this had a name..............sorry it eludes me, darn it !!!
Walkers Citadel, the guys told us that most of the routes done here so far have been done in the winter by American climbers, either on skidoos or flying in onto the ice. It's too hard to access the region in the summer...........you can only get by boat !!!! That's why they are here.
The central spire was done by Nico & Olivier the two brothers..........1.3 Km high !!!!
Dodo's Delight.......Bob Shepton and the Wild Bunch on deck to meet us
Believe it or not the guys are in the dingy in front of this............see photo below to spot them !!!!
love this photo............or anchorage view for the night
Guys on their way back to the boat
The wall in far distance centre.......... Sean & Ben did this route, another around 1.3 Km high !!!!
Our shore lines worked a treat............sun a bit brighter than i thought
View out of the galley window as i was cooking tea for the guys and the wild bunch
and here they are after supper they gave us an impromptu concert........just brilliant.............left to right.............Olivier, Bob, Sean, Nico, Ben.........absolute stars !!!
The boys back on the boat..............they left a few hours later and those two walls....after a load of beer and wine..................NUTS !!!!
Up early...........wind shifted in the night and took us nearly onto one of the bergs in the harbour.
So off we go, Sam Ford Fjord next stop. The wind and waves got a bit dire as it went on, so we pulled into Cape Eglinton to ride out the weather for a few hours.
Later in the day, early afternoon i reckon, we set off for Sam Ford fjord, again.
On the way i was on the helm, watching the world go by, icebergs and Erik Point, then suddenly i heard a snort and a grunt / growl on the port side of the boat, a polar bear was swimming by about 8 feet away...it was ASTONISHING !!!!!! I could see his eyes, he was that close..................bit bloodshot, but hey...whatever!!! So i very nearly had a "hit & run" on my hands..............we slowed down and did a big circle around him, so as not to scare him...............the photos are just insignificant in relation to that experience.......bet not many people have been 8' away from a polar bear and lived................it was a just incredible !!!!!
I still can't believe i'm here half the time............
On we trundled to an anchorage just inside Sam Ford fjord..............we were knocked about a bit, but managed to get a half decent sleep.
14th Aug
We awoke about 08:00....grief...a lie in........we had left over spuds and beans for breakfast.............mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
We carried on into Sam Ford.......................good grief, just amazing.....i know i keep saying this, but this place is the most astonishing place i've ever seen. A climbers paradise if we ever i saw one.........something for everyone to play in / on.
We went into a couple of the main inlets to look out some good anchorages and then moved past "Beleverdere Ridge"...............round the corner...............and this appeared...
then as we motored around looking for an anchorage for lunch.............we very nearly missed, but at the last minute saw..........."Dodos Delight"............Bob Shepton...the famous sailor / climber.
We come alongside him and hail them............4 or 5 blokes are up on deck.............hey hey .....hi all ok???
It turns out Bob has the 4 guys on board that won the Piolet D'Or in 2010 :
Nicolas Favresse, his brother Olivier, Ben Ditto and Sean Villanueva, they and Bob won the Piolet D'Or in 2010 for their climb on "The Impossible Wall" in Greenland .................arguably some of the best climbers in the world at the moment !!!!
Bob calls them the "Wild Bunch"............what a day........phew..............staggering.
We decide to put some shore lines out as the anchor is pulling, we are 34m in depth !!!! .............ANCHORED !!!!.......................................................................................................... The lads went bouldering before supper (and skinny dipping in the lake over the rise), just to keep the fitness up !!!! :-) I made them and Bob a Thai Chicken & Green bean curry with rice for their return
What a fantastic night we had..........well evening............Olivier on accordion, Nico on mandolin, Sean on tin whistle and Ben on spoons and harmonica............they played mainly irish jigs and sailing songs, with a few of their own melodies thrown in............just brilliant. They had a few beers and a few red wines, all had an ace time. They left about 22:00......they intended to climb a wall next day. As they left we discussed the weather, it supposed a decent night and fairly ggod tomorrow, i said to Nico jokingly, you may as well go now..............blooming heck, no sooner had i said it and they were off !!!! GAWD..i wss only kidding !!!!
Nico and his brother Olivier went onto Walker Citadel to do a route at 23:00 and Ben & Sean were taken across the fjord by Bob to start a climb on another peak..........don't know the name of that one....
15th Aug
......I woke about 02:00 with the chain rattling across the rocks on the sea bed ( no great worries with the shore lines out)........Bob had just returned from dropping Ben & Sean off, he was trying to pick up his shore lines and drop his anchor. This guy is 80...........gawd, he nearly fell in the water twice while i was watching him. I stayed up until i was sure he safely back on his boat.
We arose about 06:00, to retrieve the shore lines and try to collect some water from a nearby stream (in case the watermaker still played up). What a hard job that was........i was stood in the stream for nearly an hour funnelling water in the 20 litre containers we had on board. We gave up after collecting 180 litres.
Steve had offered Bob some diesel last night, so next job was to go over to Dodo's Delight with the 4 jerry cans of diesel we had....approx. 80 litres. Bob came up promptly when Ding and i hailed him from the dingy. There is something about American plastic jerry cans, the spouts they have on hem are fixed inside for transportation, so obviouslyas soon as you get the spout out it is covered in diesel............i HATE diesel !!! The wind had picked up a bit by now, so as soon as i started to pur it into Bob's funnel in his tank filler about 2 litres od diesel blew all over me ..........AGAIN !!!!!!
Anyway, we soon had Bob's tank filled.......he was so grateful, he was running low and had to get back to Greenland yet.
Away we go, bidding farewell to Bob, i must say we were a bit concerned as he was complaining of a pain in his stomach................not my food i might add !!!! WE had given him a bottle of Ibuprofen before left, lets hope that works.
On the way out of the fjord we have a bit of fun trying to get the dingy back aboard.........Steve is nearly thrown into the sea........whoops scotties .......crackle crackle goes the VHF on Channel 16........it's Sean on the crag above us, turns out he's on a really good belay stance...................
"Hey just watching you sailing by, can you see us ???"
No, we reply........give us clue where are you........explanation follows .........GAWD...they are 3/4 the way up the 1.3 Km vertical wall (well, nearly vertical.........vertical enough for me anyway !!!!).
Yeah we see you now...................we'll take a photo of you.
Sean replies....."yep, i've taken one of you guys...........have a good trip.......stay safe all"
Hopefully see you soon
We're off to Pond Inlet............
I make no excuses for the next load of photos................this place is just staggering..............my literary knowledge is no way near adequate enough to describe it properly...............just look at this lot !!!!!!!!!!!
Entrance to the fjord
Bit of a waterfall halfway down the fjord...................2000 feet high !!!
You can clearly see here how much this glacier has retreated
View back up the fjord
Panorama of the central peaks including the "Belevedere Ridge"
Belvedere Ridge
Walkers Citadel, the guys told us that most of the routes done here so far have been done in the winter by American climbers, either on skidoos or flying in onto the ice. It's too hard to access the region in the summer...........you can only get by boat !!!! That's why they are here.
Believe it or not the guys are in the dingy in front of this............see photo below to spot them !!!!
love this photo............or anchorage view for the night
Guys on their way back to the boat
The wall in far distance centre.......... Sean & Ben did this route, another around 1.3 Km high !!!!
Our shore lines worked a treat............sun a bit brighter than i thought
View out of the galley window as i was cooking tea for the guys and the wild bunch
and here they are after supper they gave us an impromptu concert........just brilliant.............left to right.............Olivier, Bob, Sean, Nico, Ben.........absolute stars !!!
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