“ I decided to rely on my inability to sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a stretch , simultaneously clutching the pistol like a cross between James Bond and an Arctic Norman Wisdom .”
PADDLER 47
“ I decided to rely on my inability to sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a stretch , simultaneously clutching the pistol like a cross between James Bond and an Arctic Norman Wisdom .”
DRAGGING SCORP
At that time of year in the south , it didn ’ t get properly dark , but you could tell the sun was getting low , and the temperature had dropped to about -3C , so I was keen to get dry and under cover soon . The cove I ’ d picked had plenty of small bergs in , and it was a little hairy trying to get through and land onto a handy kayak-sized shallow ledge and , from there , drag Scorp up past the high water mark . With all the gear loaded , the total weight was about 58kg , so it wasn ’ t suitable for any steep drags without having to unload first . As soon as the kayak was ok , I stripped off and put on dry gear .
This became the routine throughout the expedition – on pontoons , ice shelves and rocky beaches , I ’ d immediately get out of my dry suit and into the land clothes . The sweat build-up inside the suit and rapidly decreasing temperatures meant that whenever I stopped paddling , I ’ d start shivering straightaway . So , to get dry and warm was an absolute priority . Once changed , I could take a little more time to find a decent camp spot .
BEARS
Another one of the many concerns was bears . The highest likelihood of an encounter is in the north , not so much in the middle , but again , the chances jump up in the south .
Here , the bears tend to hitch a ride on the ice as it comes around from the east coast , then they hop off and make their way back east over the ice cap – it ’ s way narrower in the south , so it isn ’ t quite the epic scale it takes on in the far north . Being solo made it take on more of a life-or-death perspective for me , the main issue being that I had to sleep and couldn ’ t take turns to watch .
As security , I had a bear rifle and a starter pistol that fired a double-blank cartridge . I also had a bear trip wire set up for the tent . This consists of four poles – one to be set up at each corner around the tent . Then , two trip wires between each set of posts are attached to a blank cartridge with a spring-loaded spike to set off the cartridge should a beast walk in . This would be a reasonably straightforward exercise if the land were covered in turf .
LAUGHED ITSELF SILLY
Greenland , however , doesn ’ t have any turf ; it ’ s either solid rock or a thin layer of moss and lichen on top of solid rock . This means that each pole has to be wedged upright by a bunch of rocks ; it has to be solid , or the wind will set off the trip . This turned into an hour ’ s worth of work , which I gave up on after a long day on the water . Instead , I decided to rely on my inability to sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a stretch , simultaneously clutching the pistol like a cross between James Bond and an Arctic Norman Wisdom . I think any self-respecting bear would have laughed itself silly before being able to eat me , which would give me time to let off a blank .
But wow , it was cold . Average temperatures would have been around zero C overnight , but in the first three weeks , the highest temp was -5C . Which put a dampener on any hopes I had of relaxing once I ’ d set camp , maybe a cup of tea as I gazed out upon the magnificent landscape . I even had aspirations of getting a bit cheffy and putting some effort into a lovely meal . But no . In those temperatures , the overriding priority is to get dry and into the tent .
PADDLER 47