SEAL AND WHALE MEAT, ESKIMO ROLLS AND A TOWN FOR SLED DOGS - WELCOME TO SISIMIUT, GREENLAND

Sisimiut's Harbour

Until you have witnessed “Eskimo Rolling” your respect for upper body strength is totally underappreciated. Greenlandic kayakers in their traditionally built kayaks and tapered paddles have elevated their skill to an Olympic sport.

As we surveyed the colourful buildings overlooking Sisimiut’s active fishing harbour, with fresh seal meat, whale and char for sale on the dock, a lone kayaker made his way from shore towards us positioned out on Vavilov’s decks.

We had been watching Russian crew members taking some time off with fishing lines in the water. They were having some success.  

A Filipino cook was in hysterics at his catch – an oversized starfish was unhooked and returned to its home. His Russian companions didn’t show the same emotion, continuing with the exercise of removing the catch, attaching new bait and returning the line to the water.  A good haul for that night’s fresh delicacy in the crew dining room.

The kayaker now had our attention.  

After some warming up exercises he wowed the crowd of onlookers with a series of rolls demonstrating how the paddle controls the manoeuvres.  

This went on for quite some time and we were incredibly impressed with this man’s stamina and skill – and not surprised to learn that this gentleman was a former kayak champion.

Cabin 332

Ashore we had an enjoyable walking tour through town with a young Greenlandic woman who described life in Greenland’s second largest town. She told us about “dog town” where sled dogs are kept because their constant howling makes them unwanted residents in town.  She explained that with the changing climate there isn’t as much work for the dogs as there used to be.  However she and her sister have raised several sled teams and are responsible for the care of 40 dogs, as well as babysitting their relatives’ dogs.  No small task.

Back on board Vavilov, safety and orientation briefings for the coming adventure continued from the international expedition team.  We were surprised to learn that the majority of the 88 guests on board were Canadian with a large contingent from the West Coast. However our Tri-Nations Enclave of three cabins "beyond the Mud Room" provided a good international balance with lots of laughs, particularly over the establishment of the "Suds-R-Us" laundry.