Chugged north on the Arctic Umiaq passenger ferry along the southwest coast of Greenland. Stopped for thirty minutes at Paamiut, a small town of about 1300 people.
The town has experienced cycles of boom and bust commercial fishing so its existence isn’t stable. When it was first settled by the Danish in 1742 the waters shimmered with great numbers of salmon. But, overfishing dulled the waters.
Now, people who live there wish they lived somewhere else according to a Greenlander on this ferry.
Lee and I walked what we could of the town during the stop but we saw just the church and graveyard.
Then, back on board, the ferry continued north. It’s getting colder and it seems the scenery is even more outstanding with jagged mountains and an icefield near the sea. Occasionally we see whale dorsel fins, plenty of sea birds and seal heads poking out of the ocean.
And, the sun doesn’t rise high in the sky all day creating a softer light and longer shadows. The other day near sunset I noticed I had a fifty foot shadow. Sunset is around 8:20 PM but the days are getting shorter fast.
Cheers
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