Nomad's Summer in Greenland, Part 2: Disko Bay

Rafted up in Aasiaat

Nomad was rafted up to the French  expedition yacht in Aasiaat for two days.   Well rested and with a full load of fuel onboard  Nomad sailed east heading toward the source of all the ice floating around Disko Bay. Leaving on a clear sunny day allowed me to see up the narrow rocky channel  with its small icebergs that I had so carefully navigated  in the fog two nights before.  

Navigation is much easier without the fog.

  Icebergs became more numerous as   I approached the east side of the bay. This was my first experience navigating close by the icebergs on a sunny day.  They are a brilliant white that stands out against the blue sky quite unlike their  usual near invisibility in foggy overcast conditions.   

Nomad's first encounter with visible ice.

Approaching Quasigiannguit late in the day it was easy to work around a number of bergs in the harbor entrance and head for the far end of the bay.  Anchoring  in water as shallow as possible limits the size of iceberg  that can run into your boat while anchored.  

Anchorage at Quasigiannguit

This berg is too big to get inside the harbor.

 Leaving the harbor I went between the coast and the first  island as I had seen local boats using that route. There were no soundings on the chart here, so it was a slow ride through monitoring the depth.   It was deep except for crossing a rocky patch at the north end with only twenty feet at high tide. Once clear of the islands north of Quasigiannuit the Jakobshavn glacier was clearly visible on the horizon along with many icebergs scattered over  Disko Bay.  

 

Icebergs come in an endless variety of shapes and sizes

The more distant icebergs have mirror images floating above them.

  Steering around an ever increasing number  bergs it looked like a solid wall of ice in the distance.  Sailing closer revealed that there was space to get between the icebergs where many were grounded near shore.  There were two rocks noted on the chart that were hidden in the ice field, but no soundings in this area.  Carefully working through the ice I found that the Nordre Huse anchorage  was clear of ice.  

 

Anchored between rocks and ice at Nordre Huse

  This is an ok anchorage as long as the wind  or current does not set the ice into the shore. There is a small slot canyon in the rocks allowing easy shore access. Climbing to the top brings a stunning panoramic view over the four mile wide river of ice spilling into Disko Bay with the ice cap visible in the distance.   

 

The amazing Jakobshavn glacier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakobshavn_Glacier

 A strong breeze began blowing down the fjord late in the day so I felt it was safe to spend the night behind the icefield.  It was a surreal experience with ice colored by the twilight of the arctic night and the sounds of the glacier moving audible through the hull. Outside an occasional sound like thunder could be heard over the wind as pieces of glacier broke off.

Nordre Huse at night.

 The fjord wind blew all night and opened up the ice making departure much easier in the morning .   It was only a few miles around the glacier face to Illulissat, so I spent a fascinating morning motoring between the gigantic icebergs at the front of the glacier.  

 

A good mix of ice and rocks

Local boat crossing the glacier face.

Huge icebergs aground in 500' of water

Illulissat comes into view beyond the glacier.

  Entering the tiny inner harbor at Illulissat I found it to be extremely crowded with no convenient place to tie up Nomad.   With some difficulty I got Nomad turned around  and out of the harbor. With three cruise ships in town, that was enough encouragement for me to head for  the tiny village of Oquaatsut with its sheltered bay for the night.   Nomad easily got by a few grounded bergs in the north entrance and spent the day weaving between numerous icebergs along the coast of Arve Prinsens  Ejland bound for an anchorage in Smallesund  noted in the guidebook.   

 

Bergs at Arve Prinsens Ejland

 Sometimes the best planning doesn’t help in the remote areas of the Arctic. After carefully working my way into an unsurveyed area I was greeted by the sight of a small berg grounded in the cove and the shallow areas full of bergy bits.  It was obvious where the local fishermen tied to the rock wall and the water was forty feet deep alongside, but I was not comfortable with the amount of ice coming in with the wind.  I retreated to a cove  on the big island that I had seen on the way in  that had a sandy patch showing at low tide.  There was just enough space to anchor carefully without having to put out shore lines.  

 

Plenty of space to get through.

 The north entrance to Smallesund  appeared closed by ice, but getting closer I could see there was space enough to get through close by the rock wall.  Torssukkatak was full of ice, but navigable.  Here at 70N  looking down the ice choked Vaigat channel north of Disko island I reluctantly decided it was time to head south.   There are few truly safe harbors on the north shore.  The Admiralty Pilot frequently warns of large waves from overturning icebergs entering many of these harbors.  Exploring  Upernavik and Nordre Sunds will have to wait until the next trip.

Torsukkatak

An icy obstacle course.

Along the Torsukkatak channel

Looking down the Vaigat channel

   There is deep water around the islands on the west coast of Arve Prinsens Ejland  and it was no problem navigating the uncharted channels between them  to the abandoned settlement at Ritenbank.  There is a large shallow shelf off the settlement allowing good anchorage with some current. 

Nomad at Ritenbank

 While preparing to launch the dinghy I began hearing a very loud snorting echoing off the surrounding mountains. Being quite puzzled as to what could be make such an impressive sound, I got out the binoculars and began to search the area. Thinking it could be a polar bear I carefully scanned the surrounding area finding nothing. This was beginning to get a little spooky as the snorting continued to echo off the mountain. I eventually located a large whale cruising near the opposite shore coming up to breathe with only the tip of it's head clearing the surface with each breath. It was safe to go ashore exploring, no bears around!

 

Whalebone artwork.

The heater room.

Inside the church.

Summer flowers on Ritenbank

Artwork left behind

Disko island seen from Ritenbank

  Early in the morning I was awoken by a resounding thump that shook the boat.  Sitting up all that could be seen out the portholes was a wall of ice. Nomad and an iceberg had collided in the tidal current.  The iceberg had run aground so I pushed Nomad clear of it and the current kept us apart.

Early morning visitor knocking on the boat.

  Pulling up the anchor chain eventually brought Nomad against the iceberg again. Fortunately the iceberg had just missed parking on top of my anchor so I was able to get underway without having to wait for another tide to move it.  I t was another beautiful sunny arctic day as I motored across the bay bound for Qeqertarsuaq  on the south shore of Disko Island intent on doing some hiking there.  

 

Disko Bay. No napping underway with all this ice floating around.

Sharp ridgeline on Disko Island

South shore of Disko Island with the ice cap visible in the background.

 I was dodging large icebergs and enjoying the otherworldly scenery of Disko Island when smoke started coming out of the open hatch.  Expecting a fire, I was relieved to find that the gearbox had overheated and the only thing burning was it’s seals.  Hoisting full sail, I was able to coax Nomad another mile away from shore in the faintest breath of wind while the gear cooled enough for me to touch it.  It was still full of oil, but it was very burnt and I changed it. Putting it in gear once again, the shaft would start turning slowly but would not speed up even with full throttle applied.  I worked every breeze that came by throughout the night keeping Nomad away from the icebergs and attempting to head across the bay towards Aasiaat.  Making less than 4 miles overnight I was considering all manner of possibilities. Troubleshooting the gear I found that it would provide full power in reverse.  Problem solved! I would be able to back all the way to Aasiaat, twenty four miles distant.  I hurriedly dropped all the sails eager to get moving after a long unproductive night.  But in my sleep deprived state, I forgot to check both sides of the boat for lines in the water after dropping the sails and promptly backed over the port main sheetlet, stalling the engine.  After spending some time unsuccessfully trying to clear the prop from on deck I realized there was only one solution. I retrieved my diving gear stored in various places around the boat and set up my scuba tank on deck . I was unable to free the line from the propshaft with my dexterity impaired by my wetsuit gloves and ice cold water.   I returned with a knife and cut it clear.  After  wriggling out of my wetsuit I took a moment to warm up before throwing the dive gear down below and starting the engine. I began the tedious task of backing across the bay  steering from one iceberg to the next as my course was too erratic to follow the compass.  As I closed the coast near Aasiaat, a large cruise ship went by with a number of people standing on deck watching me.  I can only wonder at what they thought watching a schooner zigzagging backwards between the icebergs.  Having failed at several attempts to back between the rocks guarding the inner passage to Aasiaat,  I felt a faint breeze near shore.  I hoisted the jib and foresail, the main being out of service with it’s sheetlet cut.  It was enough combined with the propeller turning slowly ahead to get the boat moving. Nomad made it between the rocks without incident and slowly made way into Assiaat  reaching speeds up to two knots.  The next morning was calm and I was able to tie to the barge at the shipyard where I would not be asked to move the boat while I had the gear off the motor.  Dismantling the gear I quickly found the problem and by pure chance happened to have the spare parts onboard to repair it. 

 

The offending part and it's replacement.  This would have been very difficult to repair underway.

 Forty eight hours later, Nomad was mobile again.  I then shifted to the tiny wharf on Transitoen island in the middle of the harbor where I had an abandoned fish plant to explore while waiting for a storm to pass.

The tiny dock at Transitoen island. The crane hangs over the water close by the headstay on the far side of the wharf.

 

Nomad's summer in Greenland, Part 1: Nuuk to Aasiaat

Nomad closed the coast of Greenland on 12 July following an uneventful thirteen day crossing of the Labrador Sea from Newfoundland.  Under escort by a pod of pilot whales Nomad left the deep ocean behind  and crossed onto the shallow banks off the coast. The wind began to diminish to a flat glassy calm and I sighted my first iceberg as visibility slowly decreased to zero in dense fog.

Pilot whales

The lighthouse on Saattut slipped by unseen in the fog as I carefully passed between the rocks to enter the inside passage to Nuuk from the south. Time passed slowly as Nomad made her way north between rocks and mountains. Charts of dubious accuracy required continuous cross checking of the radar, depth sounder and charts both paper and electronic. Late in the afternoon the fog slowly lifted revealing a stunning landscape of snow covered mountains against a clear blue sky.  Riding a fair tide, I made good time motoring up the channel and decided to stop overnight in Ameralik Fjord  and get a good night's rest before entering Nuuk to clear in.
There was no response on the radio from the harbor authorities as I entered the harbor in Nuuk. I rafted up to one of the few other sailboats in the harbor as that seemed to be the way docking was handled in their very crowded harbor. I sought out the harbormaster in his office at the Royal Arctic Lines office to report my arrival. Customs was notified, " they will stop by the boat if they are interested". They never did. Easiest entry to another country ever! Harbor charges are in four day blocks for about $12USD.

An amazing vista became visible as the fog lifted.

Steps leading down the cliff to the harbor in Nuuk

The harbormaster gave me a short ride into town to show me where the supermarkets and Telepost store were located. The next day was spent working on the boat followed by an early evening request to move and make space for a large vessel. I relocated further into the harbor and rafted up with a boat from Germany who was on his way south from Disko Bay. They shared information on anchorages and docks going northbound and we decided to climb a couple mountains on the outskirts of Nuuk. There are vaguely marked routes up both of them. Ukusissat, the first one we climbed was the higher of the two. The scenery was magnificent and it was snowing on top. Both mountains provided panoramic vistas of Nuuk and the mountains further inland.

Tramping in the mountains

Nomad was ready to sail and when the weather settled it was time to head north. Dense fog settled in as I departed the harbor and worked my way out to open waters. Arrival in Tovquassaq at 0330 was greatly eased by the 24 hour daylight. Following a good rest and a day of exploring, the next anchorage was another abandoned settlement, Ikerasak. As with many interesting anchorages in Greenland the chart of this area had no soundings on it. This requires extreme care, a good eye for guessing the underwater topography and a very slow speed approach.  It was a bit eerie walking about the graveyard  back in the hills with streamers of fog coming between the mountains.

Ikerasak

A few foundations and a graveyard are all that remains of Ikerasak

 The next stop was Maniitsoq to refuel and get some fresh produce. There is an interesting museum there, well worth a few hours to look through.
Nomad was very carefully tied to the hotel's floating dock. It was lightly built for the small motorboats that everyone uses in Greenland, not big heavy schooners. Definitely a fair weather dock only, and at $20USD a night it has the distinction of being the most expensive dock in all of Greenland.

Nomad on the little boat dock in Maniitsoq

Maniitsoq

Departing Maniitsoq, Nomad turned inland to visit the spectacular mountains of Hamborgerland.  It was another long memorable day. As I turned to go up Sermilinguaq fjord to check out the glaciers a large whale was jumping out of the water repeatedly. The poorly charted fjord was quite deep until just past the island near the end where the moraine came up abruptly, unexpectedly far from the glacier's face. After a full astern emergency stop, I turned about for deeper waters and drifted about for some time taking pictures and a nice lunch break before returning to the brisk fjord (head)winds in Hamborgersund.

The glacier at the head of Sermilinguaq fjord.

There were numerous waterfalls and many birds in Sermilinguaq fjord

This remarkable day continued with more spectacular mountain scenery all the way to the anchorage at Appamiut. I spent two nights anchored in the eastern bay enjoying the scenery and doing a lot of hiking before moving on.

Bug protection is mandatory hiking in Greenland

Anchored in Appamiut

The mountains of Hamborgerland

Sisimiut is the next town to the north. It's a long days trip from Appamiut at sailboat speed. I decided to stop about thirty three miles south of Sisimiut and anchored behind a large island at Anders Olsens Sund for some rest. The magnetic anomaly noted in the Admiralty pilot in this area does exist. The autopilot would not hold a course and the compass would swing through a one hundred eighty degree arc every time I turned the boat more than a few degrees. This necessitated steering by hand for nearly ten hours.

Midnight near the Arctic Circle

A good night's rest does wonders after a challenging day. I finished up the last few miles into Sisimiut the next day. Following the range marks on the south entrance kept me off the nearby rocks in a brisk crosswind. The back bay is blocked by a bridge, leaving the small boat harbor and a small cove on the north shore the only options available. The harbor was very crowded with little space to maneuver so I anchored in the cove with two lines run ashore. 

A tribute to the fishermen of Sisimiut overlooking the anchorage.

Sisimiut is an interesting town, one of my favorites. I spent a few days exploring this place, hiking and checking out the local museum. The local market had whale and seal, so I tried them both for dinner. "How do you cook this?" "Fry it with onions and rice or potatoes " Greenlandic cooking is pretty simple. The local Telepost store was quite helpful and replaced my hotspot so I could get internet again. Internet is expensive and there are no free wifi places anywhere. Internet is a very important part of sailing here to receive weather and ice reports. I was unable to receive weather faxes over shortwave for nearly this entire trip and the local forecast were of little use and very difficult to understand.

Sisimiut

With a reasonable weather forecast in hand once again, it was time to continue north. The wind became much stronger than forecast but with the help of a following current I was able to maintain five knots motoring into twenty five knots and very steep eight to twelve foot seas. This was making progress but the violent motion of the wind and sea going against each other was too uncomfortable to carry on. I found some shelter behind some rocky islands at Ukiivik. The next morning the wind had shifted and the fog lifted so I hastily got underway to take advantage of the weather. Nomad was under full sail for the first time since arriving in Greenland!  Later in the evening the wind dropped and the fog returned. The first anchorage noted in the guidebook for Faeringe Nordhavn fjord offered scant protection in the current conditions, so I continued on to the end of the fjord and anchored in some shallow water. Too close to the end as it appeared in the morning.  Although I had allowed enough for the eight to ten foot tides in this area to avoid grounding at low tide there were a number of boulders uncomfortably close to the boat exposed as the tide receded.

Growler. About the size of a pickup truck, mostly underwater.

A large iceberg in the fog.

The weather in the fjords is completely different from conditions outside and Faeringe Nordhavn was no exception. The sunshine and good sailing wind that disappeared at the entrance was replaced with dense fog on a glassy calm ocean.  Getting closer to Disko Bay, icebergs  were becoming more numerous along the coast. there were a few off shore but most were grounded near shore. These were all clearly visible on the radar, but the growlers and bergy bits that fall off of them are not. It was an tense eighteen hours getting into Aasiaat passing a few growlers that were unseen until they were next to the boat and the occasional thump of some unseen bit being shouldered aside by the bobstay.
Nomad arrived in Aasiaat at 0400 after picking her way through icebergs and narrow rocky channels in very dense fog without incident. I quit trying to explore the harbor in zero visibility conditions after carefully backing out of a cluster of small boats anchored close together. What was on the radar was different from what was on the chart, so I tied up to the first big boat that I found to put an end to a very long day.

Aasiaat, without the fog.

Notes on St John's Newfoundland

Nomad at Pier 6

Arriving in St John’s at sunset, I told Traffic that my destination was the Queen’s Wharf. Motoring slowly through the harbor, I searched for the floating docks in the area indicated by the guidebook without success. At the far end of the harbor I spotted a few sailboats, so I headed there and rafted up to them on Pier 6 behind the Fish Exchange building. The rates at St John’s Port authority for Nomad were $9.85 per day with a minimum charge of $53.44  or a monthly fee of $245.88.  The Queen’s Wharf floating dock were not in place during the 2016 season due to construction. I observed that their location near the harbor entrance experienced some surge frequently, while Nomad was nearly motionless at the back of the harbor on Pier 6. It is a very convenient location with many coffee shops and pubs nearby. Fiddler's and The Second Cup are recommended. City buses stop one street up from the Pier providing easy access to all of St John’s. I was looking for a place to leave the boat for an upcoming job and was advised that this harbor could experience considerable amount of surge in easterly storms and it was not advisable to leave the boat unattended there. After a few weeks in St John’s restocking the boat with parts and groceries that I have not been able to source in a long time, I sailed around the Avalon peninsula into Conception Bay.

Groceries: Dominion and Sobey’s are in walking distance.

Shopping mall, Canadian tire, Home Depot Walmart and all the other big box stores are a short bus ride from downtown.

Marine supplies: everything is available here, try Bluewater, ESL, Spartan, Mercer’s (Clarenville, they will deliver to St John’s).

Fuel: the Ultramar down the street from the Pier does not have diesel. They will deliver fuel to the dock, but have a $50 delivery fee. I used A -1 Fuels, 709-747-9000. No charge for delivery to the Pier.

A-1 refueling Nomad and other boats at Pier6

Water Street

It's a steep climb up on"The Rock" from the waterfront

South to North Transatlantic, Suriname to Canada

This voyage started like many others, months later than I would have preferred. Boat maintenance and another delivery job pushed back my departure from Suriname until 09 July. While sailing the Atlantic in midsummer is quite pleasant, it requires constant vigilance regarding the weather as tropical storms may form at any time. Fortunately, the weather remained stable throughout the passage with tropical activity only beginning the week after I arrived in St John's Newfoundland.

The journey began on the tropical Suriname River

And the voyage concludes at Fort Amherst, St John's, Newfoundland

The trip began hot and wet. Sail was set at the sea bouy and Nomad reached right out into the tradewinds. With the strong equatorial current and the tradewinds on the beam it was necessary to sail on a very close reach to maintain a northerly course. Nomad would take a good blast of spray across the deck with nearly every wave making it impossible to open the hatch or ports for ventilation. For the first week of the voyage it was quite warm inside! The weather remained pleasant for most of the voyage. Reaching 41N it was a little cool at night. The next night a jacket was needed, then Nomad crossed onto the olive green waters of the Grand Banks  and it was time for long underwear and the wool hat, courtesy of the Labrador current bringing cold water down from the Arctic. About a hundred miles south of Newfoundland I encountered the only headwinds of the trip. A deep low to the south and a high to the north made for an east then northeasterly  wind for a couple of days. As the wind backed around, it forced me further west. I had sailed to within 80 miles of St Pierre and was considering ending the voyage there, but the wind backed around before I reached the Burin Peninsula. With the wind now firmly northwest and backing I tacked and resumed heading for St John's, arriving two days later with a stiff southwesterly behind me. It was during this time that I crossed my eastbound track out of St Pierre from 2014, closing the circle on Nomad' first circumnavigation of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Most days looked like this

Some days in mid ocean were like this

This was usually how most days started out

Twenty eight days and 2726 miles from Suriname to Newfoundland with no major problems or weather systems to deal with makes for a pleasant trip but not much to write about. It was fairly routine dealing with the daily repairs mostly due to chafe and the vigorous motion of being underway for nearly a month. I tried one of the stock safety tubes for the windvane, it only lasted a thousand miles before breaking, so it was replaced with a heavier gauge tube. Chafe wore through the windvane control lines several times. Chafe also caused the loss of the spinner on the taffrail log. Since replacements are getting hard to find, I decided to stow it before I lost another.

Land ho! For the first time in twenty eight days

Making speed along the Avalon Peninsula. St John's by sunset!

It was not all work and studying weather faxes. A nice singlehander sized mahi mahi grabbed the fishing line and it became three huge meals and a bowl of ceviche before it was gone.    I didn't trail the fishing line after catching that one, as I had eaten enough fresh fish for awhile!     I was quite happy to catch the smaller size fish.  A huge mahi mahi such as we caught on the trip across from The Gambia would have been difficult to handle singlehandedly and would have been way more fish than I needed. I was prepared this time with extra lime juice and kilos of salt onboard in case I caught the "big one".

Fresh fish on the menu for dinner. And breakfast, lunch and the next dinner. And snacks in between.

Nomad's year in Suriname

Nomad arrived in Suriname at the height of the rainy season, blown in from the ocean on the back of the first rain squall she had experienced in many months.  Sailing just another seven miles upriver past Paramaribo, the anchor was dropped in the town of Domburg.  This far upriver the fast flowing Suriname River is fresh water that rapidly dissolved all the saltwater flora and barnacles picked up on the crossing.

The anchorage/mooring in Domburg

Domburg is a small town that is ideally situated for cruisers. There is a small park where the water taxi  lands and most of the village congregates in the evening with  Saturdays and Sundays being quite busy.  Most anything you could need is available there with several stores and two gas stations selling diesel fuel within walking distance of the waterfront. There are a number of small markets selling fresh produce and some small restaurants on the Waterkant.  For more varied shopping in Paramaribo, there are several buses that pick up right at the waterfront in the morning. Returning before the evening buses is not on a schedule as they will only make the trip back from Paramaribo when they are full of passengers.

Pet birds are popular, and they are taken everywhere.

It rains a lot here!

The Harbor Resort  is the go-to place for cruisers.  They maintain a number  a number of excellent  moorings for those who do not wish to use their own anchors. I left Nomad unattended twice on one of their moorings with no problems. Owned by Huib, the harbor resort was under the management of Gaby , who has since returned to the cruising life and is now run by Nettie and her husband, also cruisers.  They sailed from Europe and liked it so well they have been here for eight years. If there is anything you can’t find, ask them.   The Harbor Resort has showers and pool, included in the price of the mooring.  They also have the coldest beer in town.

Dutch board games at The Harbor Resort

Jungle exploration is just a few steps out of town.  It is a great way to check out the variety of tropical plants and wildlife.  Rubber boots and insect repellent required!  And a compass is a good idea.  Walking into the dense jungle foliage in a matter of minutes you will not be able to see where you came from.   Aside from the curiosity of the  new environment,  the jungle also provided some much needed boat parts. With forests of bamboo, it was easy to replace the damaged and suspect battens in Nomad’s sails.

The jungle

Interesting plants.

More tropical flowers

Wet hiking

With all this travelling sooner or later it becomes time to stop and refill the cruising kitty. Lyza was the first one out, returning to Texas to work for a few months.  I was the next one out, flying to California to work with a friend for nearly 6 months and do a few delivery jobs.  Kris worked locally at The Harbor Resort (the landscaping there is his handiwork) and Surinat.  When Lyza returned they put Nomad on a mooring after untangling her anchor chain from a tree picked up anchoring behind the grocery store.  Then they set off to explore South America. Another nautical wanderer, Luca, stayed onboard until the end of the year. Nomad stayed alone on a mooring for four more months until I returned. That much time in the tropics did not hurt anything that a good cleaning didn’t cure. Mold and mildew inside and out, mushrooms growing in the bamboo and sails, bright orange fungus growing out of the oars, black and green slime on the deck and lines and spider nests all over inside.

Within a few weeks of returning, I sourced some bottom paint and made arrangements at Cevihas shipyard to haul out Nomad for a much need bottom job.  At thirteen days, it was the quickest  haul out I have ever done, but it was quite a challenge.  Complicating things was the weather…it was rainy season again. The first time it stopped raining in the evening, I set up worklights and started painting. The security guard promptly came to visit and said that it was forbidden to work after 1800. I had to get special permission from the yard manager to work at night, explaining that I had to paint whenever the rain stopped.  When I went to Cevihas to check them out they assured they had 110 volt electricity and showed me where they would put Nomad, right next to the building close by the water and electric.  When I arrived, it didn’t work out quite that way. The spot I was supposed to use was still occupied, so Nomad was placed on the other side of the yard. With all the hoses I could borrow connected to mine, I was able to get water to the boat to scrub down the bottom. This was done by hand with scrubbing pads as the promised pressure washer never arrived.    I am not sure why, but their 110 volt electricity would not run any of my tools, so all sanding and grinding was done on inverter power.  Understandably, the wind generator and solar panels could not keep up with that kind of use, so the solution was to run that long collection of hoses to the water spigot  and hook it up to the water inlet for the generator so I could run it to recharge the batteries.  This required standing watch near the spigot so nobody would take the hose off to get a drink! Eventually, I did succeed at getting another through hull welded in and two coats of paint on the bottom and topsides. It was a relief to get back in the water as they did not have any of the right jackstands available and the short ones used would shift and require adjustments during some of the heavier squalls.

Cevihas at low tide. Hauling and launching is only possible at high tide.

Almost done painting

Finishing in the shipyard quickly worked well. Shortly after returning to Domburg, another delivery come was ready,  so Nomad went back onto a mooring and I flew to the USA for one more job. Upon returning again , fresh provisions were stored.  On  9 July, one year and three weeks after arriving in Suriname, Nomad set sail for Newfoundland, Canada.

Cruising Notes:
Entry formalities are laid back, you need to go Paramaribo and visit MAS, and get a tourist visa from Immigration, directions are available at the Harbor Resort.This needs to be done within two or three days of arriving.  Reporting for another stamp at the tourist police (Vreemdelingendienst) monthly is required. If you want to stay longer than 90 days, it is quite acceptable to rent a car and drive to Albina, clear out and take a water taxi or the ferry across to clear in and out of French Guyana and return to re-enter Suriname. Departing by boat, get an exit stamp from Immigration and call MAS on the vhf radio when going by Paramaribo. If you leave and return by airplane, take you your ships papers with you when going in for you thirty day stamp, they will enquire as to your onward ticket when the see the airport entry stamp.

Anchoring:  Behind the red roofed grocery store is good, but beware  of trees on the bottom; this is reportedly the the site  of an old sawmill. Show an anchor light, anchored or on a mooring. Large ships pass close by the moorings  and small unlit sailboats on the river are nearly invisible on a dark moonless night.  Anchoring here requires special care due to swift currents and occasional floating islands drifting by.  Anchoring here requires that you keep your entire swinging circle clear of other vessels as the vagaries of wind and current are unpredictable; it is not unusual for boats to be facing each other or your anchor to be behind you! The current switches direction with every tide, the ebb is noticeably stronger.

Small random floating island drifting on the river

Tree hauled upin the anchor chain by Lyza and Kris when moving to the mooring.

Navigation:  Plan your movements with the tide, currents are normally 2-4 knots. Visibility can be greatly reduced in frequent heavy rains.

Diesel fuel can be jugged from nearby service stations or make arrangements with the nearby fishing boat company.

Propane cans are refilled at Ingas, Euros and USD happily accepted here. Telephone 482255. They will also pick up and deliver for a small charge.

Money: The large red roofed grocery store will happily take Euros or USD for a reasonable exchange rate. There is an ATM machine next to the gas station. It is not advisable to change a large sum unless you need it because of the rapidly changing exchange rate.

Taxi/car rental is quite reasonable.  Ritchie  handles both, and his drivers will reliably pick you up and drop you off at the airport on time. Mr. Harry is a retired gentleman that also provides a taxi service. Their numbers are available at the Harbor Resort.

Language: Dutch and Sirnan Tongo are the official languages, and English is widely spoken as well.

Local small craft in Paramaribo.

Church in Paramaribo, built entirely with wood.

Historic homes.

Along the Waterkant, Paramaribo.