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Jöttnar photo blog
- Scoresby Sund, Greenland -
In the second edition of this two-part photo blog, sailor and photographer Iona Wallis documents a schooner expedition up the world’s largest fjord system, Scoresby Sund in East Greenland. One of the richest landscapes on Earth for climbers and explorers, it is named after scientist and clergyman William Scoresby, who first mapped the area in 1822.
The distinctive flat-topped mountain known as The Pulpit emerges from a cloud inversion
Icebergs adrift in frost-smoke off Storø
The icecap of Milne Land rises out of low cloud
An impressive arched iceberg off the Bear Islands
Mountains on the eastern shore of Rypefjord
Schooner Opal sails past the huge and majestic Caledonide cliffs (circa 1700m) of Ãfjord, where the wind generally blows from the west
The Greenland flag flies from the rigging of topsail schooner Opal
The magnificent granite spire of Grundtvigskirken (1977m)
Nunatak (an exposed rock pinnacle not subjected to glacial erosion) in the Storhamrene group
Sunrise fires up the mountains of Ãfjord with an otherwordly light
A surreal reflection of a partially-arched iceberg
The wild south coast of Renland seen from the Bear Islands, with the spire of Grundtvigskirken (1977m) visible in the centre-left
Under the cinder Arctic sky, larger icebergs drift out from the inner fjords towards the open water of Hall Bredning
Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud formation near Kap Stevenson
Large icebergs in a wind-whipped sea just off Kap Brewster
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"A sword age, a wind age, a wolf age"
- Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda
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Iona Wallis sailed through Scoresby Sund in summer 2016 aboard topsail schooner Opal. Originally a Baltic fishing vessel built in 1951-2, the ship was converted to a blue water sailing schooner in Denmark. From her new base in Iceland with North Sailing, Opal has found a new purpose as an expedition ship in the far North Atlantic and Arctic Circle. You can find out more about her on the North Sailing website
