We invite you to join our unique expedition on “Peter-1” yacht to Greenland. We plan to sail through the fjords of Baffin island in summer with start and finish in Greenland.
The number of people is strictly limited – only 6 people for this beautiful part of our expedition.
So what is the Baffin island? That is rugged terrain, lots of high amazing peaks. Besides, you can encounter numerous bird and mammal species.
The expedition is suitable for those who’d like to feel himself as explorer and adventure person, who wants to explore the new region to the world and widen his geography of travel. We will see stunning glaciers, flocks of northern birds, wonderful Narwhal, and explore traditional Inuit culture. Mixing of ocean currents from Lancaster Sound and from Baffin Bay makes the marine life extremely rich!
These are unique and hard-to-reach places, you can get there only on big cruise, which has nothing to do with serious photography. You’ll be offered to sail on “zodiacs” only during some hours but we can always sail and hunt the light and best perspectives during the whole night and to stay mobile at the same time. The previous experience has shown that a good team and a maneuverable yacht give an incredibly beautiful result. Our timetable is more or less free. Ideally we want to go to along East fjords of Baffin, but that’s not the main goal. The main goal is to shoot beautiful fjords, diverse wildlife and explore the nature of the region. That’s why we’ll work out our everyday timetable taking into account ice situation and the weather.
The advantages of traveling by arctic class yacht are obvious: big cruises are enormously expensive (about $10,000 usually), the yacht is more mobile and we can listen to every participant’s opinion what is difficult in a team of 30-50 people on board. Big ships can scare away the animals and can’t be as mobile as we are. The yacht has both rigs and a motor. Moreover, we have a quick and maneuver “Zodiac” which can be launched at any moment to get closer to the animals or to go ashore. Safety measures’ questions are paid special attention: satellite phone, navigational system and ice maps.
“Peter – 1” yacht
“Peter – 1” yacht is an arctic class yacht with a steel jacket equipped with modern navigation system. You can use the kitchen, WC, shower, the main cabin and living rooms – one single cabin, two double cabins and a bunk room. The yacht’s team is 4 or 5 people + 6 photographers on board. There is one zodiac (a motor boat) on the yacht. There are 220 V receptacles (they are sometimes turned off), freshwater supplies (700 + 200 liters). We went on Greenland photo tour with “Peter-1” team (usually it’s 4-5 people) brilliantly. Several years ago the team set a world record and went on the Arctic world-tour in one season.
Expedition route
This is a true expedition! We sail to explore less known places of the world, so we are very interested in making the awesome route. We gathered all available information and selected the most interesting points for our route:
Day 1, 2– From Sisimiut to Baffin island
Day 3 Cumberland Peninsula
Day 4 Cumberland Peninsula – Auyuittuq national park
Day 5 Auyuittuq national park
Day 6 Auyuittuq national park – Isabella Bay
Day 7 Isabella Bay – Clyde River
Day 8 Clyde River – Sam Ford Fjord
Day 9 Sam Ford Fjord – Gibbs fjord
Day 10 Gibbs fjord – Pond Inlet
Day 11 Pond Inlet – Milne Inlet
Days 12, 13, 14 sailing from Gibbs to Disko Bay, Ilulissat
Please note that all photos illustrating the announce were taken in Greenland during our expeditions from past years. We’ve never been at Baffin island and very excited to explore as much as you!
Days 1, 2
We gather together in Sisimiut – the second largest town in Greenland, 5600 inhabitants. This is a classical greenlandic town with museum and southermost place, where dog sledges still used. We recommend to arrive a day before the trip start and explore the town on your own. We load on 2nd July in the morning to the yacht and start our expedition. It will take 1,5 days approximately to reach the eastern capes of Baffin island. On the way we can photograph tall towers – amazing icebergs that sail from Kangia glacier.
Day 3 Cape Dyer
We reach Cape Dyer – the place where norseman probably reached the Baffin island from Greenland 1000 years ago! We will sail along amazing fjords with tall mountains towards North, crossing the Arctic Circle. We are in the Arctic! We keep spotting polar bears, whales and seabirds.
Day 4 Auyuittuq National park
We visit fjords of Auyuittuq National park. This is protected area, rich in nature and wildlife. We can disembark and explore shores of the park and photograph all the night long, as sun barely touches horizon and rises again during the nighttime, giving incredible color for all the night long! We plan to visit Qikiqtarjuaq, a small settlement which is home to several Inuit families.
Day 5 Isabella Bay
Isabella bay is National Wildlife Area which provide protection for an estimated 2,000 Bowhead Whales. They inhabit the area during the summer and fall periods. Bowhead whales are known for their massive skulls, which they use to break through ice up to 50 cm thick to breathe! Polar bears, ringed seals, Canada geese, snow geese, narwhal are commonly sighted in this area.
Day 6 Clyde River
Clyde River is a tiny hamlet of 850 people. It is surrounded by stunning glaciers, ice caps, tundra, icebergs and rugged Arctic coastline. We explore traditional Inuit way of life and acknowledge Clyde River’s ‘Kangiqtugaapik’ – whale bone carvings. At night we focus on landscape photography, scouting for best locations.
Day 7 Sam Ford Fjord
Amazing area of “granite big walls”, 68 miles long fjord inside the Baffin island. Adventurers and especially climbers call Sam Ford Fjord one of the most impressive wonders in the world. There will be lots of chances to spot polar bear, seal, and of course whales as we cruise the fjord.
Day 8 Gibbs fjord
Gibbs fjord is the neighbor of Sam Ford Fjord. Beautiful mountain scenery and reach wildlife as well. We circumnavigate the ice-capped islands of the fjord. Of course, we keep our eyes openfor the rare Bowhead Whale and Narwhal, as well as Polar Bears and seals on the ice shards and floes.
Day 9 Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet located at the northern tip of Baffin Island. It’s our northermost point of the expedition. It can be considered as one of Canada’s ‘jewels of the north.’ Impressive tall mountains, ice caves and hoodoos and reach wildlife.
We can meet:
- Ringed and Harp Seals,
- Caribou,
- Arctic Foxes,
- Gyrfalcons,
- Ptarmigan
- Orcas
Pond Inlet is the center of Inuit art, especially stone carving. We can take a trip towards Eclipse Sound is the Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which provides nesting for over 70 Arctic birds, including Thick-billed Murres, Black-legged Kittiwakes. Here we can encounter the largest colony of Greater Snow Geese in the Canadian Arctic.
Day 10 Milne inlet
Lancaster and Eclipse Sounds, which surround Bylot Island, is a habitat place of Narwhals and other whales. This area has an exceptional landscape beauty.
Days 11 – 14 At sea, Disko island
We set off from Pond Inlet towards Greenland crossing Davis strait. We expect to have 2-2,5 days at sea and soon we reach volcanic Disko island. We sail through Vaigat strait and visiting Greenlandic settlements, encountering lots of huge icebergs on our way and enjoying magnificent landscape of Disko island.
Pricing:
Total price: 4900 EUR per person
Maximum Number of Participants: 6
Difficulty: easy to moderate
Included in the price:
– Accomodation and transportation by yacht
– All meals (except alcohol)
– Instruction and master classes by professional guide (please note that in expedition format we focus on the route, leaving less time for tuition)
– Professional crew of arctic sailors
– Zodiac boat services
– Fuel
– Port taxes and fees
Not included in the price:
– Airfare to and from Greenland
– Visas (if applicable)
Please check flights to Greenland at Airgreenland.com
What to bring
Gear:
– DSLR camera with tripod and remote shutter release
– A wide angle lens. For example, Nikkor 14-24 or Canon 17-40. Best lens for use in wide-angle scenes or architecture photography
– A middle-zoom lens such as a 24-70 mm
– A telephoto zoom lens, such as a 70-200 mm. 300 mm with 1.5 TC or 500 mm, 600 mm are recommended for wildlife and bird photography. Be sure to have additional tripod mount to this lens.
Wear:
– Waterproof and windproof jacket (consider the average temperature +5 – +10 C at nights and +8 – +15 C during the daytime)
– Waterproof pants
– Warm jacket and thermal pants
– Wellingtons or fishing boots
The full list will be sent by mail to participants.
Tour leaders
Daniel Kordan
Daniel was born in Moscow area. In his childhood he graduated the art school. After that, he is studied in Moscow institute of Physics and Technology and became an optics physicist. During the study he gain experience not only in physics, but also in mountain climbing and hiking, guiding tourist groups in winter and in summer in Russian mountains. Right after graduation he became a guide of photo-workshops and chief editor of “Continent expedition” magazine. This magazine is about travel and adventures all over the world. He has got several awards in photography: Golden Turtle’ 13 Nature nomination winner, National Geographic Russia contest 2013 and 2014 finalist, Best of Russia’13 and ’14 winner, best photographer’13 finalist and others. He is spending most of his time in Norway, Lofoten islands and in Tuscany at villa Gaia, guiding groups of photographers.
