Neptune, the master of the sea, welcomed us when we passed the Arctic Circle and were baptized. After this special event it was time for visiting Sisimiut, the second largest town in Greenland. The beautiful mountain landscape was doted by snow fields. Even in town there was still snow and private boats were still on shore.
Sisimiut is a very busy fishing town, so because a huge trawler was unloading its catch of prawns the same day as we arrived, we had to use our Polar Circle Boats to get to land, as there was no place on the pier for us at the same time. It was actually for many of the passengers quite a thrilling experience to sail in these fairly small and fast boats which can only take 8 passengers at a time.
Shortly after arriving we started with our excursions, one went to the abandoned settlement Assaqutaq. Assaqutaq is situated close to Sisimiut and was closed in the 70ties. It is now partly used as a place for summer education. A very beautiful place and strange at the same time with the empty and warn down houses among colorful buildings still in use.Others took the walk back in history to the Tele Island, a place right on the outskirt of Sisimiut. There you can find the foundations of both old Inuit dwellings dating back to the 15th century and buildings made by some of the first Danish settlers in the area.
Before we left Sisimiut two men in kayaks came to the ship and gave us an impressing show of their skills in a kayak. They showed us a variety of ways to do the kayak roll, which still to this day is essential if you go out kayaking in the ice cold Greenlandic waters.
