Kulusuk....

[paladin]

On the eastern side of Greenland is an island called Kulusuk. It's about 100 kliks from the arctic circle and consists of a small village whose principle support is from whaling and fur seals. In a previous post I pictured three dimensional sperm whale teeth carvings called tupalaks, they came from Kulusuk. When I visited there were no motor vehicles of any kind on the island. Lamps used whale oil, and the candles were made from whale oil. I understand now that the Greenland government has placed a tracked vehicle there for emergencies.
A couple of years ago I burned my last whale oil candle during the hurricane. Whale oil candles burn with no residue, and they fit in the ships fixtures with a spring loaded base that pushes the candle higher as it burns. Whale oil also burns cleanly in the ships lamps.
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk02.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk01.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk03.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk04.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk05.jpg

[paladin]

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk06.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk07.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk08.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk09.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk10.jpg

[paladin]

Those piles of ice are growlers....they will keep you awake all night with the noise......and are extremely dangerous to anchor next to....they are 90% underwater and if enough material sloughs off it will upset the balance and they will roll completely over without warning.....
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk11.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk12.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk13.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj152/paladinsfo/kulusuk14.jpg

[Paul Pless]

Chuck, how'd you get there? Was this a trip aboard your cutter?

Thanks for posting the sled dog pictures, I'm gonna forward them to a friend that's heavily involved with them in Alaska.

[Thorne]

Brrrrrrr!

[paladin]

My first trip through was with the boat, and there was a helluva lot less ice.....I then jumped off for Iceland and sailed straight across.....At one time the U.S. givment had a "monitoring station" on top of the hill behind the village...so when I worked in Iceland at the NATO base, I hopped a givment flight back over to kulusuk expressly for the purpose of buying the ivory....it's a very short trip in a slightly larger puddle jumper.I have more doggy sled pictures.....

[Thad]

Great pictures Chuck!!

[Flying Orca]

Reminds me of Resolute. Must be about the same latitude, too, give or take.

[gert]

Wow

[Lew Barrett]

I just discovered this thread. Thailand, Greenland, Mary-land! Oh my! Very impressive.

[BETTY-B]

Would those dogs be some kind of Malamute? Similar to the Alaskan?
Those pics just made me realize how warm I actually am.... Thanks..

DAN

[Yeadon]

Those people in the village live there year round? Not just during a particular hunting season?

[paladin]

Yes...the vast majority of people there are year around residents. The poles that appear to be telephone poles or electric poles are stuck in the ice as markers to mark the helicopter pad or airstrip when the snow gets deep. The ice is well packed there...it also marks the trail so you don't wander out over the ice/snow that has water a few feet down. The larger buildings are the school/hospital/community hall etc and storehouses.

[Dave Hadfield]

I've been flying over that area recently. I'm on the Airbus 340/330 now, and often do flights from Calgary to London. It has surprised me how often the east coast of Greenland is sunny. Maybe I'm just lucky, but we've seen some stupendous views.

I'd like to see it from sea level, too! (From a boat with a good heater on board, preferably a coal-burning stove!)

[paladin]

I was wearing the Norwegian net underwear, long johns, flannel lined jeans, t shirt wool shirt and the orange cold weather stuff and I was freezing my A$$ off....I was using the Dickerson oil burning heater in the boat, plus the heat from a large trawler lamp, and the mummy bag was rated to 60 below zero...and I was freezing my A$$ off.......
Did I mention that it's COLD up there.....