A journey around Greenland

Greenland has long been a sleeper destination for yachts. For those a bit foggy about where it is and who it belongs to (and if you haven’t been following global news for the past six months), Greenland is the world’s largest island that is not a continent, and is home to fewer than 57,000 people scattered among more than 70 towns and settlements, none of which are connected by roads. Its population is primarily ethnic Inuit, with smaller communities of Danes and other Europeans.

More than 80 per cent of Greenland is permanently covered by an ice cap up to 3,375 metres thick. For superyachts, it offers excellent cruising opportunities, with deep fjords, soaring glaciers, colourful coastal towns, dramatic scenery and Arctic flora and fauna.

The 63-metre sailing yacht Athos spent a month exploring Greenland’s west coast in summer 2025. Michael “Hutch” Hutchinson, Athos’s captain, spoke to me about navigating this land of otherworldly beauty and how they dealt with the immense challenges they faced. Greenland guide Lauritz Schönfeld, who accompanied Athos, remarked that he had “Never seen such skill and teamwork as was exhibited on Athos”.

Positioned in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, northeast of Canada and west of Iceland, Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Contrary to recent geopolitical noise, Greenland is not for sale – Denmark has emphatically stated that its sovereignty over Greenland is non-negotiable.

Athos is a 63-metre Andre Hoek-designed two-masted schooner built at Holland Jachtbouw i n 2 0 1 0 . She proved her mettle by circumnavigating the world with her previous owner.

Under her current ownership, she was extensively refitted in 2022 and received a further technical upgrade in 2025. Captain Hutch says, “Her hull is very well built, but she’s not an icebreaker.” Marine regulations and insurance required Athos to avoid contact with ice. Hutch was responsible for ensuring strict adherence to this “zero ice contact” rule.

Athos’s Arctic journey up Greenland’s west coast took place from mid-July to the end of August 2025. The expedition demanded months of rigorous research and preparation. “I had a huge learning curve,” Hutch admits. For five months, he immersed himself in software and satellite imagery, analysing weather and ice movement to plan the safest routes.

“The first thing to realise,” Hutch says, “is that weather, ice, tides, currents and wind conditions dictate where you can and cannot go. On Greenland’s east and west coast, strong currents and shifting winds can blow ice ashore at any time, creating constant, moving hazards.”

To navigate these waters, Athos hired Maiwenn Beadle, a highly experienced ice pilot known on social media as “the reluctant ice queen” as a consultant. She is recognised as being remarkably knowledgeable and competent about all things Arctic, and recommended bringing Schönfeld on board as a guide.

Schönfeld, a German who now lives in Denmark, first fell in love with Greenland as a teenage exchange student and later returned to study its language, history and geology, eventually becoming a guide.

Athos’s adventure began with a 1,400-nautical mile passage from Falmouth, UK, to Cape Farewell at Greenland’s southern tip. As Athos neared the coast, the first icebergs appeared through the fog – ghostly sculptures adrift in cobalt water. On sighting land, “Our first impression,” says Hutch, “is that we landed in Mordor.”

Prins Christians Sund, the southern gateway, emerged from the mist, its cliffs and icy waters signalling Greenland’s formidable beauty.

Athos threaded carefully among the growlers and icebergs, making her way to Qaqortoq, Southern Greenland’s largest town (now with an airport for regional turboprops and not far away from Narsarsuaq, home to an international airport linked to Iceland and Denmark). Athos lay dockside there, awaiting guests and provisions from Europe that arrived five days late. Hutch learned that weather and patience are king.

“On Greeland’s east and west coast, strong currents and shifting winds can blow ice ashore at any time, creating constant, moving hazards”

The journey’s ultimate destination was Disko Bay in the Arctic Circle – 600 nautical miles as the crow flies up the west coast from Cape Farewell. With many inlets and side trips, Athos would ultimately cover 1,610 nautical miles. With additional guests joining in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, the cruise was split into two: the southern section and then Nuuk north to Disko Bay.

Meanwhile, while waiting for supplies, guests and crew visited Qassiarsuk, the site of Erik the Red’s first settlement in circa 985CE, with ruins and replica buildings. The area is surrounded by sheep farms, and Schönfeld introduced guests to local farmers, who welcomed them warmly. Hospitality among Greenlanders is legendary. Guests explored the area on the farm’s quad bikes.

Once back in Qaqortoq, guests toured the historic town, where buildings date to the 1700s, hiked around a nearby lake and visited the local tannery – an important part of Inuit/Kalaallit culture.

Hutch and Schönfeld arranged for guests to try a local coastal sauna, followed by plunges into freezing water chilled by distant icebergs. “I say freezing,” Hutch jokes, “but it’s actually around 3 to 4°C, so not quite!”

Before sailing to each new anchorage, Hutch would study the ice floes, and at times the crew would use poles to keep ice at bay. Tasermiut Fjord was next, where they found shelter from the 45-knot Arctic winds. Guests went mountain biking to Tasiusaq settlement and hiked to the Arctic Forest, where they spotted an Arctic fox roaming among the sheep.

Wildlife encounters were a constant delight. A humback whale’s song inspired the crew to launch kayaks to follow at a safe distance

Musk oxen and reindeer were seen grazing distant hills. Birdlife filled the sky. Each day brought new trials: thick fog, shifting ice and the need for constant vigilance. The crew relied on radar, human spotters in the crow’s nest, fender board barriers and ice watches through the night, as well as local advice, to navigate safely. There were tense moments – ice closing in, visibility dropping to mere yards – but teamwork prevailed.

Sailing north, highlights included ancient hot springs, sacred to the Inuit for thousands of years. Bathing in warm volcanic pools – and cold plunges for the brave – offered an authentic Arctic spa experience. The crew also had to manage the yacht’s engines carefully, as they could take nearly half an hour to warm up in the cold. Special low-temperature diesel, sourced in Narsarsuaq, proved reliable for the harsh conditions.

“It’s one thing navigating in fog when you know the charting is accurate and there is no ice,” Hutch explains. “It’s another when ice is present, and the radar only picks up larger blocks. The risk of being forced off a known track by ice, known as Ice Creep, is very real.”

A visit to the Danish Navy base at Grønnedal offered a glimpse into Greenland’s strategic importance. The small outpost helps protect against illegal fishing and affirms Denmark’s sovereignty.

Permission was granted to hike behind the base, where the group found ancient stone cairns, spotted musk oxen and reindeer, and at Schönfeld’s suggestion, collected bits of musk oxen fur from branches to give to locals who could turn the fur into warm garments. The guests enjoyed picking wild berries to bring to the chef.

As Hutch approached Neria Fjord, he discovered the glacier produced loose, widely spaced ice rather than massive icebergs. At times, he deployed the bow thruster to slowly manoeuvre through the channels between the ice and sent a drone through the fog to scout conditions ahead, confirming that the fog was localised and thinner beyond, and assessing the ice route.

Wildlife encounters were a constant delight. A humpback whale’s song inspired the crew to launch kayaks to follow at a safe distance, while a drone captured footage of its movements. Days were filled with hikes, reindeer sightings, Arctic hare, snow buntings and fishing for Arctic char, monkfish and cod.

Schönfeld led guests ashore to hunt for rubies in the rocks, and they found a few tiny gems. The Aappaluttoq mine, discovered in 2008, opened in 2017 and now closed, produced rubies and pink sapphires considered among the oldest on Earth.

Each settlement offered new adventures, and pronouncing the names of some of the locations – Faeringhavn, Nuuk, Narsaq, Hamborger Sund, Tunu, Tasiusaq, Nipisat, Ilulissat, Qeqertarsuaq, Ilimanaq, Itilliup Ilua – was almost as challenging as navigating the ice.

As Athos sailed north into Disko Bay, the legacy of explorers, including those on the ill-fated Franklin Expedition – an Arctic exploration in the mid-1840s – loomed large.

Athos dropped anchor at one of HMS Terror’s final Greenland anchorages before she set off to seek the famed (but as yet undiscovered) Northwest Passage. On the Ilulissat Icefjord in Disko Bay, huge icebergs are disgorged.

“Here was the highest concentration of ice in the area we cruised,” says Hutch, “Bergs up to 70 metres high aground in deep water, all squashed together, every one a different shape and colour.”

Greenland’s remoteness became abundantly clear when a crew member broke her leg. Prompt medical attention required co-ordination with a remote clinic, a helicopter evacuation and, ultimately, an international Med-Evac. Thankfully, she recovered without complications. At the end of Athos’s sojourn, on the morning of the guests’ departure, three crew members took the tender to a nearby island.

Two climbed to the top, and the bosun donned a three-metre inflatable polar bear suit. The “bear” appeared atop the hill, waving at the guests. Laughter erupted as the faux bear struggled to stay upright, rolling and flailing – a comedic finale to an extraordinary journey.

Cruising Greenland demanded resilience, flexibility and teamwork. The logistical challenges – ice, provisioning, navigation – were considerable. But bonds formed among guests and crew – in fact, the crew were a part of most shoreside explorations. For all, the voyage was transformative – proof of nature’s power, the warmth of human connection and the thrill of true exploration.

First published in the September 2026 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.