Rev Bob Shepton

(Dodo's Delight) - for his sail to Greenland to climb mountains from the boat with a num- ber of climbers and skiers. The North Atlantic passage from Scotland to Greenland was the meanest of them all with a deep depression established right in the middle of the Atlantic south of Iceland giving quite a lumpy sea. Much of the sailing was done under trysail rigged to the boom and No. 3 jib and a period of 26 hours hove-to. They were 18 days on the wind to reach up the Davis Strait to Nuuk where they were met by big icebergs in the cloudy dusk, some making their own mist. The wind continued in the north as they tried to make their way northwards. It did blow from the south, strongly, on the approach to Kangerdlugssuaq, the 15-mile long fjord just to the north of Kangerdlugssuatsiaq. There they climbed the scenic but serious mountains either side of the fjord. Bob made a personal ascent, involving a peak of 1650m, over 30km of distance (some of it loose and difficult), and took 28 hours. At one stage a huge swell picked Dodo up and threw her onto the gravel beach; fortunately Bob was able to get the engine started quickly, enabling Dodo to slide off into deep water. They then rounded Kap Alexander, at 78°10'N 73°01'W the most westerly extremity of Greenland, to reach the latitude of Foulke Fjord where they were blasted by consistent katabatic winds of force 7-8. They were eventually stopped by pack ice at 78°32'N, probably the furthest north that a GRP yacht has ever been in Greenland, and that in Dodo's 25th year and in Bob's 70th year!