Route Map   Weather Map   Daily Journal         Q & A   Special Reports   Education Section           The Game		Equipment failure keeps Snorri in Sisimiut Log Date: July 21, 1998 Author: Hodding Location: Seaman's Home/Sisimiut Speed: Zero Weather: Cloudy/cool Sightings: Crab cakes Click on the pictures below to view enlargements. A frustrated Hodding tries to make a canvas wrapper for his wife's anniversary present   We remain in Sisimiut. A couple of the guys thought they still had a chance of getting a date with some of the beautiful women here, so they drilled a few holes in the bottom of the boat. Apparently they thought Terry and I wouldn't notice. The truth is, the voltage converter for our satellite phone and antenna does not like high latitudes. It's no longer working. Things like this make me wish we really were sailing a thousand years ago. A local electrician named Finn has been trying to fix it all day, but it looks as if we might have to order a new one from Scandinavia and hope it gets here by the end of the week.   Naturally, John G. had a better way of doing it. He made the seam-rubber he's wielding. We will leave Sisimiut tomorrow, after Finn fiddles with the converter some more and orders a new converter, and then we'll try out an even newer rudder design that Rob crafted yesterday. I think he just likes playing in his wood shavings and we'd just about run out of them. Rob has volunteered to paddle back here in our kayak to get the converter. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that we won't be seeing any ice cream for at least a month, if not longer. Hodding finally had to hit John over the head to get his wrapper back   I don't really feel frustrated by this, because we need to give the ice on southern Baffin about a week to break up some more (of course, that may not happen in a week either). Also, I love Sisimiut. I could easily move here. I say that about every place I like, but I really mean it. This is a special.... Sorry, I was just interrupted by a kid who was practicing his whistling two feet from me. I think I ran into him last year at the Seaman's Home in Nuuk. His whistling hasn't improved. Anyway, I've been told that there is a saying here: "We can do it ourselves." Everyone I've met is proud to live here. We've been welcomed into people's homes, and in some ways learned more about Greenland than ever before. I know my twin girls will like eating whale intestines (a cherished delicacy) since the texture is a lot like stiff chewing gum - but I don't know if there's a big-enough supply of diapers here. Maybe I should hold off on the deposit for this house I've got my eye on until I find out.   Meanwhile, Rob had the audacity to take the camera on Hodding's journal day. He took 30 pictures of boats. I still feel very optimistic and calm about this year, which scares me a little - not feeling it, but writing it down. I can't wait to make the crossing, but I also feel sad that we'll soon be leaving Greenland. The people here have embraced us in a way that we never expected. We are a changed group - not just from our sailing experience, but also from what we have seen and learned here. Top of page