Introducing this year's trip and blog

This year's trip is to the Arctic.

From Connemara:
- to the St Kilda archipelago 40 miles west of Scotland
- to Faroes
- to Jan Mayen Land (Norwegian), 4-5 degrees north of the Arctic Circle, a volcanic island, with Mt Beerenburg, 8000' high, permanently covered with glaciers
- due west to East Greenland, deep into Scoresbysund (200 mi long, the longest fjord in the world) with its Eskimo village Ittoqqotoormiit (pop - 500, the last village up the E coast). This is polar bear country, so we are bringing a pump action shotgun with appropriate ammunition, for protection.
- southwest along the totally wild Greenland coast a few hundred miles. Maybe we'll find a secure place to anchor, and roam the area for a few days.
- stop at S Iceland
- and home.

Leave appx 30 June, back appx 5 Sept.

Crew:
- Myself: Nick Kats, 58, American living in Connemara, owner & skipper of Teddy, sailed 50 years, bluewater sailing on the NE Atlantic the last 8 years.
- Jim Bresson, 43, Breton, Sailed most of his life, runs his own boatyard, building his own sailboat, a classic 39' Danish ketch, and an avid cook.
- Rene Chuitton, 58, Breton, 6 years fulltime fisherman in his youth off Newfoundland & Norway, served in the French Navy, retired from working the railways, enjoys kayaking & snorkelling, bringing wetsuit, avid fisherman, forager & cook.
- Adolf Sander, 72, retired lawyer, from near Frankfurt, Germany, sailed since he was 13, has kept a 27' sloop on the coast of west Ireland the last 20 years, sailed here summers.

Boat:
Teddy, a heavy full keel steel ketch built in Denmark, insulated, 2 stoves for heat. Massively strong, well suited for the Arctic. 39' on deck, 16 tons. (For nice pics of her: google 'hein kats teddy'). Lotta work on her this year - new Yanmar engine, prop shaft, propeller. An oversize anchor for the heavy kelp in Arctic waters & the katabatics rolling off the icecap of E Greenland.

Have run blogs in previous years
Teddy2012.blogspot.com - to Iceland & E Greenland
Teddy2013.blogspot.com - to Iceland & Jan Mayen Land
Teddy2014.blogspot.com - Morocco & Azores
nice pics. Hopefully we'll have good pics this year.

Old pic: Teddy anchored to a Greenland berg for the night.

Getting into the tube here. Jim & Rene are shopping for a carload of French food, then they catch the ferry over. A whole smoked ham, pates, terrines, sausages. Thrice baked bread nearly as durable & dense as a rock, 20 kg. Adolf is in west Cork, working on his sloop before coming up. Teddy is in very good shape, me less so but that is about to change very fast.

I'll bring my computer, to update this blog at WIFIs ashore along the way.