The morning fog lifted nicely as we reach Uunartoq hot spring. Bathing happily in 38 degrees, we find our 2 new Norwegian friends as well as a local inuit family. Surrounded by mountain peaks, the natural pool is nestled picturesquely amidst yellow buttercup flowers atop a hill overlooking large drifting icebergs. It is a very pleasant experience and I would happily stay in this warm bath the whole day.

But we must press on. We need to cover 300 miles to Nuuk and ideally we want to be there by the 18th to celebrate my birthday. We alternate between motoring and sailing, making the occasional detour for the special icebergs that deserve extra attention. And some of them blow our astounded mind with their imaginative intricacy, their imposing mass or their deep blue color evidencing their thousands of years of existence now coming an end.
Whenever the sailing conditions allow it, we run the watermaker to top up our 450l tank. It doesn’t work while under engine and we need to be cautious at anchor if the water is too silty. It is also power hungry so batteries have to be well topped up to run it. When I cut off the engine for the 2nd time today, the start button yields nothing. I try again, and again. Nothing. This doesn’t look good. And indeed, after closer inspection, Calin concludes we have an electrical issue with the watermaker. This is very bad news. We’ve had so many issues with this watermaker and thought we had it all sorted. Greenland is not the place to have an essential piece of equipment break on us, particularly before venturing into the north west passage. Getting a replacement will be costly, if at all possible. 450l of water is very limited for 3 people, given that a/ it doesn’t rain at this latitude at this time of the year and b/ harbours with water supply are very, very limited through the NWP. Sure there is ice all around and at least we’ll be able to melt it for drinking. But no doubt we will have to impose further restrictions on showers and general consumption. And it's very early in the trip to do that.