2017 BOCA and BUBBA INVADE THE CONTINENT: DAY 55 SUN AUGUST 06 QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND

There we are- the red dot.

From our balcony...a rainy day welcomes us to Qaqortoq....not quite like the sunny postcard pic.

Boca enjoys all of the floating ice cubes, the fog and gears up for a rainy visit to the Q- are you wearing socks with your sandals Boca??!

Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,229 it is the most populous town in southern Greenland and the fourth-largest town on the island. The earliest signs of population presence are from roughly 4,300 years ago.

That would be yes, I am a real fashion statement today.

A walking tour of the town...

So what's the history of this area of Greenland?

Dorset culture

The Dorset people arrived in the Qaqortoq area around 2,800 years ago. Several rectangular peat dwelling structures, characteristic of the early Dorset culture, can be found around the wider Qaqortoq area.

Norse culture

Written records of South Greenland history begin with the arrival of the Norse in the late 10th century. The ruins of Hvalsey – the most prominent Norse ruins in Greenland – are located 12 mi northeast of Qaqortoq. General or even limited trade between the Norse and the Thule people was scarce. Except a few novel and exotic items found at Thule sites in the area, evidence suggests cultural exchange was initially sporadic. Later, the south Greenland Norse adopted trade with the southern Inuit and were for a time the major supplier of ivory to northern Europe. The Norse era lasted for almost five hundred years, ending in the mid-15th century. The last written record of the Norse presence is of a wedding in the Hvalseyjarfjord church in 1408.

Thule people

The Thule culture Inuit arrived in southern Greenland and the Qaqortoq area around the 12th century and were contemporaneous with the Norse. However, there exists little evidence of early contact. The Thule culture was characterized by a subsistence existence and there are few, if any, dwellings of considerable structure to be found from the era. But oddly, Items from their life style are relatively numerous.

The present-day town was founded in 1774 by the Dano-Norwegian trader Anders Olsen, on behalf of the General Trading Company. The town was christened Julianehaab after the Danish queen Juliane Marie. The name was also sometimes anglicized as Juliana's Hope.

The town became a major center for the saddle-back seal trade and today remains the home of the Great Greenland Furhouse sealskin tannery and and the primary sealskin purchaser on the island; it remains one of the major employers in the town. The native subsistence economy was long preserved by the former monopoly Royal Greenland Trading Department, which used the town as a source of saddle-back seal skins. The Great Greenland Furhouse is the only tannery in Greenland...but has been greatly effected by the EU seal ban, some say employment at the tannery is down 89%.

Bubs was grateful it was Sunday and the tannery was closed as Boca surely did not need a seal skin coat in Naples.

Until December 31, 2008, the town was the administrative center of Qaqortoq municipality. On January 1, 2009, Qaqortoq became the biggest town and the administrative center of Kujalleq municipality, when the municipalities of Qaqortoq, Narsaq, and Nanortalik ceased to exist as administrative entities. Can we call that downsizing? Bubs liked that this building gave you the current temp. Yes, that is 9 C. Can you convert from f to c? or c to f?

THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR

The church was built in 1832, and was commissioned and built by the city of Drammen in Norway and Danish missionaries. It was consecrated the same year. The church has been refurbished and rebuilt several times since. Until the newer Gertrud Rasch's Church was built in 1973, it was the only church serving the Qaqortoq congregation. Yeah, give that umbrella a twirl Bubs- you are practically a Gene Kelly image with your rain dancing and puddle jumping footwork.

The ceiling ship is a model of the royal trade ship Hvalfisken, which was in service for almost a century, starting in 1804.

Our Inuit tour guide tells us the church also holds the commemorative wreath and the lifebuoy for M/S Hans Hedtoft, which sank south of Cape Farewell on her maiden voyage on January 30, 1959. The buoy was found on Iceland and is the only wreckage found of the ship. Yup, those icebergs can be dangerous.The organ of the church is a 4 stop, foot pumped, Marcussen Organ from 1930.

What are their beliefs?

Religious Beliefs.The majority of the Greenlandic population is associated with the Lutheran Church, which is the national church of Denmark. But traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs remain strong in many of Greenland's remote communities.

Rituals and Holy Places.Members of Greenlandic communities continue to practice a wide range of rituals handed down from their ancestors. These range from giving ritualistic thanks to bears, whales, and other creatures after they have been slain by hunting expeditions to taboos on mixing food and clothing associated with the winter months with those associated with the summer season.

Death and the Afterlife.The Lutheran religion as practiced in Greenland and other nations is based on a belief in the ultimate authority of God. It places great importance on the life of Jesus and the authority of the Bible, and emphasizes the doctrine of salvation through faith.

Who's that in the pic on the wall Bubs?

Sunday morning- no service? No Mr. Bubba- only on holidays. By the look of the pristine wooden pews it looks like they don't get much use at all....kinda like what's going on in the USA. Per a recent article in The Atlantic:

Today, fewer Americans attend church and call themselves Christian compared with any other time in history. Among Western peoples, Americans are still the most involved with Christianity, but theological liberalism and secularisation have drastically changed American culture. American's value of individualism extends to religion in that individuals are encouraged to choose their religion over simply accepting their family's beliefs and practices. Often, the political ideology of the freedom to chose one's religion is held higher than the actual beliefs and practices of the religion itself.

Immigration from Asia and Africa has changed the American religious landscape to include all major world religions. Though most first-generation immigrants still maintain strong ties to their home people group, they often integrate themselves and their beliefs into the American people group by the 2nd or 3rd generations. Christianity is still common among Americans, but the faith has largely been marginalized to personal devotion. The historic influence of Christianity over the broader culture has mostly been lost.

Qaqortoq is a seaport and trading station. Fish and shrimp processing, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair are important activities, but the economy is based primarily on educational and administrative services. Per Buba , aka "welfare". Denmark to the rescue.

As mentioned, Qaqortoq is critically dependent upon investment from Denmark and relies heavily on Danish block funding. Of all exports produced in Qaqortoq, 70.1% are headed for the Danish market.

Not many dogs over this way? Hey Bubs, do they eat horses over here? "Does it look like Boca? Have ya seen a horse since you've been to Greenland? You are thinking of the Icelanders-yes they eat horse meat".

Souvenir shop....slim pickens but pent up demand by fellow cruisers.

And those darn mosquitoes were out in the chilly air and the rain-no wonder they sell those net hats.

Whale bone? Unicorn whale???

$7600????!!!!

A Disney character?

MYSTERY OF THE SEA....THE NARWHAL

For hundreds of years the purpose of the tusk on the narwhal, or "unicorn" whale, has stumped scientists and Inuit elders alike. It is an evolutionary mystery that defies many of the known principles of mammalian teeth.

A new study suggests the whales use their tusks to determine the salinity of water and search for food. And males may rub them together for as-yet unknown sensations.Narwhals range from 13 to 15 feet and weigh between 2,200 and 3,500 pounds. Many have an eight-foot-long tooth, or tusk, emerging from the left side of the upper jaw. The tooth's unique spiral, the degree of its asymmetry to the left side, and its odd distribution among most males and some females are all unique expressions of teeth in mammals.

Have you heard about these critters? Have you seen one?

$7600? Because you can.

Boca couldn't quite figure out what they were advertising?

Bubs wanted to know all about the hunting up here...

Hunted meats:

Sea mammals such as walrus, seal, and whale. Whale meat generally comes from the beluga whale and the bowhead whale. The latter is able to feed an entire community for nearly a year from its meat, blubber, and skin. Inuit hunters most often hunt juvenile whales which, compared to adults, are safer to hunt and have tastier skin. Ringed seal and bearded seal are the most important aspect of an Inuit diet and is often the largest part of an Inuit hunter's diet.
Land mammals such as caribou, polar bear, and muskox
Birds and their eggs
Saltwater and freshwater fish including sculpin, Arctic cod, Arctic char, capelin and lake trout.

Yes Polar Bear, this one thaws out on the kitchen table. Eww.

While it is not possible to cultivate native plants for food in the Arctic, Inuit have traditionally gathered those that are naturally available, including:
- Berries - crowberry and cloudberry
- Herbaceous plants such as grasses and fireweed
- Tubers and stems including mousefood, roots of various tundra plants which are cached by voles in underground burrows.
- Roots such as tuberous spring beauty and sweet vetch
- Seaweed
- There has been a decline in hunting due to the fact that young people lack the skills to survive off the land. They are no longer skilled in hunting like their ancestors and are growing more accustomed to the Qallunaat (white people) food that they receive from Denmark and other places. The high costs of hunting equipment- snowmobiles, rifles, sleds, camping gear, gasoline and oil contributes to the decline as well..but the hunting goes on. With a diet so heavily dependent on "meat" with so few veggies and fruits how do they fare health wise? I guess they are what they eat in the Arctic...just like in Naples.

How about some Muskoxen meatballs? Per Pleep -oh so delicious! Bubs and Boca missed the Tasting Tour (seriously) but heard from fellow cruisers it was quite tasty.

General Musk Ox Facts (per National Geographic)

Musk Oxen are well adapted to survive in the tundra of the Arctic. Their long thick wool enables them to survive in a habitat where not many animals can survive.
They are very protective of their cubs and feed them a herbivore diet.
Musk Oxen date back thousands of years to the Ice Age where they walked the earth along with woolly mammoths and saber tooth cats.
The Musk Oxen eat an omnivorous diet of mainly moss, roots and plants along with the summertime delicacy of flowers and grasses.
Qiviut yarn is the yarn that is produced from the undercoat of wool that has shed from the Musk Ox. It is said to be one of the finest fibers in the world, more luxurious than cashmere and much warmer than sheep wool.
There are two sub-species of Muskox; the Barren Ground Muskox and the Greenland or White-faced Muskox.
There are currently about 150,000 Muskox living worldwide.
The Musk Ox can be found living in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Siberia; the most northern parts of both North America and Eurasia.
Polar Bears, wolves and humans are the biggest threat to Musk Oxen. Foxes will often eat a carcass, but cannot overpower a Musk ox on their own.
Muskox range in size. Males are typically larger and weigh between 400-900 pounds (181 kg - 408 kg).
Calves are born directly into the snow in April after an eight month gestation period.
The Musk Oxen are normally slow moving animals but can run for short distances at speeds up to 25 mph (40 kph).

What about Europe's ban on seal products...been awful for the Inuits and for the seals!

It was reason enough for Greenland to quit the EU! But there are still reasons to lift the ban. A decrease in sustainable seal hunting has led to—predictably—regional overpopulation of seals. The seal population in the waters surrounding Greenland is an estimated 16 million (whereas the island’s human population barely crested 50,000 in 2013). They pose substantial competition to Greenland’s subsistence and commercial fishermen—a major problem for a country where fishing exports account for roughly 90% of economic output; and fish-product processing remains the largest industrial sector employing the most locals.

Per Reuters:

The EU has given the Greenlanders a special exemption so that traditionally hunted seal skins can be exported. But this dispensation is largely academic, by the admission of Hans Stielstra, head of international environmental issues at the European commission. “Their problem is that the general ban has destroyed the market in the EU,” says Stielstra. “It’s not so much that we are limiting the possibilities for the Inuit in Greenland to export seal products to the EU because they can, but the overall ban will remain in place unless the council and the parliament decide otherwise.”

The EU is about to tweak its legislation on seal imports to accommodate the World Trade Organisation.

The Greenlanders will appeal to MEPs to fund an information campaign to counter anti-sealskin propaganda in an attempt to make their pelts more attractive to consumers and restore exports to pre-ban levels.

“To punish a whole population, many of whom live on the margins of existence, on the basis of wrong facts, is very sad,” says Andersen.

In March, the Greenlanders lobbied France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, when he visited the city of Ilulissat to grasp the extent of climate change in advance of Paris’s hosting a United Nations conference on the issue in December. He was sympathetic to the hunters’ plight, but was not optimistic about influencing change within the EU.

Greenpeace and PETA NOW apologize for their misguided propaganda. Really?

Greenland is not for sissies. Very glad and happy and worthwhile to visit and experience Greenland. A unique part of the world, that's for sure! A once in a lifetime trip...and once was truly enough.

Back on the Explorer, the captain announced, jumbo iceberg ahead...where is the dang thing Pleep?? Turn around Boca- don't you know your starboard from your port? Didn't Bubba teach you port is a 4 letter word- hello "left" side of the boat. Well, duh. Nice hair Boca- very Greenlandic. Per Bubs, "ya better get next to some chapstick".