Re: [Paddlewise] Wreckhouse winds- Greenland

There was an article in Seakayaker Magazine a few years ago about a group
of four people visiting Greenland, I believe two men and two women. They
rented kayaks and went for a scenic tour in nice weather. Fierce winds 
suddenly
pushed them away from shore and toward open water. Three people barely
made it to shore. One woman, the smallest member of the group, was blown
out to sea and never found. I decided then I would never paddle in 
Greenland.

Bradford R. Crain

Subject: [Paddlewise] Wreckhouse winds- Greenland


> This morning I saw on the news wires a report about 15 kayakers (three
> groups) missing on the coast of Greenland. Within an hour, follow up 
> reports
> indicated they were found safe ashore.
>
> They were hit by storm winds falling off ice fields at enormous
> speeds-rather like the winds we recently discussed in Newfoundland.
>
> None of these paddlers died, even though there were some capsizes. It 
> seems
> some of the paddlers were in the water for a while.
>
> The hurricane-strength winds there are called 'piteraq' winds.
>
> You can find several published stories on this case by searching Google 
> news
> "Missing kayakers Greenland".
>
> It would be great if someone can dig up some more detailed information on
> this case. Maybe Tord has an inside track on this.
>
> Chuck Sutherland
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************