Wind at 35 knots and reasonable visibility at Constable Point this morning so we took off in the helicopter at 0900. We flew low through the valleys to avoid the worst of the wind on the mountains. Made it about halfway to Mestersvig before coming up against a wall of low cloud and fog moving in from the coast. The pilot changed course down the next westerly valley trying to find a passage, but the East wind kept pushing the fog bank towards us. After the next valley, and the next, we finally we made it as far as the mountains, but these are a no go because of the high winds.
On the way out we had been joking (nervously on my part) about the rough air turbulence. If the pilot looks panicked I will panic. In the meantime I will just have to live with the bumps.
The pilot checked his fuel – “we had better turn back” – good idea to make it home without any drama.
We were chased back by a low bank of low cloud all the way to Constable Point – had to fly zigzag (and sideways) round to the fjord before we could finally land.
A quick conference over a coffee and we have a plan. The cloud is not likely to lift today but the wind might drop. We will therefore try again in the morning. Hopefully the cloud will settle over the mountains and we can try the coast.
The camp at Kap Stosch has an ample supply of food and water so it is now just a waiting game with the weather.