After nearly fifty hours at sea on passage from Battle Harbour, the crew of Spirit of Portsmouth finally reached the shore in Greenland after crossing the Labrador sea. Although winds were light, they were driving through thick fog for 400 miles, drenched by heavy rain for 36 hours at temperatures barely above freezing point.

On this leg, the gamble on the ice conditions taken by the crew to reach their next refuelling point failed to pay off, and they met 10 mile wide fields of pack ice off Greenland's coast. The ice was up to 4 metres high and despite countless attempts to find a way through, they returned to a position 30 miles offshore.

Abandoning the original destination of Nanortalik, Spirit of Portsmouth was forced to turn north towards the high Arctic where ice reports, received on board by VHF radio, indicated a better chance of landing. However, after crossing 610 miles of the hazardous Labrador Sea, they were forced to call for assistance from an ice breaker to open up a passage to Arsuk, where the crew received every support ans assistance.

The 110 mile detour meant that fuel supplies ran perilously low. Refuelling facilities have now been provided, and the voyage is expected to continue on Wednesday morning if ice conditions improve.