After an hour of warming up, we headed to the harbor to catch a boat back to Ilulissat. We didn't expect anything to go wrong when we approached the boat at 9:20, and tried to get in.
- Where are you going? - asked the captain.
- Ilulissat.
- No Ilulissat - he turned away.
What? Why? We showed him our tickets and the schedule.
- No, no, we go to Assiat. Come back at 1 pm.
Well, we had a plane that day at 2 pm, the boat was at least two hours, so there was no way we would make it back on time - we explained.
- No, no, no boat.
The boat slowly disappeared from the view. Well, we had to call Disco Line and Air Greenland to see what we could do. The only place where we were able to do it was the tourist office, with the owner we befriended the day before.
Lars called Disco Line as soon as they opened: no response. He tried several more times - nope. We managed to find an email from Disko Island saying "Unfortunately, your boat has been cancelled. You are rebooked for 18:00". Considering that our plane was at 2 pm, we couldn't take the boat at 6 pm. We called Air Greenland - no, it wasn't possible to change our tickets. The only way to get a ticket next day was to buy a new one for 2560 DKR ($400).
The Disko Line still hasn't answered.
"Would someone at the harbor agree to give us a ride back if we pay them?" - we asked Lars. Apparently yes, it was possible, if we were ready to pay at least 1000 DRK/person ($140). I asked Lars to print out the note in Greenlandic explaining the situation - he printed it in both Greenlandic and Danish. In theory, the note said "We have to go to Ilulissat now, ready to pay, please", but it could say anything, including "we are so dumb, need to go to Ilulissat".