What a difference a couple of days make

What a difference a couple of days make. we have moved on and time to catch up. 

A small weather window opened up Friday morning and we decided to sail from Seydisfjordur to Vopnafjordur. The forecast was for the 30-40 knot north-easterlies to ease to 22 to 15-18 on Friday for a 24 hour stretch. Saturday was to be windier with bigger seas. So after checking weather Friday morning, the decision was made to make the 65 nm. passage to Vopnafjordur. All started as planned, a decent day and moderate winds except the winds steadily increased from 15- 20 Knots to 26-28 knots. And seas were not small. At least the morning drizzle ended. After a while. But the head wind was daunting and the cross swell kept our motor sailing tacking angles to 110 degrees. So the 10 hour sail turned into a 13 hour ordeal. A bit painful overall as we took our lumps and arrived at 10:30 PM.. But arrival felt sweet none the less, and Doug was there to meet us.

Doug had hired a car for land travel in Seydisfjordur and he drove to meet us there, doing some reconnaissance on the way up. And speaking of renting cars, at least you need a drivers licence and credit card in Iceland. In the Faroes all you needed was cash. No card. No driver's license. Just cash. Although it should probably be recommended that you have a license.

We had a nice and very late fish taco dinner that night for Doug’s Friday farewell as he left for home Saturday morning. Thus, we all went to bed very late Friday night, 1 AM, but it didn’t really matter as it was still light outside anyway. You go from a late sunset, say 11:30 PM to an early sunrise around 1:30 AM. It never really gets past an early dusk before it turns to a light dawn, so you would never really need to turn your headlights on.

Sunday was a slow catch-up day for us, resting up. Still cloudy but no rain and less wind finally. We again had tied to a double level tired tiered wharf and I was shy to leave the boat for too long in case we become encumbered in the grips of holy rubber. No worries, I had plenty of chores on my to-do list to fill my time. Sunday morning the mayor of Vopnafjordur drove out to greet us. Thor took us into town and to the grocery and we learned that the town was one of the largest foreign commercial fish processing plants in Iceland. Vopnafjordur spews out a significant percentage of Iceland's foreign export. Thor was entirely gracious and helped arrange for a car rental for Chuck and Deb – although it ended up being much more costly than the short term rental initially discussed. And he arranged for us to come alongside an inner floating pontoon across from the Rescue Boat but I eventually did not move as the shoehorn it required to nuzzle in was not worth a short over night stay. And fortunately the wind turned to blow us OFF the wharf for the rest of the day and night.

Cruiser’s Nugget: The  harbormaster’s name in Vopnafjordur is Kristinn and his phone numbers are (00354) 473 1299 or 898 5298.

We sailed on Sunday for Raufarhofn. A small commercial town with a well protected harbour, it is strategically located to break up the sail from Vopnafjordur to Husavik. Winds were light but we had a decent  motor sail with reacher out, very pleasant. Still cloudy though. The inner harbor is small with floating pontoons in the shallows and  a wooden wharf to tie to just past the Rescue Boat which was full with three fishing boats. Towns people were out to greet and gaze at us and someone shouted out to us the phone number of the harbormaster. A good thing as no one had answered calls on Ch 16 or 12. He was very nice and at my behest, allowed us to tie to any one of the fishing boats. We chose the outside boat which was a good choice as the other two boats went out that evening.

Cruiser’s Nugget: Raufarhofn Harbormaster phone number is (00354) 861 2880.

We awakened to a bright and sunny Monday morning in Raufarhofn. Stupendous day. And so was the sail to Husavik. Sunny with a modest breeze, the livin' was as easy as the swells. There was sunning on the fore deck and exercise on the mid deck. A fine day...

Beam and then broad reaching in easing seas and 14-18 knots followed by a long stretch of sailing wing & wing. Snow capped peaks and whales spouting in the distance. This is more like it!

We rounded Tjoernes peninsula and it's light house and were visited by many resident birds. Husavik was just a short way down the fjord.

Arrival in Husavik Monday afternoon was smooth. Husavik is an active port and a major whale watching center in Iceland and the harbormasters there were professional and helpful .We tied to a wooden wharf with perfectly aligned vertical planking and vertical rubber bumpers that were just a bit more slender than our fenders so our fenders kept the boat off the bumpers. Good tie up with no tires to encumber us. 

Cruiser's nugget: Contact number for the harbormaster's office is (00354) 464 6175. Duty officer phone number is 893 9175. Julius and Johannes are courteous and friendly.

Plan is for a road trip on Tuesday to see local inland sights such as Dettifoss Waterfall. It should be warm and sunny. We will stay in Husavik 2 or three days, likely to leave Thursday with fair winds.

Best wishes from Bill and crew.