62°42’N 013°24’W Saturday, 11-10-2025
Autumn in the North Atlantic… Big puffs, but no more puffins. Except for a few young birds, they have all left for the open water. We left Reykjavik a few days ago to retrace the steps of the Vikings once again. A weather front was expected to come through. My plan was to make enough southing to stay out of the strong winds.
Leaving port, the sea was running heavy and full of energy — slowing us down and making my initial plan a bit too adventurous. We opted for Vestmannaeyjar Island, a small volcanic outcrop on the south coast of Iceland. The island grew in 1973 after a major eruption. More recent activity has turned Grindavík into a ghost town just 50 nautical miles to the west.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the cause of all this tumult. It cuts Iceland in half — the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet right here and rub against each other. We found a safe place to sit out the coming blow. The downside was that it would take two days…
When the gusts came through in the early evening, we were all very happy to be sitting this one out alongside. My initial thought is always that a boat is safest at sea. We once departed from Fremantle because a sea started to run in the harbour, caused by a southerly buster. The violent movement was damaging the bulwarks — to leave was the only option. I said then that I would never do that again…
In Vestmannaeyjar we were safely hidden away behind the tall cliffs. The next morning we set off to climb those same cliffs and have a look at the state of the sea. That afternoon, one last blow came through, and the next day we were off again. Lifting on the strong southwesterly winds, we logged 10 knots for most of the time.
We finally lost the wind early this afternoon and are now waiting for the next set to come and take us the remaining 180 nautical miles to Klaksvík.
All is well,
Gijs
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