Our Start at Garður
Date: 07/13/2007
Our Start at Garður for 56mi crossing of Faxaflói Bay. The first of hundreds of lighthouses.
My "desk". The GPS proved invaluable in the fog.
Date: 06/21/2007
Dense fog but sooner or later a Headland appeared through the mist...
Date: 06/13/2007
Lunch break on glassy (icy) flat water
Date: 06/10/2007
GPS, Epirb, 2 VHF radios, flares, Sat-phone – but a soaked cellphone...
Date: 06/11/2007
Midnight – after 15 hrs of paddling the hourly breaks grow a bit longer...
Date: 06/10/2007
Our "orange rescue hut" at 2 am, after the first crossing of Faxaflói Bay by kayak (56mi)
Date: 06/10/2007
Calm seas and as we start to “round the bend”
Date: 06/10/2007
...still taking the time to check all the holes in the rocks...
Date: 06/10/2007
The cliffs became higher…
Date: 06/13/2007
The birds on the wall number in the thousands…
Date: 06/22/2007
…and blizzards of birds above and around us.
Date: 06/20/2007
2nd big crossing
Date: 06/10/2007
The 2nd big crossing started at 3:30 pm…the planned arrival was 4:30 am…
Delayed by headwinds we arrived at Raudasandur after 22 hrs (62mi), 8:30 am…
Date: 06/11/2007
We needed to warm-up, eat a good breakfast and some rest in the morning sun…
Date: 06/11/2007
We had been reported “lost” – and a search was underway
Date: 06/11/2007
I cleared the situation with some phone calls and a trek to the farm…
Date: 06/11/2007
…but people wanted their story! - and we got no rest… :-(
Date: 06/11/2007
Rounding the headland, waterfalls and more bird cliffs
Date: 06/13/2007
… some of such scale that you had to strain your neck …
Date: 06/13/2007
…some decorated with clouds.
Date: 06/13/2007
We examined an orange "rescue hut"
Date: 06/13/2007
…well, inside not too bad after 15 hrs on the water.
Date: 06/13/2007
The rescue huts are meant for emergency use so on the few occasions that we used them we ensured that they were cleaner and in better shape after we left, and we were careful not to disturb any of the supplies.
Calm seas and as we start to “round the bend”
Date: 06/12/2007
Primeval wide open vistas in the N.W. Fiords
Date: 06/14/2007
The N.W. Fiords are one of the most beautiful places that I have ever witnessed. Fantastic!
The "rescue“ hut we called the "space shuttle" -- a plastic UFO on the steep shore.
Date: 06/14/2007
It looked pretty modern with a glass door, but the floor was flooded.
Date: 06/14/2007
“Messy polenta”. Eating every hour but burning more calories than taking in.
Date: 06/14/2007
High time for a freshwater shower...
Date: 06/15/2007
Water is heavy and I really took a battering, but it felt really, really, good!
We round the horn in bright sunshine…
Date: 06/15/2007
But the fog soon returned, hiding sea stacks and all scenery…
Date: 06/15/2007
Whale Vertebra
Date: 06/16/2007
Heaven! A hot (geothermal) Icelandic pool.
Date: 06/17/2007
First chores were waiting– some laundry needed to be done!
Date: 06/16/2007
After a long crossing in fog, the fog lifts to reveal snow-capped mountains.
Date: 06/19/2007
Approaching Siglufjördur (the northernmost town in Iceland) for a day‘s break.
Date: 06/20/2007
Enjoying the colorful village and our first Internet access!
Date: 06/20/2007
24 hrs of daylight – Freya creates darkness with a sock and headgear
Date: 06/19/2007
Lagey Island – a typical offshore rock
Date: 06/22/2007
View from top of Lagey Island of our small landing harbor.
Date: 06/21/2007
A steep (and rickety) climb to the top
Date: 06/21/2007
Puffin-watcher’s hut on top of Lagey
Date: 06/22/2007
Puffin colony on Lagey overlooking Háey Island
Date: 06/22/2007
water stop
Date: 06/26/2007
Fresh water sources abound...
Date: 06/26/2007
Langanes. Waterfalls and cliffs are now rare. Old home sites often have water source.
Date: 06/23/2007
…But the house was occupied only by wild horses…
Date: 06/23/2007
We haven’t found water yet, but some old, very heavy oars
Date: 06/23/2007
We find the spring.
Date: 06/23/2007
Stormbound on Langanes
Date: 06/23/2007
Dodging the wind. Midnight sun camp at Svartnes lighthouse.
Date: 06/25/2007
Freya relaxes in the comfort of her “rocky armchair”
Date: 06/25/2007
Paddling through a thick foam carpet gives exciting muffled sounds
Date: 06/30/2007
Next day we had a bit of rough weather, that kept building…
Date: 06/25/2007
Climbing the next “water mountain”…
Date: 06/26/2007
Disappearing amongst the waves. Blacks seas and a black kayak…
Date: 10/02/2007
…Until it was really time to stop.
Date: 06/26/2007
Bakkagerði. Split paddle to prevent tent from collapsing in storm.
Date: 06/27/2007
High winds and rain. For Freya, waiting was the hardest part…
Date: 06/28/2007
We were invited to leave our soggy tent and enjoy a stay in an unused loft.
Date: 06/27/2007
Palmi, a local kayaker, took us for a day of offroading, Iceland style.
Date: 06/28/2007
...Through Plenty of Water…
Date: 06/28/2007
Including snow at the mountain passes…
Date: 06/28/2007
Nesting Female Eider duck from which down is collected.
Date: 06/28/2007
Down is separated from feathers and sterilized…
Date: 06/28/2007
One of the few remaining turf houses
Date: 06/26/2007
Graveyard slowly being eroded by the sea…
Date: 06/28/2007
WWII-era Allied mines still wash ashore in Iceland or are caught in fishing nets
Date: 07/03/2007
Waves and wind starting to calm. Maybe go tomorrow?
Date: 06/28/2007
A rare lunch stop out of the kayaks – in the “weeds”
Date: 06/30/2007
Taking refuge for the night in a gully.
Date: 07/01/2007
Peaceful Höfn harbor – guarded by the most dangerous inlet in Iceland.
Date: 07/03/2007
Höfn is a popular tourist gateway to the Vatnajökull ice-sheet
Date: 07/02/2007
“Freyja” – Queen of the Valkyries
Date: 07/03/2007
The entrance to a different world – Jökulsálón Lagoon
Date: 07/05/2007
Bergy-bits crowd the lagoon
Date: 07/05/2007
Taking endless pictures…
Date: 07/05/2007
Illuminated arches of ice beckon…
Date: 02/05/2010
And we comply…
Date: 07/05/2007
It should be noted that getting up close and personal to icebergs is quite dangerous and kayakers have died as a result. Bergs can calve or roll suddenly with disastrous consequences.
A maze of ice.
Date: 07/05/2007
Our kayaks provided a much more intimate view of the lagoon…
Date: 07/05/2007
"Night" falls over Jökulsálón Lagoon
Date: 07/05/2007
Freya’s “organic” skeg – a remora!
Date: 07/06/2007
“As slippery as an eel….”
Date: 07/05/2007
Sandblasted kayaks in the morning…
Date: 07/06/2007
The South Coast. Endless black sand desert.
Date: 07/06/2007
Sand as far inland as the eye can see – caused by volcanic/glacial flooding
110 km to reach this sand-blasted and last shelter on the south coast
Date: 07/07/2007
Black dust everywhere. Maybe we should just setup the tent?
Date: 07/07/2007
We made the best of it. At least we were out of the wind.
Date: 07/07/2007
Milky water – glacier river runoff. Soon to be past the deserts!
Date: 07/10/2007
There’s more than meets the eye in the desert…
Date: 07/07/2007
Although sometimes only on the second take…
Date: 07/08/2007
Vik is famous for its fabulous sea stacks
Date: 07/07/2007
Sea stacks in many fanciful shapes are a product of erosion…
Date: 07/08/2007
Not only stacks but also arches…
Date: 07/08/2007
Prepared for a sandstorm…
Date: 07/08/2007
2 a.m. in the black desert but all you want to do is sleep…
Date: 07/09/2007
"Night" paddling to dodge the wind.
Date: 07/09/2007
Flying a “Kokatat” kite in the warm black desert wind
Date: 07/08/2007
Rough seas and 90km to complete our journey.
Date: 07/11/2007
Viking Ship Modern Sculpture, Reykjavik
Date: 07/16/2007
Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik
Date: 02/01/2010
Lovely Hallgrimskirkja, a modern church, is the tallest building in Iceland
Islendingur and period building
Date: 02/01/2010
Reconstructed Viking Ship, Islendingur (the Icelander). Sailed to New York.
Date: 07/16/2007
Islendingur
Date: 02/01/2010
topside rigging
Date: 02/01/2010
Lines as graceful as a kayak!
Date: 02/01/2010
A rivulet of meltwater on the glacier
Date: 02/01/2010
Ready to rumble on the glacier
Date: 02/01/2010
The obligatory geysir picture....
Date: 02/01/2010
The thundering Gullfoss waterfall.
Date: 02/01/2010
Gullfoss (Golden Falls) is located in the canyon of Hvítá river in southwest Iceland
Moonscape...
Date: 02/01/2010
My first feeling as my jet descended on approach to Iceland was that of an astronaut approaching the moon's surface. Iceland is young, lovely and raw.
With a little paint and a new battery....
Date: 02/01/2010
Abandoned farms dot the coast as more and more Icelanders move to the cities.
Clean geothermal powers Iceland.
Date: 02/01/2010
The last day we relaxed in the Blue Lagoon
Date: 07/16/2007
Soaking Tired Muscles in the Scalding Water…
Date: 07/16/2007