The story of North Sailing

The history of North Sailing begins in 1994, when brothers Árni and Hörður Sigurbjarnarson purchased a 20-ton oak boat – Knörrinn – and brought it to Húsavík.

North Sailing's first boat, Knörrinn in 1996 

Originally they planned simply to save the boat from the scrapyard. Until then, any vessel which gave up its traditional role as a fishing boat was simply broken up.

"Sunbathing minke whale" one of the more famous whale
watching pictures from the early times.  Taken by Heimir
Hardarson on a sunny day onboard Knörrinn in 1996.

Traditional methods of oak boat construction had long since been abandoned following the introduction of materials like plastic, aluminium and steel.

Preserving the skills and knowledge associated with wooden boat building was essential to maintain the few remaining oak boats and to make this financially viable, a new role had to be found for these boats. The answer was whale- and nature-watching and in its first summer Knörrin sailed with 1,700 passengers.

During the first 4 and a half year there were no floating
piers and after Haukur, North Sailing's second boat was
bought only one of the two boats could dock and the
other one had to be on it's side.

North Sailing was the first company in Iceland to provide daily scheduled whale-watching tours. It was soon clear that this was going to be hugely popular and that Knörrinn was especially suitable to its new found role. When the numbers of passengers had mulitiplied to 5,600 people in the summer of 1996, it became clear that another boat would be needed.

The company North Sailing ehf. had four founder members- brothers Árni & Hörður Sigurbjarnarson, along with Heimir Harðarson and Hotel Húsavík under the leadership of Páll Þór Jónsson. Hotel Húsavík later sold its share in the company to the other founding members.

Following the purchase of their second boat, Haukur, the company had 2 boats in service during the summer of 1998, and just a year later a much larger boat, Náttfari, was added to the fleet. The Head Offices of North Sailing, Gamli Baukur, had been constructed by then on Húsavík harbour-side, and, with a new floating pier directly in front, facilities were completely revolutionised. Gamli Baukur itself, was designed to illustrate the sea- and fishing culture of Húsavík and to house a restaurant, which has since proved to be hugely popular with tourists and locals alike.

Svartibakki, with NS office, backup kitchen for Restaurant
Gamli Baukur and toilets built in 2006. Café Skuld located
on the roof.

The company’s founders have always held a keen interest in sailing and drew up plans to convert one of the boats into a two-mast schooner. Haukur was considered most suitable and after the addition of masts and rigging, the magnificent boat slipped down the slipway at Húsavík in June 2002.
In the same summer the company invested in its fourth boat; the choice was a 30-ton boat, previously used for hunting minke whales. The boat was re-named Bjössi Sör in honour of Sigurbjörn Sörenson. Sigurbjörn, father of the company’s founding brothers Árni and Hörður, along with his wife Hildur, has worked tirelessly to ensure North Sailing’s continued success.

From its earliest days, North Sailing has been at the forefront of innovation and development in Icelandic whale-watching. This has been recognised in national and international awards to the company. The directors of North Sailing continue to follow their main objective of developing environmental friendly tourism in and around Húsavík