Entering its 17th year at the forefront of whale watching in Iceland the year 2011 will be one of tremendous progress for North Sailing as plans to expand operations in North Iceland have been implemented. Situated West of Húsavík at the mouth of Eyjafjörður fjord the quaint village of Ólafsfjörður has been chosen as…
In the final days before Christmas our webpage’s newsmonger took a stroll to the harbor and watched with interest while some North Sailing employees were at work. The day went smoothly and all workers were relaxed and very clear that Christmas was approaching. They had just finished covering the schooner Hildur and some were polishing…
Recently, several employees of North Sailing have been busy restoring the new workshop at Höfðaver, both internally and externally. Earlier this fall a fence was set up around the property and new soil was placed around the storage container which is expected to store oak and other hardwood which the company needs to keep in…
As already mentioned in our latest news, one of North Sailing’s boats, Náttfari is being restored this winter. Today, a new 420 horsepower Scania engine was hauled aboard with a powerful crane, operated by Omar Egilsson Stefán Gunnarsson and Alli had complete control over the project and transferred the machine onboard and into the engine…
This summer, North Sailing opened a branch office in the heart of Reykjavík, Austurstræti 17. The webpage’s newsmonger dropped by to visit the head of the office, Birna Lind Björnsdóttir Sales and Marketing Manager. Birna started working for North Sailing on June 1st, 2010 and has since handled sales and marketing for the…
The newsmonger was visiting the capital last week and thought it ideal to visit one of North Sailing’s employee, Þórdís Jóhannesdóttir. Þórdís is currently studying Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland and if everything goes as planned she recives her MA degree next spring. Þórdís has been a guide for North Sailing…
The oil tanks have been emptied and cleaned, the gearbox, the steering gear, the axle and propeller have been removed and taken to the workshop for inspection and revision. The total steering gear will be renewed, all electric equipment will be changed, woodwork will take place on the boat especially in the rear part.…
North Sailing is very focused on recycling and re-use of every kind of metal or woods possible. However, the company regularly has to dispose of the accummulated scrap metal, using special disposal containers. Some materials can be used again and again, and Alli carefully monitors the scrap ! …
The gearbox of Náttfari was hauled out and transported to the workshop for revision. This gearbox certainly has served its purpose since the boat was launched in 1965 and is still in good condition, even after 45 years of use. Overhaul of gearboxes in boats are quite common and usually the gearboxes have…
In the past weeks some of North Sailing‘s staff have been working on the new timber workshop in Höfðaver, installing a ventilated room for oil and varnish work. On the pictures are Bjössi Sör and Hreiðar Olgeirs, doing preparation work on some tables and benches before putting on varnish. Also in the finished ventilation…
A hole was cut on the starboard side to extract the broken Cummins engine out of the engine room. A powerful crane from a local company was used and handled professionally without any mishap – a successful operation. We let the pictures speak for themselves.
Two boats, Bjössi Sör and Náttfari have now been moved to the shipyard for restauration and makeover. Schooner Haukur and Knörrinn are ready by the buoys on the outer harbour, waiting their turn.
On June 19, the engine of Náttfari, one of North Sailing‘s most important boats broke down. This was very unfortunate for the summer operation and due to the seriousnes of the engine failure, the decision was taken to postpone it‘s repair until autumn. Immense manpower was therefore put into finishing restauration of oak…
Our whale watching season has come to an end our last day of operation was October 17th, but we have been very fortunate with the weather and whale sightings in September and beginning of October – we are confident that our visitors return to their home countries with good memories and fantastic pictures. We invite…
The past days have been really good; good weather and good whales. On Saturday three humback whales were seen along with two minkes and yesterday our guide, Christian, describes the trip so: The weather was really great when I went out with captain Hrólfur onboard “Bjössi Sör” this morning. When leaving the harbour, we…
On the 18th of August 2010 the schooner Hildur set sail from Húsavík, Iceland on it’s journey to the east coast of Greenland. Captain and expedition leader was Heimir Harðarson and most of the crew were employees of North-Sailing. The destination of the journey was Scoresby Sound which extends about 350 km into the coastline…
We‘ve now got more word on the Greenland expedition of Hildur. Crew member Gísli just sent us some pictures and told us a little bit about how the expedition has been going. Since we last heard from them they have reached Ittoqqortoormiit where, after getting instructions from the inhabitants, they dropped anchor. Remy one of…
We just got word from Captain Heimir on the Greenland expedition of Hildur. They have after less than 48 hours sailing reached Scoresbysund on the east coast of Greenland. Scoresbysund is called Kangertittivaq in Greenlandic and is the longest fjord in the world stretching some 350 km from the Greenland Sea. On the way and…
North Sailings annual celebration was thrown the night of the 17th of August. As usual the destination was a surprise so the employees were herded onto a bus and this time the bus went east. After a short drive we arrived at Sultir in Kelduhverfi where the celebration would be thrown in an old barn.…
Hildur is now being readied for an expedition to Greenland. She will leave tomorrow and is scheduled to return on the 28th or 29th of August. It will be manned by North Sailings schooner crews. This expedition is being undertaken to research the possibility of sailing with passengers to Greenland. As the pictures show preparations…