Opal and Donna Wood depart for Greenland

Sailing ships Opal and Donna Wood have departed for Greenland. The ships left Húsavík harbour yesterday and are headed for Scoresby Sound. Electrically powered sailing ship Opal on the left, and sailing ship Donna Wood on the right ©Christian Harboe-Hansen   Captain Heimir Harðarson reported today that the trip is going well and all systems…

North Sailing – the Future of Sustainable Whale Watching and Adventure Sailing

Schooner Opal   North Sailing is formally launching the electrically driven sailing ship, Opal. Húsavík – Sunday, 12 July, from 14:00-15:00 o’clock. Electrical motor installed   North Sailing, along with a team of Icelandic and Nordic collaborators, has developed a new, specially designed Regenerative Plug-in Hybrid-Electric Propulsion system. The electrical system will later be installed…

The world’s first zero-carbon whale watching

North Sailing, a small whale watching company from the tiny fishing village of Husavík on the edge of the Arctic Circle is braving the waves of innovation to make trips to the dockside gas pump a thing of the past for the world’s marine and yachting industry. On July 12th North Sailing Husavík launches the…

Donna Wood arrives in Húsavík harbour

The oak sailing ship Donna Wood arrives in Húsavík harbour tomorrow afternoon, May 17th. The ship will be open to viewing shortly after arrival and light snacks will be served in Restaurant Gamli Baukur at 16:00 pm to celebrate the newest addition to the North Sailing fleet. Donna Wood is latest addition to the North…

Donna Wood report

Donna Wood is now midway between Shetlands islands and the Faroye Islands. We received a status report from the crew stating that the trip from Skagen in Denmark to the Shetlands islands was favourable in terms of winds and sailing conditions. The crew weathered off a storm in Lerwick in the Shetland islands for a…

Donna Wood is en route to Iceland

The sailing ship Donna Wood, recently purchased by North Sailing is en route to Iceland. The trip is going well and the ship sailed in to port Lerwick in the Shetland islands at around 10 am yesterday morning. Sailing ship Donna Wood is the newest addition to the North Sailing fleet of oak ships.

Two whale watching tours today

Due to a labour strike in Iceland – only two whale wathing tours (NS-1) )are scheduled today (May 7th) from Húsavík.   Departures are at 10:00 and 13:30.   The price for the tour is 9.300 ISK for adults and 3.800 ISK for 7-15 years. Passengers under 7 years are free of charge.   Further…

A sign of a good summer

It´s not exactly what one would first think of as a sign of a good summer, but Icelandic folklore says different. A view from Café Hvalbakur terrace – overlooking Gamli Baukur Restaurant   The story goes like this: If winter and summer frees together, the summer will be good. Perhaps this is a part of…

North Sailing presents an electric future

North Sailing presented recent developments last Friday, 17 April in Reykjavík, for travel agencies in Reykjavík and people from the tourism industry.   Birna Lind Björnsdóttir and Árni Sigurbjarnarson   Birna Lind Björnsdóttir, Head of Sales and Communication, presented North Sailing’s product range and on-going projects. Árni Sigurbjarnarson, one of the owners of North Sailing,…

The Humpback is back in Skjálfandi Bay

The humpback is back in Skjálfandi Bay after a long winter in the Caribbean Sea. First animals were sighted yesterday on North Sailing´s oak ship Náttfari.   © Hörður Jónasson  – A photo taken yesterday of a humpback in Skjálfandi Bay   The humpback whale, 11-19 m in length, is a baleen whale, like the…

Electric motor challenge at the shipyard

As part of the installment of a new unique Regenerative Plug-in Hybrid Propulsion system in the sailing ship Opal, North Sailing ship builders at the Húsavík shipyard faced a tough challenge. Traditional Sailing ship Opal How to get the 1.5 ton electric motor down into the engine room of the 64 years old oak ship…

The blue whale is in Skjálfandi bay

Crew and passengers on board the whale watching boat Náttfari spotted a blue whale just before 11:00 am today. Blue whale diving   According to captain Már Eyfjörð Höskuldsson, the blue whale seems to be feeding in the bay. Skjálfandi bay is one of the few places in Iceland where the blue whale – this…

Electrified atmosphere at North Sailing

North Sailing recently purchased two VW e-Golf electric cars in accordance with the company´s environmental policy. The cars will be used by the sales office in Reykjavík and the main office in Húsavík. From left: Birna Lind Björnsdóttir sales manager at North Sailing, Árni Þorsteinsson sales manager for VW cars at Hekla dealership and Heimir…

Solar Eclipse Special a great success

Today, March 20th at 09:41 am, a Solar Eclipse of around 98% was viewable from North Iceland. This was the darkest Eclipse in Iceland for more then 60 years or since 1954. The next one of this magnitude is in the year 2026. Sailing ship Hildur leaving Húsavík harbour at 8:30 for the Solar Eclipse…