Rough and successful

Today the weather was worse than usual, and the sea was very rough, but even with these conditions we succeeded on our look out for the whales. We took two tours today on Gardar, Gilfy, Águst, Samuel, Baldur and me. The weather in Iceland can change very very fast, and during the first trip it…

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WE care about our whales!!!!!

Today was a successful whale watching day again. The summer still decides to stay away from Iceland. However, the cold temperatures seem to improve the feeding situation in the bay. This morning we had the chance to observe a feeding humpack whale. The animal was very calm and relaxed, spending a lot of time at the…

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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…

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Three species close up!

We’re kind of getting used to the autumn-like weather, so we weren’t really surprised when also this day started quite grey and misty. We sailed into the western part of the bay, aiming for the fishrock. The area around the fishrock is known to be a rich fishing ground for the fishermen and thus a…

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North Sailing: A Milestone in Eco-Friendly Transportation

Today marks a milestone in eco-friendly transportation as the newly transformed electrically powered schooner Opal embarks on her first whale watching tour. With the outer appearance of a traditional gaff-rigged sailing ship, the vessel is without a doubt the most technologically advanced ship in the North Sailing fleet. Among guests of the renewed Opal’s virgin…

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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…

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A bay full of humpbacks and dolphins

Whale Watching continues to be really successful these days here in Skjálfandi Bay and today was no exception: Just a few minutes after we had left the harbour this morning, we already spotted two humpback whales that were swimming together and surfaced several times right next to our boat. We were still pretty close to…

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An amazing whale fest!

Today we had amazing encounters with the whales of Skjálfandi. The weather was nice and the sea was calm.   I started the day with the 10 o’clock tour. After only about 20 minutes of sailing we spotted a humpback whale. We stopped there for a while but the humpback was diving for a long…

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Blue and Humpback whales!

We set out this morning on Garðar, knowing we had been lucky and found whales the previous day, but as always, cautious as there might be no one left in the bay. However it didn’t take us long to find a humpback whale. After seeing it dive and show his/her flukes we moved on as…

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Playing with the giants

As we say during the tours, the bay is full of life these days; and yesterday was not an exception. Marina, Starri,Hilmar, Runar, Hrólfur and me sailed with big groups of passengers on Gardar expecting the best for the day.   And we found some really good sights. We were still close to Húsavík when…

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Blue whale meeting

When we left the harbor this morning, the bay was filled with with fog. Difficult conditions, actually, to find some animals. However, we were optimistic and started heading in northwesterly direction. Suddenly the fog started to clear and we got an amazing look at the beatiful mountains in the western part pf Skjálfandi Bay. And…

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Three species – and the SUN!!!!!!

How exciting is that – the SUN is visiting Húsavík!!!!! We almost forgot how that yellowish circular thing in the sky looked like. 😉 However, it was still pretty cold out at sea today and sometimes we were even surrounded by dense fog, which is kind of challenging when you’re looking for some whales… But…

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No summer – but great whales!

The summer still doesn’t want to come to Iceland. Today it was as cold as it has been the previous days. In addition to that, we got some misty rain, limiting the visibility and challenging us to find the marine mammals. But if we can’t rely on the summer this year, at least we can…

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A lunge-feeding day in Skjálfandi Bay

Apart from modest rain and poor visibility as the bay was overcast from morning to afternoon, it was a great day, with three species on the morning tour (Blue Whale, Humpback Whale, also White-beaked Dolphins briefly) all more or less in the same spot and the same took place on the afternoon tour, less the…

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Always an adventure!!!

The people who visit Iceland are usually adventurous travellers, seeking adventure. Well today, North Sailing’s guests were in for a treat. As we like to remind our guests, whale-watching is nothing like visiting a zoo. Not only are the whales not trained to pop up anytime we want to, but the Skalfandi Bay is no…

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