Humpback and minke whales

During the last couple of days we have always seen one or two humpback whales on all our tours, so I was also pretty optimistic today when we left the harbour at 10:00 on „Bjössi Sör“. We set the course towards the area where the humpbacks had been around during the weekend, but the first…

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A beautiful late-summer feast

This past weekend out on Skjálfandi bay was absolutely amazing! In our 10:00 clock tour on Saturday, me, captain Hrólfur and deckhand Kormákur went out with fully loaded Bjössi Sör and were amazed by the lively Skjálfandi! After taking a look at two humpbacks  and not less than five minke whales we headed back to…

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Wedding onboard Hildur

Yesterday Michele Denaro and Paolo Longhi got married onboard schooner Hildur. The couple was in the second group of the Greenland tour and wanted to get married in Iceland. They were very happy to have the wedding down in Hildur since they had just enjoyed a week onboard they both said has left a big…

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A dream come true

In 1999 Nils Bjartur Hailer moved from Stuttgart, Germany, to Iceland. Nils joined the crew of North Sailing in 2004 and his interest for wooden sailingboats grew when he came in encounter with schooner Haukur.   When Nils was a young boy he heard and read a lot about the adventures of the german explorer…

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Sailors in an Icelandic rainforest

Last wednesday, Dagmar Aaen arrived from Arved Fuchs expedition to Greenland (www.arved-fuchs.de). The North Sailing family was happy to have them back in Húsavík and on saturday the crew of Dagmar Aaen were invited to Fellsskógur, a forest in a valley south of Skjálfandi bay. The glacier river, Skjálfandafljót, runs in this valley on its…

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Dull or Magnificent

Last days have been strange. Some days have been quiet, not many whales, and if we find some they are hard to follow. Other days have been more than great, tons of dolphins, minkes, humpbacks and even rumours of bottlenose whales. But yesterday was the strangest.   Me and captain Hreiðar went out for the…

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Greenland tour a great success

It is a pleasure to write that the first Greenland tour was a great success! According to both passengers and the crew the experience of the beautiful fjordsystem of Scoresby Sund in northeast Greenland was more than one could dream of. One of the passengers, Ute Zimmer, phrased her experience very nicely:   “Thank you…

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No Sign of the August Trouble

This is now my fourth season as a whale watching guide at North Sailing‘s. Of course all of the summers have been great, plenty of whales and the success rate probably among the highest one can find worldwide. The seasons have been somewhat different from each others, for example, last year was truly the year…

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Volkswagen Oldtimers

On June 18th, 2011 the North Sailing peer looked like a German car factory from the mid last century. Yes, it sounds weird but no less than 27 old Volkswagens gathered there with 54 people in their seats. All 54 then went whale watching and left their cars for other tourists and the locals to…

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Sydkap and Bear islands

August 21st: News from Schooner Hildur at N71°16’  W25°12′ “We arrived at Sydkap this morning and have been slightly delayed due to ice on the fjord. We have already caught some fish which will end up on tonight´s BBQ at Jytteshavn, Bear islands. We´ve already spotted a Muskox, Seals and a few Snow hares. The…

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The last 'Whales, puffins and sails' tour

The last tours going out with our schooner Haukur, to observe the amazing puffins in the Puffin island and going whale watching, had great luck and great fun today! Always on the last tour of the season the experienced guide and boatsman of Haukur, Nils Bjartur, has a tradition of making the tour a little…

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Hildur arrived to Greenland

Schooner Hildur arrived in Scoresby Sund last night. The sailing was smooth until they reached Cape Brewster and ice was blocking their way. They sailed further north and managed to work their way through the ice and enter the fjord close to cape Tobin.         When navigating through the ice, the crew…

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A beautiful day in the bay

This morning was a little foggy, but during the day it lightened up and the sun started shining. I went on two tours today and both tours were very successful. We spotted white beaked dolpins, a minke whale and some incredably calm humpback whales that swam around us and were kind of curious about our…

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Hildur gone to Greenland

Last night Hildur departed for Greenland after a long preperation.  The boat was on schedule and the crew was enthusiastic to get going. It was already getting dark when the boat left the harbour after the final goodbyes. One of our schooner deckhands was there with a camera and snapped some pictures.   The boat…

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Rebuilding the old fishing boats

The first reason North Sailing’s owners bought Knörrinn, the first boat, was the preservation of old Icelandic fishing vessels; many of which lay rotting in harbours all around Iceland. As beautiful as the boats look today most of them were in bad condition when North Sailing bought them and it took a lot of work…

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Knörrinn: The First Boat of North Sailing

Today North Sailing owns and operates 6 boats. All of them are traditional Icelandic fishing boats, they are all oak boats, built in the 60’s and 70’s. Knörrinn is the oldest one, built in 1963 and is also the first boat North Sailing bought.   First years of Whale Watching   The Story   Two…

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Better weather outlook for Monday

The weather forecast for Monday, August 15th is relatively good so hopefully we´ll be able to sail out at 08:50 and 10:00 o´clock, and according to schedule after that.   For information and booking, please contact us via e-mail; info@northsailing.is or phone: +354 464 7272.   NSO-1 Ólafsfjörður Whale Watching, will however, be closed for…

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