Today I went out on two trips in bad weather and tricky conditions. On the first trip we set of to try and find some whales that had been spotted the day before but had no such luck. We searched around and in the end only managed to find a few harbour porpoises that were…
DetailsAs we left the harbour in the midmorning sun, we were quite optimistic. Although, the sea was still a little rough after the stormy weather of last days, the sight was good. Until.. until we got to the western side of the bay, were the fog (that had been forecasted) appeard. At one moment in…
DetailsSchooner Hildur arrived in her home port, Húsavík this morning at 05:30. With a crew of 4 Hildur sailed over 700 nautical miles and visited different places. From isolated and deserted fjords of the Westfjords to the capital of Iceland, Reykjavík and something in between there’s a lot to tell and lots of pictures…
DetailsToday we haven’t been going out for whale watching since the weather is rough out in the bay. On days like these we like to do safety drills with our crew, it’s important to constantly going over safety measures and exercises to be ready when, and if, something ever happens. Excited…
DetailsIn our trip today we had to battle mother nature as the wind was steadily increasing in power and whenever we turned north up into the wind the waves crashed against the bow, giving everyone that stood there a free shower. Some passengers of the younger generation were having the time of their lives and…
DetailsWhen we went out this morning at 10:00, we had less wind and the sea was much calmer than yesterday. When leaving the harbour, we started heading north-west searching for the large whales that had been in the area the last couple of days. After about half an hour we spotted a blow from a…
DetailsToday we had strong northern winds and it was really cold at sea. We had plenty of passengers though so we handed out the overalls and headed out. Despite conditions not being optimal we managed to find two humpback whales on both my trips on Náttfari with capt. Hreiddi and engineer Tomas. On the second…
DetailsToday we started going on the tours Whales, puffins & sails, NS-2. We went on two trips, at 9:30 and at 16:30, and these were the first two NS-2 trips of this summer. We went our on our schooner Haukur with some 25 passengers in the morning and headed directly to Lundey (Puffin Island) to…
DetailsToday was an absolutely amazing day. I went on three tours with capt. Hreiddi on Knörrinn. It rained quite hard on the last two tours but we had incredible luck with the whales today. On the first tour we caught a glimpse of a minke whale early on but it disappeared as quickly as it…
DetailsToday I went on my first two trips of this summer. This is my second year with North Sailing and I was a little rusty but it quickly came back to me. The first trip was on Náttfari with capt. Hrólfur, Hjörleifur the engineer and a new guide in training Steinunn. We found some playful…
DetailsThe summer is here and the sun is shining. The whales seem find this most agreeable, and in the last few days we’ve had great success in our tours. We’ve seen a variety of species such as the Humpback whale, the Minke whale, White-Beaked dolphins as well as the magnificent Blue whale! We’ve also not…
DetailsThis morning we had an excellent tour on Bjössi Sör, me and captain Hrólfur with 16 passengers. It was snowing a little bit when we left the harbor and it increased as we got further out in the bay but, fortunately, it stopped after about half an hour. We saw a group of white-beaked dolphins…
DetailsAt 13:00 I came down to the pier and waited for our boat, Bjössi Sör, to return from the morning trip. Guide Christian said it was probably one of the best whale watching tour he had ever been on, they saw 4 humpback whales in the same spot and then they found a minke whale…
DetailsIt seems like the Blue whales are once again on time, but the last few years we have seen them around the same time, around the beginning of June. In fact, the 27th of May was also the first day we spotted them last year, so they are very timely! An hour and a…
DetailsClean-up operations following the eruption in Grímsvötn are well under way. Most of the ejected ash fell in a small area South and Southeast of the volcano, but locals expect to be able to resume life as usual in a matter of days. Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, Katrin Juliusdottir, has extended a…
DetailsToday was the first time this season that our boat “Bjössi Sör” was used for whale watching. The crew of “Knörrinn” went out at 9:00 this morning with a group of school children from Húsavík and when we went out on Bjössi Sör for the 10:00 whale watching tour we had beautiful weather conditions: the…
DetailsProfessor Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, geophysicist at the University of Iceland, has confirmed that volcanic activity in Grímsvötn has peaked, and while the eruption has not been declared over, it will most likely not reach previous volumes. The eruption continued yesterday, but the volcano has only emitted a fraction of the material it previously spewed. Today,…
DetailsToday the harbor filled with life again, after one week of bad weather both local fisherman and whale watchers were happy to go out into the bay! We went on two tours, at 10:00 and 13:30, and in both of them we were successful. In the morning we found a humpback whale, a group of…
DetailsSchooner Hildur departed for the Westfjords at 22:00 but in the Glacier fjords (Jökulfirðir) she will have a skiing group of 10 people for 4 days. More about that later…
DetailsIceland’s most active volcano Grimsvotn has erupted, sending a plume of white ash 18,000 feet into the air. The volcano lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, an area which is uninhabited. This eruption comes just one year after the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, sending a cloud of ash over Europe that impeded air…
DetailsThe weather the last few days has reminded us of anything but summer, with a foggy bay and a stiff northern wind that makes sea conditions great for sickness, but rather poor for whale watching. Today, any sign of summer is gone with it actually snowing which is unseasonal even for Iceland. Although the…
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