Saturday – Husavik (Not…)
Today, we were scheduled to arrive at Husavik, our first Icelandic port-of-call. Even more excitingly, Tracey and I were assigned tour-escorting duties on the Whale-watching excursion. Sadly, we never made it…
Approaching Iceland for the first time is something that I’m never going to forget. We were due to arrive sometime around midday, but the spectacular, snow-covered landscape of Northern Iceland came into view long before then. We stood on the top deck for a long while, watching the land as it came gradually closer. The scene was enhanced by dramatic skies, providing a perfect, counterchanging tonal contrast with the white peaks of the mountains that crouched along the length of the vast coastline. I love mountains, me… and these were fine specimens indeed!…
Unfortunately, the wind that has been with us for the last couple of days never went away. Standing on the top deck, watching the land draw nearer, and photographing the spectacular scenery, was hard work, and even the hardiest, most winterly-dressed of passengers could tolerate the wind for only so long before having to retreat to the relative shelter of Deck 7. The wind proved troublesome when we finally arrived at our destination; after several run-ups at it, the captain reluctantly announced that the 50-60 knot wind was proving too dangerous to berth safely alongside the exposed quay, and that we would drop anchor in the bay for approximately one hour, in the hope that the wind would subside enough for us to land.
An hour later, the status report from the captain wasn’t good. The wind hadn’t eased up, in fact, it had got worse, leaving him with no other choice than to abandon the port and head on to the next destination on our itinerary, Akureyri. They’d contacted the port who confirmed that a berth is available for us from 7pm onwards.
So, it’s turned into another, unplanned, sea-day, with a smattering of ‘scenic cruising’, as the captain described it, thrown in. It’s a shame, of course, that we never got to Husavik, or got to go whale-watching (although, we’re hopeful that we’ll get another opportunity at a later port), but the landscape has been truly spectacular, and inspiring (expect some Icelandic mountain paintings very soon…). As I write this, we’re approaching early evening, and an announcement has been made that an extra ‘In Search of the Northern Lights’ tour has been hastily arranged for this evening. We’ve offered our services as tour escorts, but I’m almost certain we won’t be needed on that one.
