Fire and Ice - Part 3

Sailing from the Faroe Islands to Iceland | 14-16 August 2019

So, here began the final leg of our voyage from Norway to Iceland. The sun had hardly risen when we set out from Tórshaven, sailing up through more of the Islands. Towering cliffs surrounded us, with huge caverns and waterfalls scarring the rock faces. The landscape was breathtaking. Someone described it like something out of Lord of the Rings which made us laugh, but it was an accurate description.

As we ventured out of the shelter of the Faroes and into the Icelandic Ocean, the land behind us slowly disappeared. The sky was clear and the weather, relatively warm. I was expecting that on our exit from the Faroe Islands, we’d be greeted with quite a choppy sea but that could not have been further from the truth, it was like sailing on a glass of water. There was a period of little wind, so we resorted to motoring for a while and then when the breeze picked up again, along came the task of trimming the sails and setting our course relative to the wind direction and tidal movements.

I had completed my Day Skipper qualification a few months before which gave me the certification to charter and drive a yacht. This voyage was a perfect opportunity, as a crew member, to put my theory and skills into practice under the watchful eye of the Skipper and First Mate. I was given the opportunity to passage plan, plot waypoints on the charts and lead watches which was great for building experience and aiding with further qualifications.

We sailed on with some assistance from the prop, the water swelling and ceasing below us, when out of nowhere, in the distance, a dolphin leapt out of the water. Slowing the boat down, we sat silently to see if they’d come any closer. To our complete astonishment, we saw some more fins cutting through the water from the starboard side of the boat. Initially, we thought they were the dolphins we’d seen a few moments beforehand, but as they came closer, we realised they were far larger and turned out to be Pilot whales! I had never seen any first-hand before and the pod came right up to the side of the boat. They were incredibly magnificent creatures, slicing through the water with their sleek black bodies. The pod lingered for a while, doing lengths up and down the side of the hull and then they slowly moved off. I was stunned.

I always feel a slight sense of detachment when watching programmes about the natural world such as Blue Planet. The wildlife and ecosystems depicted seem so far away and “other worldly”. I guess it’s similar with musicians or actors, it’s hard to really compute they’re “real” until you see them in the flesh. We were all left with such a rush, the experience had only added to our already overflowing excitement.

In no time, our sails were full of air and we had resumed our track across the water. Over the next few hours we saw another pod of whales and a few dolphins that put on quite the show. They danced below the bow of the boat, intertwining their trails with each other.

The sea state gradually increased until there were some quite large waves rolling under and around us. It is safe to say this didn’t help with cooking. Thankfully the oven is on a gimbal so maintains a constant horizontal level relative to the lean of the boat. But there are some seriously impressive, gravity defying stunts that go on in the saloon!

As the darkness flooded the sky. a fog set in, the kind you’d only see in a horror movie. It was incredibly thick and surrounded us on all sides. You couldn’t see one end of the boat from the other, let alone the water only 5 feet below. Without the ability to see navigation lights on other vessels that could potentially cross our path we had to use the foghorn. Never has there ever been a more haunting sound. Usually the swell of the sea would send me to sleep quite quickly but not that night. The horn, sounding every 3 minutes like a lonely cry in the night, only amplified our isolation.

In the morning, we were still far from land, and the air had become much colder. We wrapped ourselves from head to toe and with tea in hand, ventured up onto deck for another chilly day of hard work. We sailed on and eventually, there it was. Iceland. the land towered above us, with sea cliffs erupting from the inky water below. It was spectacular; such a commanding coastal landscape. Our final destination was Seyðisfjörður, a small coastal town in the north east of Iceland.

So, we travelled up and up along the coastline until we turned past the headland and into the final stretch. I was asked to helm Jolie brise down the inlet and into the harbour. It was incredible. To have the responsibility of steering her to the berth on her inaugural voyage to Iceland is something I will never forget. The feeling was bittersweet, knowing that we’d never have that experience again and yet having achieved all we set out to do, and more.

And so, bowlines were tied, fenders distributed, and the engine was turned off. We had made it. Over 700 NM of cold days and long nights. It was a once in a lifetime trip and definitely my favourite adventure I’ve ever had.