TeddytoArctic2023.blogspot.com

  Two weeks since last post. Today was the first contact with civilization & the Internet, courtesy of the Eskimo village where we are anchored.    One week to cross from Iceland to Greenland, from Vestmannaeyjar to Prinz Kristiansund. Modest winds  and some calms in the crossing. A few dolphins. A killer whale in company with what appeared to be a very small minke whale - were they companions? First iceberg 55 NM out. Then the storis, the vast fields of ice flowing continuously from the polar basin down the entire east coast of Greenland. We initially skirted its edge, then went in to cut through to land. A great day of sailing under the sun, the sea dead flat because of all the ice, Teddy flying along at over 7 kts under full main and then under double reefed main alone. With the high concentration of ice this was too fast, and the result was an almighty bang on Teddy's beam against the very hard edge of a floe. Barely the shadow of a dent! ... an almighty boat Teddy is. We

Good visit to Vestmannaeyjar.     We walked to the south end, and up some volcanoes. Connor went up this one late in the evening & had the sheep all to himself.     Two electrical problems came up on Teddy - both eventually and reasonably sorted. Here is Bob on one of his many trips up to the masthead.                                          Bob, nearer to heaven than to earth, as viewed from the forestay.     A new crew joins us tonight - Andre (Ondfej Mesiereur), 33 yrs old, from Prague, the Czech Republic. We met him at a local pub, the Brothers, discussed things, he visited us, and the decision was made 2 days ago. He does not sail, but claims to be a good rower & to have a stout stomach.     A last sauna later today, then clear with the police, and probably leave early in the morning. The course for Cape Farewell is SSW, which takes us along the chain of volcanic islands SW of Vestmanaeyjar. The last island in this chain is Surtsey, which rose out of the seas in the 1960s

   We got in to Vestmannaeyjar, an island off the S coast of Iceland, on the 9th June. 8 days out from Clifden.  Connor & me, leaving Clifden    No gales during the crossing, nothing more than F5. The weather was dominated by a huge high in the North Atlantic, above us. Winds were light, often following, fickle or calm at times.     We saw three minke whales (I think). Two were curious and followed us very near the stern quarter, getting bolder as they dove shallower and we could see the white of their bellies. Several schools of pilot whales. A group of dolphins. Many birds - gannets, fulmars, storm petrels, skuas, jaegers. Many land or shore birds lost and adrift on the ocean, circling us before flying off into the wastes. One landed and stayed with us for three nights - a shorebird like the sanderling but a bit bigger and with brown on his wings. He was well fed and watered, and I hoped he would stay until we reached Iceland, but the engine, started up for motoring in the calm,