We left Siglufjordur around PM 5.00 under a little breeze and headed West for a 24 hour crossing to the West Fjords, the remotest part of Iceland and the westernest part of Europe. In fact, we crossed the rift which is separating Europe from America as we sailed off to cape Horn (0f Iceland!). We started with a light North East wind rocking us gently as the sunrays glimmered on the sea with a pale pink colour. If almost felt like a crossing of the Atlantic’ riding the ‘Alisees’ except the fact that we were wearing polar garnments, gloves and hats. Guillaume and Clotilde took the first watch until midnight, watching Pirate of the Caraibes 2 and 3. I took the second watch from midnight to AM4.45 reading one of my favourite books by Elisabeth Goudge, Green Dolphin Street, set in Guernsey, giving even more flavour to this sea trip. The wind died out completely and we had to switch on the engine to carry out the crossing. Guillaume took over the watch at AM 5.00 and sailed us to Hornvick where we dropped the anchor for a well-deserved rest. 

Hornstrandir is the remote Western peninsula of Iceland renowed for its stunning nature reserve.  We put the dinghy at sea and went on land for hiking. The black sand beach was immaculate with no sign of human life,which is not a surprise given that the only access to this place is the open sea. We progressed at the sound of  water running from the top of the cliff in the long grass and heather. The kids were running north and south, east and west enjoying their ability to wander off without the threat of polar bears. The last time one was spotted in Iceland was in 1969 and this was already at the time an extraordinary event with one bear being stranded on a piece of Iceberg and having travelled all the way down to Iceland. The bear was hunted by local farmers needless to say…Clotilde took her shoes and socks off and went paddling in the freezing source water at the bottom of the cascade, Hugues followed her after a moment of hesitation. Alix laid down on the grass to enjoy this blessed moment of warmth. After a marshmallow feast at the campfire we went back on-board after a rather rocky attempt to get the dinghy back to sea the waves starting to rise. The captain remained dry as always as for the crew….it enjoyed the 8 degrees sea up to the knees!