65:35.71 N, 23:59.77 W

 

Peacefully at anchor just outside the rather cramped and crowded fishing harbour of Patreksfjorður. yesterday we sailed fairly slowly, mostly motoring until around midnight, just as we got near to turning east around the Snæfellsjökull, a good force 5 to 6 from slightly north of east sprung up (as forecast actually). This would make beating into the bay (Breiðafjöður) rather a trial whereas it was perfect for a fast reach across to the Vestfirðir which are our real destination anyway.

 

So we abandoned plans for a 30 mile beat to Flatey and instead had a very fast 40 miles or so going NW at nearly 9 knots to the Southernmost peninsular of the Vestfirðir, the most westerly point of Iceland.

 

The N shore of the fjord: the coast is a whole series of headlands

 

Looking back SW towards whence we came

 

Reminiscent of Alkhornet

 

This we rounded at around 5am, at which point the wind died and the sun came out and we dawdled along under engine taking until around 11 to do the 15 or so miles to Patreksfjorður. This is named after St Patrick who was apparently a spiritual advisor to some Viking chief (long before the settlement of Iceland I’d have thought?).

 

Some of the dawdling was to try and catch fish in the outer fjord, to no avail. However on anchoring near the ‘town’ (pop. 650) Peter immediately caught a huge Cod, which shook itself free just before we could land it. So he was on his mettle to catch another, which wasn’t hard! Every 2 mins he’d pull up another for us to say ‘no, too small’. But eventually a reasonable one – albeit not nearly as big as The One That Got Away of course – was landed and will make tea tonight. Not pie this time we think but roasted whole with herbs.

We are now going to have a bite of lunch, then take Little My (the fibreglass rowing dinghy) ashore to buy some bread, hopefully a local OS map and to enquire about getting water and fuel before pushing off to explore the head of the Fjord. It’s not perfectly charted but we expect to find a peaceful place to anchor for tonight. The wind is forecast to be F6 from the NE again tonight, this respite of a gentle NW F3 being temporary.