27June Umiak off SW Iceland

Umiak
Mike Jaques
Wed 29 Jun 2022 12:38
63:59.8N 22:32.7W

-----Original Message----- From: gareth thomas
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2022 12:19 PM
To: umiak {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com
Cc: Elvin Patrick
Subject: Blog 27June Umiak off SW Iceland

Setting out from the Westman Islands under engine towards the Iceland mainland revealed the standard low seal grey clouds, bellies no doubt fattened by a diet of farmed salmon. Of course as the welcoming prospect of preparing lunch was being discussed the wind increased and in short order the full mainsail was hoisted and rapidly reefed twice. Unbelievably we were headed on port tack , flopped onto starboard and freed and we were able to lay the Lands End of Iceland where no doubt there is a theme park. Actually there wasn’t but the smell of stink bombs soon had our nostrils twitching and looking accusingly at each other before we realised it was the dark satanic mills of steaming thermal pools belching out sulphurous clouds of steam , the pools being many on this peninsula. The steam could be seen from a long way off.
Navigation was aided by our proximity to the approach path of the Keflavik airport, down which sashayed a steady stream of jets and the occasional local prop plane.
Our track showed remarkable tacking angles of 90 degrees rarely attained except by boats with the breeding of Umiak with her carbon mast , rod rigging , 2 and a half metre fin keel with 7 tons of church roof at the deep end.
After a 18 hr sail of 116 miles we moored up in a desolate fishing harbour on the less than fully attractive seafront of Keflavik on some brightly orange painted bollards, the paint so fresh that it coated Neil’s hands and garments and Mike’s pristine navy blue warps. We thought Neil might be mistaken for cabin crew on his EasyJet flight home, but perhaps not given his seven day old beard.
A wee tot and posh M and S biscuits ( greedily the whole top tier) completed the trip before we turned into caterpillars for a sleep, as the sunset at 2345.


Gareth Thomas 07834340253=