Heimay, Vestmannaeyar Islands
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Thu 8 Sep 2016 06:16
Here is the view from the top of Eldfell (interestingly, to some perhaps, the double ell in Icelandic is pronounced very similarly to that in Welsh, and the Ð is identical to the Dd in Welsh; given the close Medieval ties I wonder whether this is coincidence?). Surtsey on the horizon in the distance, with Helgafell (erupted approx 5000 years ago) to the right middleground and the raw cinder of Eldfell underfoot:
Eldfell spewed up out of a fissure which opened up totally without warning in a grassy field one night and over six months turned into a significant hill. Lava spewed out, overwhelmed half of the town, and threatened to close of the harbour entrance which would have been catastrophic. Much energy and ingenuity was successfully expended in cooling and guiding the lava flow to prevent this happening. You can see here how the lava came to town. The photo is taken from the top of Eldfell, and everything on the righthand side of the fore- and middle-ground has been smothered in lava:
Some places had a lucky escape, like this house from 1908 which had its garden covered in lava:
Here is VS in the harbour. There are almost no concessions made for yachts here, so we're tied up to a fishing boat wall using our Canadian barge board for the first time (a plank of wood, with three of our fenders between it and the boat, enabling the boat to ride up and down with the tide against the nasty rough wall):
And after this it was just a matter of sheltering from our usual full gale before setting off in the tail end of it for Scotland, a mere three and a bit days away. Hurrah.
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