We awoke near Grimsey Island, home of the Arctic Circle here in Iceland. We went ashore scouting for birds and other wildlife and admiring not one, but two Artic Circle monuments. Soon after that we lifted our anchor and headed north of the Arctic Circle for a true polar plunge. Once these brave and chilled souls completed their dip we then made headway into Husavik. It was from there that we went to Godafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods, before enjoying some Icelandic hot dogs as we headed off to our next adventure.
7/16/2024
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Heimaey, Iceland
We began the day with a circumnavigation of Surtsey, the newest island in the Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago. This small desolate volcano captured the world’s attention in 1963 when it erupted without warning from the seafloor off the southeast coast of Iceland. From there we sailed north to Heimaey, or “home island”, where we disembarked and toured the area via coach or on foot. The more energetic folks climbed Eldfell, the volcano that nearly consumed the town and forced its evacuation during an eruption in 1973. Regardless of our choice of activities, all guests visited the Eldheimar Museum that records, preserves, and brilliantly commemorates the eruption that prompted the evacuation and destroyed nearly half of the homes in town. The devastation took one life but did have a significant and positive long-term impact. By fighting the lava flow with cooling water cannons, the townspeople halted its advance and improved the safety of the harbor.