A steady wind, bright sun ... life is good

So there we were, sailing back to Isafjordur on Friday, when the captain our 55-footer, Capt. Siggi, looked to the nearly cloudless sky and the steady wind filling his sails, and said simply and quietly, "Life is good."

Indeed it is.

We'd set out on Thursday into the Glacial Fjords with on-again-off-again wind and light rain. By the time we got to our isolated fjord, the sun was out and we were hiking with our new friends Megan, Katie, Hauker and Gulli. While sightings of the Arctic fox eluded us, it was hard to imagine a more pristine, secluded place to take an afternoon stroll.

When we got back to the boat, Capt. Siggi had our salmon and cod dinner waiting for us. And we brought a Sonoma Cutrer chardonnay and a Spanish tempranillo to complement the gourmet meal.

After dinner, while waiting for the midnight sun to appear between two peninsulas, we toasted Megan's and Hauker's birthdays, chatted, and sang along with Hauker at the accordion.

The clean air induces "Icelandic Euphoria." Symptoms include spontaneous headstands

and bouts of jumping for joy.

 

Same hike.

 That's our boat in the fjord.

 

Hauker serenades the group with Icelandic folk songs and Beatles tunes.

The midnight sun.

The next morning, we woke to breakfast. And you won't believe this, but we took a dip in the fjord. Yes, both of us. You may be thinking to yourself at this point, "Yeah, suuuuuuuuuure they did. Where's the photo?"

We're awaiting the photographic evidence from Hauker. Really.

And then we were off to Vigur Island, home to one family and swarms of Arctic terns, guillemots and puffins.

This is the approach to Vigur Island, home to Iceland's smallest post office.

 

Not a cloud in sight.

Believe it or not, they transport sheep in this boat from the island to the mainland.

  

At last. The elusive puffin!

Another case of Icelandic Euphoria, this time on the dock upon our return to dry land.

Our new friends at www.boreadventures.com. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have gone kayaking, hiking and sailing in the Isafjordur and Hornstrandir areas.