Leaving the Horn behind in a fresh breeze and brilliant sunshine

The Joekullfjodur (Glacier Fjords) are a wilderness area South of the Horn which has no roads, very few houses and many spectacular anchorages. Our first fjord in the Glacier Fjords was Hesteyrarfjordur where we anchored at the very end of the fjord. There are five sizable waterfalls that plunge into the fjord at the end and all you hear on the boat is the roar of those waterfalls and the squeaking of the many sea birds that occupy the cliffs around. When we woke up the next morning, the waters were like a mirror and the sun was shining! Time for a hike up to the top of the ridge? Yes, but I didn't make it all the way because the topmost part of the mountain is very steep and still covered in snow.

Hesteyrarfjodur

The next fjord we explored was Nesrufjordur which is uncharted but is supposed to provide the best views of the humungous Drangajoekull glacier. There is a reef that covers the entrance to the fjord but Mike Henderson's cruising guide provides a list of way points that gets you to the inner part over the reef in at least 4 m of water. It worked like a charm but we monitored the forward looking sonar very closely to make sure there were no obstacles. Unfortunately, the glacier was obscured from our view by the low lying cloud coverage.

Nesrufjodur in authentic Iceland conditions!

Our last anchorage was Hrafnsfjodur, which is also uncharted. But 10 waypoints got us into the anchorage at the end of the fjord safely. No other boats in sight but there were a number of hikers in small tents. When the wind picked up in the evening and the temps plummeted and the rain started, we started the diesel heater. Not sure what those hikers were doing!

We had a nice little breeze on our sail to Isafjodur the next day although, as usual, it was upwind. As luck would have it, we passed an Austrian motorsailer who took some pictures of Kincsem going upwind - spectacular! Isafjodur was pretty full with traveling sailboats - there must have been almost 10 of them. When the police came by to check us out, they asked "when are you leaving for Greenland?" Tells you what the other boats were here for!

Kincsem moored in Isafjodur alongside a fishing boat. The "thing" ahead of us a barge used in fish farming operations.