Surtsey Island and Heimaey, Iceland
We had lovely, gentle, following seas throughout the night and this morning as we sailed towards Iceland. In the mid-morning, Jim Kelly gave an excellent presentation about the geology of all the areas we have visited. Then a bit later Ragnar Hauksson, our Icelandic resident, told us all about the rich history contained in the Sagas of Iceland.
Just before lunch we sailed within one nautical mile of Surtsey Island. Lava erupted out from the sea on November 15, 1963, creating this small island and making headlines around the world. Surtsey is now protected and studied as a special scientific reserve to document how various species colonize the young landscape.
In the mid-afternoon, Captain Skog expertly maneuvered the National Geographic Explorer through the incredibly narrow harbor entrance of Heimany Island. This is another infamous place in Iceland as a separate volcanic eruption in 1973 almost destroyed the harbor and covered a fair amount of the village, which was home to 4,500 locals. We went for a short tour around the island and had a chance to walk up to the top of the caldera for an overlook. Then we toured a site of house foundations that have been exposed to show how much ash covered an area of the island during the five months that the volcano spewed lava during 1973. It was impressive to hear how the islanders saved their harbor. Welcome to the land of fire and ice!
