The capital of Iceland is located in the South West corner of Iceland and not in a fjord as most Icelandic places more to the north are. As a matter of fact it is quite open to the elements when there is a South Westerly wind blowing. I was expecting the wind to be more from the North and that would make it wind still on arrival. For cruise ships Reykjavik has three options. Small cruise ships can dock in the inner harbour on the top of the town, large cruise ships can dock at the commercial dock and every size can anchor in the bay North of the main town area. We were scheduled to dock at the commercial port, which since from 5 or 6 years has a very beautiful dock. For a moment I contemplated dropping anchor as it was wind still in the bay and it would make it very easy for the guests to get to downtown using the ships tenders but as there was wind expected in the afternoon, I decided to continue to the dock. With a Southwesterly chop, the tender ride would have been uncomfortable.

The area where the islands capital is located is not as mountainous as the North. By the time you line up for the leading lights to head into the harbour they have tapered off considerably although they do still provide a good lee for Northerly winds. The town itself is located on a reasonably flat area that extends further to the South. I remember from joining a ship here, that it was a very flat ride from the airport all the way to the port. The area had an almost moon-like feeling over it. What is distinctive about Iceland is the lack of power plants that normally are very prominently present in any major port area that we dock. Going into New York, big pipes everywhere. Going into London on the Thames, you pass several of them, but here in Iceland nothing at all.

flat reykjavik
View from the bridge wing over Reykjavik. Captain albert Port database.

The reason for that of course is the fact that Iceland has free hot water & steam from its Volcanic underground. Everywhere hot steam trickles to the surface and it is not that complicated to use this warmth and convert it for heating purposes. At some area’s the earths crust and the ground on which the houses stand is so thin that little steam plumes, most of the time smelling like rotten eggs, will spontaneously appear and also disappear again. A few years back, while as a spouse on my wife’s ship, I did a tour around Reykjavik and one of the stops was at a large garden centre, souvenir shop and restaurant complex. Right at the main door there was steam escaping from a crack in the ground. A plank had been laid over it to ensure safe entrance to the building. Upon asking if this was not dangerous, I was quite cheerfully advised, that it would go away and most likely pop up somewhere else again. The earths crust was continiously moving and this was considered a normal occurrence. It did not look very safe to me but they were used to it; and who am I to say something about it. Someone who comes from a country where one hole in the dyke will cause half the country to flood.

We were blessed with a nice and sunny day and when the wind finally started to blow, it was right on the bow, so I had no worries with getting away from the dock. Our tour busses had managed to find the one and only traffic jam in Reykjavik and the last one pulled up 10 minutes late but as I was not in a great hurry, the average speed to our next port of call is not that high, we had ample time to wait. Our shorex manager had to battle the local guides though, who still tried to guide all the returning guests through the souvenir shop on the dock. Luckily she was quite successful in doing this but the security officer still found one guest tucked away in the corner browsing through a last minute T-shirt purchase.

Tomorrow we are at sea. The distance between Reykjavik is too long for an overnight transfer and to short for a full speed run so we will take it easy while heading further south. The Cruise Director has dubbed tomorrow “Captain’s day”, as for once, I feature largely in the proceedings. HAL Lecture, photo shoot, Formal Dinner and Black and White Ball. I have banned the phrase “a boring day” from my personal dictionary a long time ago.