Perspective, Baby

I sure as hell can't complain about the weather on the trip this summer. Sure, we had some nasty, cold crap on the Norwegian Sea as we headed to Iceland from Jan Mayen, but that's to be expected out there. Whenever we've been somewhere, we've only had a wee bit of unpleasantness. Other than those couple of rainy days in Lerwick, Shetland, we've enjoyed crazy-good conditions pretty much the entire time (and we had plenty of crazy-good days in Shetland, too).

And that streak continues to this day, which finds me sitting here in the sun in Ísafjörður in a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops. Seriously. I'm getting sunburned. In Iceland. At 66 degrees north latitude. I mean: really?! I've been simultaneously watching a small boat working the light breeze on the waters of the fjord and taking in the snow-dappled mountainsides ringing the southern, western and northern boundaries of town. It's probably in the mid-60s officially, but in the direct sunlight, it's seriously toasty. 70-plus? Seems likely. Ahhh!

Boogie and I took advantage of the weather and ambled out for a run this morning. We covered about 5.5 miles at a leisurely pace, and got to see some of the town in the process. After the run, I grabbed a swim, sauna and hot tub, and shower/shave at the community pool -- EVERY town in Iceland, no matter how small, has a pool (many of them heated geothermically)...it's kinda the national pastime -- and then we did some chores on Polar Bear, chipping away at the to-do list for the Greenland run...

...which now looks more likely. Yesterday's grim weather forecast has moderated considerably and it's looking like we'll head north Saturday morning. Ironically, I welcomed the initial forecast because it meant two things: one, that we'd be stuck in port while, two, the surf was big. Even Arctic Surfers, a tour company down south, called out the forecast for this area for the weekend, but alas. It's interesting (to me, anyway) how my perpsective changed over time: as a sailor, I was bummed by the forecast and then I realized that as a surfer, I was stoked by that same forecast. With the forecast easing, the surfer in me is now bummed, but the sailor/adventurer who wants to see Greenland is stoked. It's a no-lose situation, I'm well aware, but I must confess to having looked forward to some big waves hereabouts. Perhaps come September...