Faroe Islands 1

 July 3

We sailed overnight from the Shetland Islands to the southernmost of the Faroe Islands (Sudaroy), a distance of about 200 nautical miles. Both the seas and the winds intensified overnight, and by breakfast time we were in 10-foot swells abeam, so the crew rigged ropes to provide additional handrails to traverse the dining room— which was much less busy than on prior mornings! The weather delayed our arrival in Vagur, which in turn forced some changes to the day’s itinerary. Kudos to the expedition staff for making a new plan on the fly.

The Faroes (a territory of Denmark)is an archipelago of 18 islands of which 16 are inhabited. Ten are now connected by roads or tunnels with ferry service for the rest. Traditionally the Faroes were agricultural, and there are still a lot of sheep. The sheep are double coated like Icelandic ones and self-shed the heavy outer layer. More recently, fishing and fish farming has become the primary industry. We saw many in water enclosures with large fish splashing. 

This afternoon we went on a 4-plus mile hike around Lake Leitisvatn and to a summit. While most of the terrain was gentle up and down, the destination was the top of dramatic cliffs 800 feet above the sea. The Faroe Islands are entirely volcanic, but these cliffs were so reminiscent of the limestone cliffs of western Ireland. The group had made such good time on the hike that we had time for an extension to see the waterfall where the lake drains into the ocean. 

Then it was back to the ship for a quick dinner and out again, this time for a cruise out into the fjord and nearby ocean, passing sea cliffs full of nesting birds and amazing rock formations. The shapes, the striating, the colors and textures of the rocks (despite being basically all granite) were stunning. We sailed to a beautiful waterfall, and thought that the captain was returning to port. But no! He took the boat into caves and through narrow passageways between sea stacks, and under arches filled with birds. We felt like Odysseus passing the Sirens.  We also got caught up in a frenzy of late-evening bird movements. Huge flicks of small birds swirled and swooped and hurried back to their nests for the night, including to our delight a huge number of puffins. A wonderful evening... and ironically the sea was calmer tonight than we’d seen it for the previous 24 hours, an added bonus. 

Despite the tag line “Wet, Wild, Windy, Wonderful Faroes” we have had lovely partly sunny weather so far. It is hard to go to bed on time when the days are so full of activities and the sky is still bright at 10pm. Then again, why sleep on vacation, you can do that at home!