Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.11.2015, Side 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 1. nóvember 2015 • 9
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All the ships sailed there and
Jón the sea pilot went last with
the Blíður.
Mýrdælingur and
Langvinnur got by safely and
held east around the island,
but an outcropping of Breki
caught the Blíður and capsized
it without warning. Jón and his
crew of thirteen all drowned
there. The crew were:
1. Jón Jónsson, sea pilot
at Vilborgarstaðir. He was
only 26 years old. His wife
was Veigalín Eiríksdóttir from
Gjábakki. She later married
Jón Guðmundsson at Gjábakki.
Jón was well-to-do and good-
humored. He had been an
employee of Pétur Bjarnasen,
shop manager at Garðurinn,
and under his influence he
would have become a gifted sea
pilot despite his young age. He
had previously been the captain
of the Neptúnus.
2. Eiríkur Hansson, farmer
at Gjábakki, 53 years old,
Jón’s father-in-law. He was a
great ship maker and had the
previous autumn built the ship
Blíður. It was the ship’s second
voyage.
Between Christmas and
New Year’s, Jón had taken
the boat on one shark fishing
voyage. Shortly after, on
January 19, he’d had to use the
Blíður to save Ellert Schram of
Kokkhús and one other man.
The rowboat capsized
under them at Leiðin, where
they were collecting eider
ducks that Ellert had shot.
When they landed, there was
such a loud cracking that the
men on shore thought the boat
had broken. They stopped what
they were doing and ran west to
Hróf and took the Enok. Both
men were retrieved, but one
was drowned in the boat. It was
Eiríkur Runólfsson, who was
nicknamed “earl.”
It was later discovered
that the Blíður appeared
completely undamaged, and
this raised questions about
the rescue. There were several
other things that were thought
to predict the accident.
Guðmundur Björnsson,
laborer at Nýjakastali, who
worked for Margrét, the mother
of Hannes, who had rowed with
Jón on the Neptúnus and gone
with him on the shark fishing
voyage on the Blíður in the
winter, said he wouldn’t row
with him again on that ship.
He wouldn’t give any reasons
for his decision, but he thought
well of Jón.
Eiríkur Hansson had built
the Blíður at Gjábakkatúnið.
When he had begun work on
the keel, Kristín, the wife of
Sigurður in Snarlahjallur, came
to him where he was working
and asked him whether he was
building a casket. “There’s no
casket lid on it,” replied Eiríkur.
“Then you should remove
the keel,” said Kristín. But he
didn’t do that since he didn’t
place any faith in her words.
3. Jón, the son of Eiríkur
Hansson, 21 years old.
4. Rósinkranz at
Vilborgarstaðir, Eiríkur’s
second son. Eighteen years old.
5. Guðni Guðmundsson,
carpenter at Fagurlyst, 38 years
old. He was Eiríkur’s son-
in-law, married to Eiríkur’s
daughter Málfríður. She later
lived with Ólafur Magnusson at
Nýborg and they had one child
together.
6. Snjólfur Þorsteinsson,
laborer at Garðar, 22 years old.
7. Bjarni Magnússon,
farmer at Kirkjubær, 55 years
old.
8. Jósep Sveinsson, laborer
at Háigarður, 21 years old.
9. Jón Guðmundsson, a
teenager from Núpakot under
the Eyjafjöll mountains, the
illegitimate son of Margrét
Halldórsdóttir, who later
married Jón Þorgeirsson,
farmer at Oddsstaðir.
The other four who died
are believed to be from the
mainland, but their identities
are unknown.
Hannes was on the banks
east of Skansinn when the ships
sailed east through the channel.
Those who were at Skansinn
saw the Blíður upside down. It
was painted red on the bottom,
so it was easy to distinguish it
in the foamy sea.
The ships that had turned
around and those that hadn’t
gone anywhere stayed the rest
of the night near Bjarnarey.
They didn’t head for home until
just before midday on February
27. It was then eight degrees
below zero. The Neptúnus
left last and sailed home. The
direction had changed and by
the last part of the day there
was once again a southwest
storm with strong winds.
The crew of the Najaden
had abandoned ship the
evening of February 26,
boarded the Neptúnus, and let
the Najaden go. The men were
nearly perishing from the cold
and hunger. The ship’s captain,
Ólafur Ketilsson, was a hardy
and spirited man, although he
drank too much, but the crew
was in a wretched state. Most
were novices from the east
country. It was the first fishing
season for all but three of them.
Níels Nicolaj Bryde
owned the Najaden. The
ship’s equipment was of poor
quality, as was often the case
with merchant ships. On such
ships, the crews were often
strange mismatched groups,
because men were reluctant
to join these small boats. The
ship was, moreover, old and
worn-out, having stood unused
for six years because it was
considered unseaworthy, but
some repairs had been done on
it before the fishing season. But
the repairs were not thorough,
so the insurance company
Skipaábyrgðarfélag didn’t
want to insure the boat that
season. There was a lawsuit and
the result was that the company
was absolved of every demand
made by Bryde.
At about this time in the
fishing season there were
usually nearly twenty large
ships, owned by Westman
Islanders and mainlanders.
There were no more ships at
sea that day, however, because
the mainlanders’ ships had not
all come out yet, and a few of
the captains from the Islands
were still waiting for crews
from the mainland. These men
didn’t come until a week after
the incident.
Almost one week later,
Símon from Steinar went
out again in the Neptúnus
in a strong northerly storm.
Símon, Árni Diðriksson and
Brynjólfur Halldórsson were at
sea that day east of Stórhöfði
at Klakkar. The wind blew
them toward Litlihöfði. Árni
and Brynjólfur managed with
difficulty to get home, but
Símon gave up and was driven
south around Stórhöfði, where
he waited out the night. The
next day the storm continued.
District administrative officer
Lárus Jónsson took the Enok
to help Símon. He gave Símon
more oars and they repaired the
oarlocks on the Neptúnus. With
the rising tide they made it to
Ketilssker, west of Stórhöfði,
and then to Víkin (Höfðavík),
where they anchored.
The weather this fishing
season was unpredictable and
volatile and the shares only
between 50-200, which was
still considered good. The 1868
season was the least fruitful
fishing season the Westman
Islands had ever seen, and
it was a time of famine and
hunger for all.
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