Iceland review - 2013, Side 31

ICELAND REVIEW 29
All ABoArd!
It’s 4:30 am and two hours have already passed since the first fish-
ermen left the Grímsey harbor for the fertile fishing grounds off
Iceland’s northernmost inhabited island. However, in this location
at this time of year—right on the Arctic Circle in late June—the
middle of the night feels like high noon. This is a blessing, accord-
ing to fisherman and fishing company owner Svafar Gylfason. “It’s
much harder to wake up so early in winter when you only catch
a little glimpse of daylight between 12 and 2 pm.” Even though
he has been in the profession since his teens, Svafar admits that
in rough seas in the darkest hours of winter, he still gets seasick.
“This is about as good as it gets,” he says in reference to the current
height of waves. Yet it neither keeps the landlubber onboard from
feeling sick, nor Svafar’s 16-year-old son, who is learning the trade.
“Ingólfur Bjarni!” exclaims Svafar teasingly when the former dis-