Husavik, Iceland

As most cruise ships have some sort of ceremony when crossing the
equator or the International Date Line, they also have one when crossing
the Arctic Circle (and probably the Antarctic Circle). For the Maasdam
that crossing ceremony took place last night about 10:30 PM. It
consisted of persons with any type of mental derangement (i.e., any damn
fool) donning their bathing suits and jumping in the outdoor pool on the
Navigation deck. As you can tell from the photo there were quite a few
participating (yours truly is not a damn fool!) despite the fact that
the temperature was in the 40s, the wind was blowing and it was
raining. Quite different than we have seen when crossing the equator
and the International Date Line.

Today we are in Husavik a bit further east on the north side of
Iceland. The Navigation description for the port notes that it is "in a
cove between Husavikurhofdhi and Humpbaksniff." I can pronounce
neither name and have no clue as to the meaning of the first. If I had
to guess the meaning of the second I would guess 'place to sniff
Humpback whales.' Probably not even close but then it really doesn't
matter.

The village of Husavik (and I can pronounce that one) is another of the
former whaling stations on the Icelandic coast. Today the industries
are fishing, tourism and "Eco Tourism" as it touted as the "Whale
Watching Capitol of Europe." We have yet to hear of any whale spotting
since we have been here. There is a interesting Whale Museum in the
village in addition to the typical shops and cafes. One interesting
spot that I had never heard of was the Phallus Museum (also known as The
Icelandic Phallological Museum) - displaying the phallus of any number
of mammals but mostly whales. I guess there are museums of everything.

The weather today started out terrible. When we arrived here early this
morning it was raining and that lasted until about 9:30 AM. Then it
cleared up and just after noon the clouds cleared making it a very
pleasant day. Right now we are leaving the port and the temperature is
probably in the sixties. Let's hope it stays like that tomorrow.

Tonight we will again cross the Arctic Circle but no ceremony. Then on
to Seydisfjordur.