And Besides Peanut Butter Stocks Are Low.

And so we run out of puff, unlike the NEasterly winds.

The next days paddle would be another long bash into the wind including a 25km crossing of Oxarfjordur to the small fishing village of Kopasker. With a slightly too windy for comfort forecast, so another day off the water, we decide we have come far enough. We have about two weeks paddling time left to reach our intended finish at Neskaupstaòur in the SE which should be ample, just, but doesn't leave a lot of time to be stormbound. We also have the crux of the whole trip to overcome - getting around the Langanes Peninsular. 

This spectacular narrow tongue of land juts about 50km NE straight out into the North Atlantic and entails a very committing 60km day between landings around its cliff bound shore. And you've got to get the tide right too. 

The forecast for the next week looks as though we would be off the water for at least two days and with pretty settled weather and sea conditions needed to get around Langanes the two remaining weeks could evaporate very quickly while sitting in the tent waiting for calmer winds and seas. 

Apart from the weather the other problem is the NW of Iceland is remote and lightly populated so the further we head east then south from Langanes the harder and more and time consuming it would be to get us and the kayak back to Reykjavik.

And besides all that, peanut butter stocks are low.

Maybe it's habit, maybe it's because PB is full of fat and a good energy source, maybe because it's so versatile and can be savoury or sweet, (how could one live without peanut butter and honey sandwiches) but we always have a spare tub tucked away in the kayak. Down to that last tub, we pulled into Hūsavik to stock up but, unbelievably, the supermarket didn't have any. I ask you? How could we continue without a spare tub of PB?

So we retreat, 30km back to Hūsavik and make plans for the rest of the trip. 

If time allowed we had always had in mind that we might hire a car and cruise around to see many of the inland sites we've missed from the water and revisit coastal sites we'd passed and it was just too cold to stop and explore. 

Now we've discovered the four pieces of kayak fit in a station wagon (estate car for UK readers) a one way hire from Akureyri to Reykjavik though pricey will provide our road trip and save the cost of freighting the kayak back to Reykjavik.

Our last kayaking campsite. 

We'll see - the next stage begins.