Back on the Faroes: A rare dolphin sighting and a boat trip around Eysturoy

After a busy summer full of travels and excavation work, it was finally time to head to the Faroe Islands in early September last year. The Faroe Islands is my happy place, and this was my 13th visit!

This time was extra special. My family was joining for the first week, and then my friend came to travel with me for the second week. I couldn’t wait to show them all around. I had vague plans of places to take them to, but as always, you never quite know what to expect on the Faroes. On our first day, I had planned to take my family around on Vágar, but that plan soon changed when we were invited to join a boat trip from Leirvík to Toftir on Eysturoy. My “adoptive” Faroese dad, Jens Mortan, wanted to sail the boat back home to Toftir, and didn’t mind a bit of company on the three-hour journey. We didn’t waste any time getting out of the house to go meet him!

When we arrived in Leirvík after an hour on the scenic roads, I received a call from Jens Mortan, urging us to drive to Fuglafjørður as a pod of dolphins known in Faroese as ‘springarar’ had been driven into shore, and despite what most might think, they were not being slaughtered. Instead, tracking devices were inserted into a few of the dolphins in order to track their migration routes. They also took blood samples and will be monitoring their pollution levels. It’s very rare to see these dolphins up close, and they are just so incredibly cute!

We spent a few hours watching the spectacle which just happened to take place at the same time as a local food festival. The sun was shining and the whole community had come together for the two events. It couldn’t have been a better day!

We watched the dolphins swim back to the open sea, and then took off to Leirvík for our boat trip with Jens Mortan. Sailing through Leirvíksfjørður was calm and even quite warm as the sun was still out. But as soon as we got around the Gøtunes promontory, the waves sarted getting rougher. Once we’d sailed south of the Mjovanes promontory with its little lighthouse at the edge, we entered the open sea and the waves got so rough that we could no longer sit on the deck without getting blown off.

The views were amazing throughout, especially looking north with the sporadic sunlight shining on the mountains of Borðoy in the distance.

When we finally reached the tip of Nólsoy and sailed around the southern end of Eysturoy, the waves calmed down and allowed for a beautiful ride into Toftir. This part of the trip was cold, and I was freezing by the time we arrived. But Jens Mortan’s wife Rigmor picked us up and took us home for warm rolls and a nice chat. That definitely warmed us up!

So this was how our first day in the Faroes turned out. Completely spontaneous with unexpected adventures, just the way I like it. The following two weeks were a bit like that too, but more about that in my upcoming posts!