On Friday afternoon, September 13 , it was windy and grey, the new students in the master s program in Coastal and Marine Management gathered to sail for the weekend. The group sailed out of Ísafjörður harbor, aboard sailboats Britt and Aurora, heading for Jökulfirðir in the nature reserve of Hornstrandir. Anchor's dropped in Lónafjörður after a windy sail. On Saturday they continued sailing to Vigur island in Ísafjarðardjúp, went ashore and had a guided tour around the Island by local farmers. Due to poor weather the trip was cut short and the two boats returned to Ísafjörður late Saturday evening.

Among the students was Jamie Landry from New Hampshire, USA. Jamie graduated with her undergradute degree from the Univeristy of Rochester in NY, USA. Determined to pursue her graduate study abroad, it was a stroke of luck that brought her to the University Centre of the Westfjords. Jamie participated in the 3-week language course at Núpur and was well adjusted as her classmates arrived. Sailing in Ísafjörðurdjup, however, was a once in a lifetime experience.

"When we first got on Aurora, Siggi, the captain, told us what to do if someone were to fall overboard, so I was a little scared at first. The he proceeded to tell us how to leash ourselves onto the boat if it got rough and I thought - what have I gotten myself into?

Throughout the trip all that kept crossing my mind was this: How many people in the world have been here, in this place, doing what I am doing? Out of the billions of people on the planet, how many have seen what I am seeing? How many people have had the opportunity to sit on a sail boat at 6am to watch the sunrise over a fjord, looking at a place with no inhabitants, so close to the Arctic Circle?

As we sailed back toward Ísafjörður on Saturday night there wasn‘t a cloud in the sky and there were so many stars. I had never seen so many stars in my life. There was no city to block them and there was no noise except for the sound of the waves hitting the side of the boat. I never would have experienced this if I had not come here, to Ísafjörður, for this program."