If you´re following my progress on the SPOT John link, you´ve probably noticed that I´m either a really really fast paddler or I have skipped some sections, like, for instance, the entire northwestern fjords (that giant piece that sticks out into the ocean on the left-hand side of the island).  The reason for these jumps are two-fold.  First, in both sections that I have skipped, the weather forecast was bleak to the point where everyone agreed the paddling was too dangerous to possibly be worth it.  I could have waited, but I´m more interested in paddling and exploring than I am in covering every inch of coastline.  It´s all been paddled before, and this is my adventure, I´ll do it whatever way seems the most fun!  The second reason, and the most important one is that I´ve learned a lot about kayaking since I got here.  One thing I learned is that I don´t have the skill level to paddle in everything Iceland has to offer in every type of weather.  I came here to challenge myself, not to get myself killed!  So, being wise enough to know when I can paddle and when I can´t, I skipped the really hard parts, even though I know some of those sections have some of the prettiest coastline in the country.  I don´t feel bad about it. I have an obligation to my wife and daughter to stay alive!  So I´m playing it a little safer than I would have when I was single, but for two very good reasons.

Finally, since I´m not going all the way around, I have re-evaluated how long I really want to be away from my family.  I´ve decided to meet them in New Hampshire for the second half of our summer break, because I really can´t wait to get my nearly two year-old daughter out on her first backpacking trip along the Appalachain trail that runs through our backyard and to take her canoeing on some of New Hampshire´s lakes and water-ways.  I somehow failed to realize how excited I am to start getting her involved in my adventures!  I´ve decided to fly to Boston on the 7th of July, effectively cutting my trip in half.  Does it seem like I´m quitting? Yes and no.  I´m not getting all the way around, which is what I planned, but I´m having a great adventure of my own making, which I think is most important.  I´m not a world-class kayaker.  I´m pretty much just a regular guy who loves to paddle, and somewhere along the way during this particular adventure, I found some new priorities.  Dalal and I are going to make a great paddling team.  As for further adventures, I promise there will be more.  Perhaps not as long, at least not for a while, but I have some ideas, and my wife almost never says no to my hair-brained schemes.  I´ll still be kayaking and canoeing for charity, and I´ll be out here until the 6th.  There is still plenty of adventure to be had!