The Garðar BA 64 wreck

Garðar BA 64 was built in Norway in 1912 as a whaler, worked Icelandic waters for most of the twentieth century, and in 1981 — rather than being scrapped — was deliberately run aground on the shore at Skápadalur, on the south side of Patreksfjörður. It has stood there ever since: an upright steel hull, riveted, rust-red, with grass growing up to the keel and the fjord behind it.

It is the easiest strong location in the Westfjords. There is a pull-out on Road 612 and the ship is thirty seconds' walk away across flat grass, which makes it the obvious stop for anyone who cannot manage the cliff path or the descent to Rauðasandur. Work the bow head-on for scale, then walk around to the seaward side where the rust and rivets fill the frame behind a tight portrait, then step back for the whole hull against the fjord and the mountains.

The rust is the palette: orange and brown metal, green grass, grey water. Overcast light suits it perfectly and saturates the colour; low evening sun from the west adds a warm rim along the plating. Both work, so this is a good place to keep in the back pocket when the weather ruins something else.

Do not climb on or go inside it. The hull is a hundred-plus-year-old wreck: the plating is thin with rust, the deck is unsound and the edges are sharp. It stands on private land close to a working farm, so park in the pull-out rather than on the verge, close gates behind you and keep the session brief and tidy.