Icelandic Digital Magazine LIVE+ICELANDIC+Spring+2017 | Page 10

At age 68, he says he has no intention of retiring anytime soon and plans to
go out to sea for as long as his body will take him. Judging by the appearance,
Kjartan seems to be in good physical shape and when asked about his health,
he says he is convinced that being out at sea is a healthy lifestyle with plenty
of good exercise. However, he also accredits his good health to the Icelandic
food which he says he finds it hard to live without. Icelandic skyr, lamb,
traditional blood and liver pudding, as well as a lot of fish is a part of his
regular diet. He wants his food to be Icelandic and he wants to know where
it is from. His favourite, is traditional salted cod, which he prepared himself
from scratch; caught at sea, salted for a month in barrels and sundried for a
couple of days until ready.
Kjartan has never experienced any accidents during his almost five decades-
long career as a sailor and says he believes someone from above must be
looking after him. As a result, he is a Christian man and has regularly been
a part of the local church choir.