German Family Finds Seattle Boat in Rifstangi, Iceland

On April 19, 2025, a small wooden boat decorated by University of Washington's Aquatics and Fisheries Sciences department during a 2023 open house community event was found and reported in Rifstangi, which is at the northernmost point of Iceland. It was deployed at the North Pole alongside its parent buoy by the Le Commandant Charcot on August 17, 2023 and drifted on the Track Taken North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre through Fram Strait south to Iceland. 

Tine Poppiz reported this: 

Wir (Familie mit 4 Personen) kommen aus Deutschland und haben 10 Tage mit einem Mietauto Island umrundet. Am 7. Tag haben wir eine Wanderung zum nördlichsten Punkt auf dem Festland von Island gemacht. Das sind 3,6 km von der Straße und zurück. Am Ende waren wir 3 Stunden zu Fuß unterwegs. Wir haben sehr viele Bojen und Müll gefunden. Leider ist es zu weit weg von der Straße, um den Müll einzusammeln. Dafür bräuchte man viele Menschen und Container. Neben dem Müll fanden wir auch ein Holzboot. Dieses nehmen wir mit nach Rostock an die Ostsee. Mal sehen, wo wir es wieder aussetzen. Liebe Grüße aus RostockTine

English translation:

We (a family of four) are from Germany and spent 10 days circumnavigating Iceland in a rental car. On the 7th day, we hiked to the northernmost point on the Icelandic mainland. It's 3.6 km from the road and back. In the end, it took us three hours to walk. We found a lot of buoys and trash. Unfortunately, it's too far from the road to collect the trash. That would require a lot of people and containers. In addition to the trash, we also found a wooden boat. We're taking it with us to Rostock on the Baltic Sea. We'll see where we can put it again.

Best wishes from Rostock

Tine

Boat Number	222077
Date Found	April 19, 2025
Place Found	Rifstangi, the northernmost point of Iceland N 66° 32.250' W 016° 11.738'
Found By	Tine Poppitz
Date Deployed	August 17, 2023
Who Deployed	​Le Commandant Charcot
Deployment Location	North Pole
Track Taken	North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre through Fram Strait
Decorated by	a participant in the 2023 University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Science Open House