‘Sail with us and you might not have a shower for a week’ says the yacht’s skipper. But orcas, coastal waterfalls and sense of real adventure more than compensate

“Adventure is just bad planning,” said Roald Amundsen who knew a thing or two about extreme voyages. I appreciate the Norwegian explorer’s point when we practise man-overboard drills on the Hummingbird yacht off the coast of Iceland. There are experienced professional sailors in charge, but it still takes us 10 minutes to pluck our casualty (a boat fender) from the water. That’s five minutes too long in these frigid seas.

“It’s best to sail with the idea that if you go over the side, you’re a goner,” says skipper Rachael Sprot.

Amundsen would appreciate the message: prevent accidents, plan ahead. Yet part of me still asks what can be more adventurous than a yacht expedition around northern Iceland?

Adventure is the stock-in-trade of Hummingbird’s owner, Rubicon3, the only company to offer a six-month voyage around some of the remotest parts of the North Atlantic to anyone who fancies it – from experienced sailors to novices who don’t know their stern from their elbow.

It’s also like no other sailing operator because it does its best to put you off. “If you want luxury and an easy journey, Hummingbird is not for you,” the handbook warns. It’s all true: bunks in a shared cabin are cramped, and everyone mucks in with cooking and cleaning as well as sailing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Skipper Rachael Sprot (right) helps two crew members tie the mainsail. Photograph: Sally Golden

“We originally banned the word ‘holiday’ from our brochures because it didn’t reflect what we do,” says Rachael. “Sail with us and you might not have a shower for a week.”

Hummingbird is certainly up to the task. Built in 1996 for the first Clipper Round the World race, the tough 60-footer has ticked off the German Baltic, Sweden, south Norway and the Faroe Islands over three months by the time I join at Seyðisfjörður on Iceland’s east coast for a 10-day cruise to Akureyri, Iceland’s second city. It would later return to the Solent via the Scottish Highlands and Ireland. There’s a more conventional tour from Spain to Morocco and the Azores this winter, and a different North Atlantic route will run in 2016.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fishing boats at anchor alongside Hummingbird (left) in Húsavík harbour. Photograph: Sally Golden

But what about us? Are we – eight amateurs, on board for 10 days, only two of us with much sailing experience – really ready for this sort of expedition? The Arctic Circle is hardly a forgiving cruise destination.

On our first passage, we dither over ropes as we hoist sails and route lines the wrong way around winches. Other lines are freed too soon, making the rigging twang and the sails flog.

But eventually, with sails and course set, the 20-hour passage to Raufarhöfn eases into a rhythm. Timetabled by watches – four hours on, four hours off – the boat becomes a self-contained world. Off-watch, you read or lie in your bunk as Hummingbird surges ahead. On deck, life assumes a joyous simplicity. There’s little to do but sail, yarn over cups of coffee and enjoy being on an empty sea in a small boat.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Hummingbird visits remote locations on the coast and tiny islands off it, such as Flatey island. Photograph: Sally Golden

Near the coast, I watch waterfalls cascading from ragged cliffs whose tops are hidden in cloud. Further out, pods of dolphins revolve around us and, just occasionally, minke whales arc from a blue-black sea. I’m at the helm when several fins rise – far too tall for dolphins. Barely a boat-length away, smooth jet-black bodies break the surface like submarines then dive beneath Hummingbird. There’s a flash of brilliant white – orcas!

For half an hour we abandon our course and sail among the killer whales: three or four adult males, with two-metre dorsal fins, and many more females, some with calves. How many of Iceland’s 300-strong population is here? At least 20. Maybe 30. When we resume course, our passage feels transformed into a wilderness expedition. It’s one thing to watch orcas from a crowded tour boat, another entirely when you’re on a yacht alone at sea.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hummingbird moored up at Flatey island. Photograph: Sally Golden

Such unpredictability is one thing I love about the trip. You’re never entirely sure what will happen next – and it’s as much an adventure for the pro crew too, who’ve never been to these places either.

The sea and wind become as central to the experience as our overnight destinations. We sail to Grímsey island (population 70) on oil-calm water, then walk across the Arctic Circle line to watch a carnival of razorbills, guillemots and puffins honk and trill on the sea cliffs. We leave the next day before an Arctic gale, Hummingbird bucking through large waves whose crests are torn into rags of foam.

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For eight days we hop along the coast, anchoring overnight in fjords or mooring in small fishing harbours. From Húsavík, we hire a car for a day to tour inland: to Dettifoss, said to be Europe’s most powerful waterfall, which thunders like a Nordic Niagara; across stone deserts where Apollo astronauts trained; and to actively volcanic Mývatn. It feels less like a day trip than a journey to the dawn of time.

We stop off at Flatey island (a tiny island off Húsavík, not to be confused with the larger island of the same name off the west coast) – where there’s just one family in residence, there on a summer holiday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dettifoss falls – an inland day trip from Húsavík. Photograph: Sally Golden

Our sailing progresses, too, as daily tuition is put into practice. Soon, sail changes pass without incident. Those who could only tie a shoelace before now lash down sails with barely a thought. The total beginner who had come to learn? He, like three other crew, disembarked at Akureyri qualified as “competent crew”, a course that usually costs around £500.

When I pack my bag, I realise I’ve advanced too. Hummingbird will welcome a new crew in Akureyri and, after a week in the West Fjords, will sail to Greenland. Into the ice, I think – now, that’s an adventure.

• The trip was provided by Rubicon3 (020-3086 7245, rubicon3.co.uk): eight nights from £780pp, with food, accommodation and tuition. Flights were provided by WOW Air (0118 321 8384, wowair.co.uk), which has Gatwick-Reykjavik returns from £98. Internal flights were provided by Air Iceland (airiceland.is). For more information see (inspired.visiticeland.com)