San Diego to Iceland

Hello John and welcome to Expat.com!

Wish you Good Luck in your project,
Harmonie.

as an American, the challenge will be to find a way to legitimately reside in Iceland. Generally this is done through studies, a work visa sponsored by your job, or family reunification. If you're especially skilled in home restoration, there might be some way to use that as your in, but I can't think of any companies that specialize in that. Most people fixing up old houses that I know are DIY, and the old houses are definitely not "beach" homes. Icelanders weren't really able to enjoy such luxury until recently, but there are plenty of beautiful old towns (Seyðisfjörður, Siglufjörður and its neighbors, for example) that have been the target of renewed interest, and plenty of renovation activity surrounding them.

If you can establish personal connections in the building and restoration industry that's my best guess of how you could get work sponsorship as a specialist.  What does your wife do?

As for surfing, it's a totally other ballgame than what you're used to in Cali, but there is a small, dedicated group of surfers from what I've heard.  Here's an article from a few years ago on the topic:

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandrev … _id=287153

these guys might also be helpful:
http://www.arcticsurfers.is/

Have you ever visited ICeland though? I'd imagine the weather here might come as a bit of a shock for someone from California, particularly in the dead of winter.