Kajakkspesialisten Norway

A wonderful trip to Rome, and a Kayak meeting…

2012-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

I just came home from a 4 day trip to Rome with my two sons. 4 intense days of walking and seeing whatever is to see: historic sites, architectural masterpieces and folklore. We even got a glimpse of Mediterranean nature also!

Thanks to Claudio Rufa of Gruppo Canoe Roma, I had the opportunity to show pictures and tell about last year’s baidarka expedition. It became a great meeting, with very many equally enthusiastic paddlers and SOF kayak enthusiasts, of which some had travelled nearly 500 km. to join!! My sons had reluctantly agreed to come along to hear their father speak for over 2 boring hours L, but with a great dinner afterwards, and good company, they both agreed that this had been a very special evening to remember!

Thanks a lot to all the great people who attended the meeting, and a special thank to Claudio and the others from Gruppo Canoe Roma for arranging it. I have very warm thoughts for all of you, and I definitely want to come back!

...Not for the first time in history, vandals from the north stand outside the city walls of Rome

The 1845 iqyax (baidarka)

2012-02-26T11:38:00.001-08:00

This week I've had a little time to work on the new 1845 Iqyax replica that I build with my friend Alexander.

On friday it was sushi for lunch, and the chopsticks worked fine as dowels....Thanks for both lunch and valueable materials Geir!

Alex came by on saturday and did some work on the deck beams. we made grooves in them and painted the grooves blue. We don't have the slightest idea why the original was made this way, but it looks nice. We thought of using the outmost fringed part of whale baleen instead of the "hair" that was used to decorate the original iqyax inside.

I bent the cockpit coaming from a nice piece of ash, using steam to soften the wood. Alex had printed a perfect cockpit shape, and the result was perfect too.

Finally, the bow began to take shape - it looked incredibly small, but the measures are right. The sun came through the workshop windows, and the whole thing looked really beautiful. Here you see Alex lashing the deck beams to the gunwhales.

Rome

2012-02-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

If someone happens to be in Rome on 1. of March, please come and see my pictures from last year's great paddle expedition!

Thanks to Claudio Rufa for arranging this event!

I got an award!!!!!

2012-02-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

Now it's official. I got the "Iqyax of the year 2011"

Michael Livingstone writes:

"Five people were nominated for "Iqyax of the year 2011", including some who have dedicated decades of their lives to researching and building these unique sea kayaks. By an overwhelming vote, your paddling of a traditionally built Unangax iqyax with a wooden frame covered with organic cotton and paddling 3063 Km. (1903 nautical miles along the coast of Norway stood head and shoulders above all other entrants. For your outstanding iqyax work, you are being awarded a Sacajawea coin by Randy L'Hedow Teton, the only living person portrayed on US currency. You are also being awarded a commemorative coin bag sewn by Glenice E Teton. You have, single-handed, done a great deal to keep the tradition of building and paddling iqyaq alive. Many generations of ancient Unangax iqyax builders are smiling down upon you."

I am very thankful for the award and these beautiful words. It is most enchouraging, and I really appreciate that. I promise that this will not be my last long iqyax journey. Building ancient craft is one thing, but we really start to learn when we actually use them also.

Thank you so much. A beautiful piece of art has come in my possesion also. It will hang on my wall and remind me to keep up the good spirit of working and paddling ancient craft.

Greenland style paddle building

2012-02-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Today 9 students attended a day course i Greenland style paddle building. We started at 8.30 with a plank of wood, and ended the day at 16.30 with 9 bright new wooden paddles.

It was a mixed group with many students from the outdoor studies in Bø, Telemark (my old school!). All were enthusiastic, and well skilled for the job. I really hope to see some of these people at one of my kayak building courses this year!

It seems that everyone were quite satisfied with today's work!

Grenland Havpadleklubb

2012-01-27T00:33:00.000-08:00

Kjempehyggelig møte med Grenland Havpadleklubb i Langesund i går.

nærmere 70 mennesker var møtt opp for å hygge seg sammen, og høre om Norge på langs eventyret mitt i sommer. Det ble en hyggelig aften med mye kajakkprat og padleåreprat. Blir man noengang lei?!....

Etter foredraget ble det handlet Aleutiske padleårer på harde livet.....

Formann Thor lurer litt.....

Tusen takk for en hyggelig kveld, og særlig takk til Trond Magne som tok initiativ til arrangementet!

New project

2012-01-25T22:49:00.000-08:00

Just started my new project. A replica of an Iqyax (baidarka) collected around 1850 in the Aleutian islands, stored in the museum of anthropology, St. Petersburg Russia, and surveyed by David Zimmerly. I got a blueprint from George Dyson many years ago.

To gain more knowledge on traditional Aleut watercraft, I need to learn to paddle faster and make more replicas. This one has been thrilling my imagination for a long time, and it’s great fun to finally start building it. It’s the most extreme specimen I know of. It’s a little more than 580 cm. long and a little more than 43 cm. wide. Good for racing, I guess.

I started today with the gunwales. The original seems to have have longitudal grooves carved in the gunwales through it’s entire length. Why? I haven’t much idea, but I figured out that the best way to learn more was to try to copy the grooves on my replica. All guessing on this issue is appreciated!

Well done!

2012-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, the workshop was empty again. It has been a great week, with lots of activity and great company. It's both a bit sad and a great relief when all the kayaks and all the people are gone.

The course was a good one. The atmosphere was good and so was the working spirit. The Baidarkas became really good, but we should have had a bit more time in the end. Perhaps the good atmosphere was to blame?......

We let my camera take a picture every minute, and that became an amusing little video:

Gareth, Pedro, Bjørn, Bao Quoc, Erik, Audun and Håvard - Thank you so much for a great week. Keep up the good spirit and paddle safely!

Kayak building course

2012-01-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I started a new intensive baidarka, or ixiaq building course. 7 great guys met, and we have been working some long days now, finishing the framework of 7 baidarkas.

This morning, all the woodworking was finished, and I was met by this beautiful sight:

(I mean Bao Quoc posing, not the kayak frameworks)!

We try to make a short movie from the course, which I will broadcast as soon as the course is finished on Sunday.

We are having a good time, everyone being really positive.

New blog

2012-01-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

How I love when things turn normal after a holiday. New Year, work wise, means counting all my materials and web shop items, cleaning the workshop and organizing one year’s invoices.

When I planned my great expedition this (last) year, I was uncertain how the economy of my business would be. It turned out normal, even though the year in many other aspects has been abnormal. I’m very thankful about this, and it really gives me the courage to start planning some other adventure. I guess I will do the same trip over again within a few years….

Just before Christmas, Pål Zimmermann came by and gave me some crooked tree trunks. I have cut them on my band saw, and they will make great masiks, or deck beams, in the 2012 kayaks….

I really feel privileged to be able to feel such joy, just by working on a beautiful piece of wood. And to be able to call it work is nearly like winning in a lottery!

It made me think of this little video from the stone age of the internet:

http://www.gratefulness.org/brotherdavid/a-good-day.htm

At the end of the week 8 people will meet in my workshop to build a baidarka, or ixiaq each. Lots of work still needs to be done, cutting all the wood, bending the cockpit coamings, looking over the tools and so on….

Video

2011-11-07T02:44:00.000-08:00

Finally, I had the opportunity to put together some of the video clips from the journey.

2011-10-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

The story goes on. Almost one week home, now. I would like to still share some thoughts on this project.

Slowly, things turn to normal. But I think things will never turn completely normal. I feel so completely relaxed, as I have never been in my adult life before. I have been very tired also – going to sleep at 9 in the evening, and waking up at 5 in the morning (ready to paddle?).

My tiredness, I guess has especially to do with the last weeks paddling. I calculated my average day’s paddle the last 3 weeks of the journey to be above 55 km. per day. According to competent long distance and competition paddlers, an average day’s paddle should not exceed much more than 40 km. If you wish to be go on for weeks and weeks. I also dropped 5 kilos of weight. I had not much to lose in the first place.

But all in all everything is very satisfying. My total paddle distance was 3063 km. in 73 days – about 42 km a day. Pretty much the same as other expeditions of equal duration have had.

On Friday, I could not resist the temptation to take my baidarka to the nearby lake, and paddle my usual 20 km. trip around an island there. The kayak was empty, not that it matters much. I paddled this distance focused, but without great effort (not much pulse) in 2,5 hours. Nearly one hour faster than before my journey!!! The average speed was 7,9 km/hour. Before the great journey, my average speed would be 6,8 or so.

The weather was as good as it can be this time of the year!

On Thursday I talked to Bao Quoc. He told me that he wanted to build his own baidarka this winter, and finish his part of the journey from Kristianssund to the Swedish border next summer. I agreed on having a baidarka building workshop this winter from 7.-15. of January. This workshop will be open to anyone interested.

Home.....

2011-09-28T04:46:00.000-07:00

Two whole days home! It has been fantastic. No big party, just the sensation of everyday life. My children has occupied most of my time. Today I have begun looking at the big amounts of orders, e-mails, bills and other stuff, that has vaited for me so long.

Above: The very last paddle stroke on this journey, so far..

I would like to thank everyone for all the congratulations and good wishes they have sent me the last couple of days, both blog comments, SMS and e-mails. I have not had the time to ansver all, but you must all know that it really warms my heart. Thank you very much!

Above: First step out of my kayak - I didn't get very far

It really doesn't bother me being in the outdoors for a long period. I get used to it, it works great, and I even enjoy it! But once home, I do appreciate all the blessings of civilisation. You flip a switch, and there is light! Wow!

73. day of paddling

2011-09-27T03:25:00.001-07:00

I started my last day of paddling in Borre. The day before, I paddled 72 km. I got at 05.00 and started paddling 06.30. Heavy rain falls had made the rivers flood, and there was a rapid flow of water against me in the Drammen fjord, and later up the river. I had 1-2 hours stop in Drammen to talk to the press and eat, then I was on my way again, up the river to my home in Vestfossen.

Nrk made a small radio broadcast and this article: http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/buskerud/1.7808877

I was very eager to get home, and I don’t understand how I kept up the speed for the last 36 km. to Vestfossen. My average speed was 6 km/hour and the total days distance was, like the day before, 72 km. Amazing what you can do when you are motivated!

Approaching Vestfossen, I was met by two flashlights – it was my two sons who wanted to be first out to meet me. It was 21.00 and completely dark, but hearing their voices just made me so happy!

Another 500 m. of paddling took me to the river bank in Vestfossen. I was met by my wife, my two daughters, some friends and a local newspaper. It’s hard to express how happy I was to finally be home.

See the article and the pictures here:

http://www.eikernytt.no/nyhet.cfm?nyhetid=6460

It’s strange being home, and there are so many things to do. I will continue the blog the days to follow. There are many thoughts that need to be expressed, and some practical facts I want to share. But now, It’s time for rest and family.

AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYONE FOR ALL THE GOOD FEEDBACK AND CONGRATULATIONS I HAVE GOT. IT IS VERY GOOD TO HEAR, I ENJOY IT A LOT!

Risør - Nevlunghavn

2011-09-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

Morning in Risør - breaking up camp

Today the weather was mostly BEAUTIFUL!

I stopped for a break on the island "Kråka" in Telemark. This is the place I was first introduced to Greenland kayaking about this time of the year 18 years ago. This is in a way where it all started!

The weather was good until 16.00 when I crossed over to Nevlunghavn. Nevlunghavn has a reputation for difficult waves. The wind grew stronger as I paddled on, and soon I found myself in a chaos of waves - It felt lik sitting inside a washing mashine. At one occation I came too close to a series of huge breaking waves, and I nearly capsized. That was a bit scary. I found ot there was no point continuing under these circumstances, so I camped near Nevlunghavn, even though it was not late at all.

When we were a group of 3, we wanted to paddle to the Swedish border and end the journey there. Now as I paddle alone, I think I will rather simply paddle home. I've paddled to the border earlier, It's a shorter distance than paddling home, but for me at the moment, paddling up the river to my home in Vestfossen seeems much more attractive.

Soon home!!!!

2011-09-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Home....that's whats on my mind most of the time these days. But I still have great company with Alexander. Today we paddled a short distance (46 km) we must remember to have a good time. We camped early outside Risør and made a campfire (It's getting cold now). We had a good dinner and a glass of brandy too!

Alex leaves me tomorrow, and I have 3-4 days left of the journey. It's my 70th day out now, and I'm looking forward to see my wife and children again.

Arendal

2011-09-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

We have had some good paddling since my last blog entry. We have still had a lot of wind, but since the compass began to point north east, the wind has helped us. It's so fun to see the landscape changing from steep rocks and sea to nice arcipalago with little islands, grass spots and sand beaches all over.
We enjoy the wind in our backs, and sometimes we even see the sun!!! I begin to belive I can actually finish my journey in good style when I see the progress we have made the last couple of days.

It's great being with Alexander. He will paddle with me until saturday. He have had some tough days with blisters inside his hands and sore muscles, but the spirit is always good.

Today we had a great meeting with a relative of mine. My fathers cousin Mark Thygesen and his wife Ruth moved to southern Norway many years ago. I have never had contact with them, but Ruth has read my blog. As we got near Kristianssand, she contacted me, and we had a great lunch together in Lillesand. It was a 3 hours break this day, and we enjoyed every minute of it, comfortably seated in good company and with great food, cake and coffee. It was hard to paddle after that, and we didn't stop to eat for a while.

In the evening, we got near Arendal, and made our camp just outside the city on a beautiful spot - sand beach, grass and even a public toilet!!!! Luxury!

Here in the south we find great landing places everywhere.

The weather may be bad, but the spirit is good! This photo was taken just after passing Lindesnes - the southernmost point of Norway:

Lindesnes

2011-09-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

3 great days in wind and rain brought Alex and I to Farsund yesterday. We have had a good time, despite the bad weather. As I had thought, the south west coast could be difficult. It is wery exposed. And it was difficult. We had strong winds and huge ocean swell, and very few landing places on our way. We did not paddle fast in the wind.

Today the weather forecast was promising, and we tried to get around Norways southernmost point - Lindesnes - and we managed!!!! We had a hard days work in huge seas and slightly less wind and travelled 46 km. to Mandal. Now we are on the safe side of the coast - a coast that I am familiar with, and a less exposed coast.

The lighthouse on Lindesnes - I felt a bit like a mountain climber on top of Everest!

Company

2011-09-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

It seems that the blogspot did not send yesterday - I camped south on Bokna, just before the crossing to Stavanger. The crossing was fine - weather was perfect! No wind and sun!!!! I just thought I would never use my sunglasses again!

I paddled a good bit south of Stavanger just as Alexander and his father came driving to the west coast. Fun to see this part of the coast - it looks like my home country Denmark - long sand beaches and flat green fields!

We met, and drove together to the nearest camping site. Good to sit on a chair and have a beer! Tonight is party time!!!!! Tomorrow early, Alexander and I will paddle on, and Alexanders father will drive back to the east.

artikkel

2011-09-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

ja, så var artiklen til ut.no klar. ikke de store blemmer her.
http://ut.no/artikkel/1.7791467

A challenging day

2011-09-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

It seemed to be a perfect day today - I got up early, the weather seemed good. My first goal was to reach Haugesund. Then a bit further towards Stavanger. The wind got still stroger as I paddled on. The coast between Bømlo and Haugesund is marked on my map as a "difficult wave area". I supposed that meant that the bottom of the sea was very uneven, and that it may get troublesome for small vessels, as it is constantly exposed to the huge ocean swell of the North Sea....And I was right.

Normally such conditions is a smaller challenge, when you go out in a group with empty kayaks, and play a bit in the waves. For me it was a little different, alone in my heavily loaded kayak. And a small bit would have been all right, but todays challenge lasted for 30 km. The wind grew from moderate breeze to strong breeze, and the ocean swell, that was perhaps 1,5 meters, doubled their size, as they washed over the shallow rock bottom here and there. sometimes I would fin myself very unstable, balancin on the crest of a steep wave like that.

I was quite exhausted when I reached Haugesund. I had arranged to meet Gunnar Eldjarn, who works in Haugesund, building the worlds largest viking ship. It was easy to find Gunnar and the ship, and I had a great lunch together with Gunnar and his boat builder colleges.

The ship was amazing - 115 feet long, made out of solid oak. Breathtaking!

Tomorrow I will paddle to Stavanger, and perhaps a bit farther down the coast, and meet Alexander. By the way, it's been exactly 2 months since we began this journey, and I have paddled more than 2500 km. by now!

Rain, wind and paddling

2011-09-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

In weather like this, there's nothing to do but....paddle, paddle! I left Bergen late yesterday (13.00). It was tempting to stay for another day, but I'm soooo close to home now!

Ronny and Kyrre who runs the kayak shop "God tur" helped me a lot. I fixed and dried my stuff. Sent home some useless stuff...and got some new stuff from Ronny and Kyrre! As I write these words, I drink a nice espresso from the genious "Aeropress" from "God tur". Thank you very much Ronny and Kyrre - this coffee makes living in a one person tent a lot better! (and Einar, don't be sorry, I got great coffe for the rest of the trip!)

Commercial: Anyone considering buying a kayak should go to Ronny and Kyrre in "God tur" Bergen. They are such nice guys, and real enthusiast,s who sell quality stuff and take their time helping the customers the best way.

Tuesday I paddled 43 km. in wind and rain. average speed was 6,7 km/hour. today I had paddled 50 km. at dinnertime, and another 11 after dinner. I stopped early, before 18.00 - average speed 6,8 km/hour. I'm not exhausted at all. I think I begin to gain real good physical shape.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is promising - finally the rain will stop, and perhaps I will get the wind in my back! I can't wait...better go to sleep now.

God tur

2011-09-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

After a hard paddle - 54 km. in wind and rain, I finally reached the city Bergen at 19.00 yesterday. I was met by Hallvard Torp, who have held a depot of dried food for the expedition

The last couple of years, I have been contributing to the sea kayak symposium in Western Norway arranged by the company "God Tur" in Bergen. I contacted the guys that run the company when I arrived Bergen, and I was welcomed to take my kayak indoor for maintainance and stay in Ronnys house. I gladly accepted both.

Now my kayak stays in the kayak shop in the centre of Bergen. I have peeled off what was left of the protective tape on the keel, and replaced it with new tape. My equipment hangs all over the shop to dry, and i have slept in a good warm bed. I took a day off today, to re organize my equipment and reconstitute my body.. It has been hard paddling for the last couple of days, so I probably need it.

I took a walk in the city today....strange and exciting in a way, to see so many people. Had a hair cut and a shave! Lovely! My hair has been bothering me the last weeks when I paddle in the wind.

NRK, the national tv and radio broadcast company also contacted me today. They would make some interview with me regarding my trip tomorrow, before I leave Bergen.

And then I just heard from my friend Alexander that he will come and paddle with me for a week, starting next friday! I'm very happy about that. That is something to look forward to.

For those who are new on this blog, I just add a "Anders and Alexander baidarka paddle" movie clip - seeing this clip makes me happy!

Close to Bergen

2011-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i said goodbye to Øystein, who have paddled with me for 3 days now. He was picked up by Ahn Loan, who had made dinner for us. I said goodbye, and paddled on alone.

Today I crossed the Sogne fjord and Flens fjord,and it seems to be the last real fjord crossings on my long journey. I'm very optimistic about that. Unfortunately, it seems that I will get more wind and a lot of rain in the next days to come.

It has not been easy finding good camping spots lately. And being alone makes landings quite complicated. My poor kayak has taken a lot of wear the last week. I have reinforced the keel with some protective tape, that is almost completely worn down now! It's also hard for the back, and sometimes risky to pull the kayak on shore. Usually I place driftswood pieces on shore, and pull the loaded kayak on top of them.

Tomorrow I probably reach Bergen. It will be rainy and windy, but I have been offered housing for me and the kayak. I will carry out some maintenance (new protective tape!!) and perhaps give myself a days rest.

We did like the vikings!

2011-09-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last blog entry. Many things has happened, but no great sensations. It has been good paddling alone for some days, and I sure meet people.

Like many have probably guessed, I did not paddle around the feared cape "Stad". When I got there it was windy, but I was determined that I would paddle around Stad. I do respect all the scary stories I hear, but most of them are from boating people. A paddler's point of view is different. I studied the map, and sure, it could be difficult - no doubt. But I also noticed serveral spots where you could land, in order to shorten the difficult passages. "Not that bad" I thought.

But then in the evening, I met Bao Quoc's sister and brother in law, Ahn Loan and Øystein. We camped together north east of Stad, and Øystein wanted to paddle with me. Cool!

It turned out a bit different. During the night came strong gale force winds, and they kept blowing in the morning. It would possibly be only tiering and foolish to attempt to paddle in such winds. We had a small hope, and went by car to the westernmost point, where we got a good view of the sea. No doubt - not a good idea to paddle today!

West cape "Stad" Norways westernmost point. We could hardly stand upright, and opening the door of the car was quite difficult. I was happy to go by car past this place. I'll come back some other day when the weather is better!

And so we did like the vikings, who pulled their ships over narrow land passages to avoid exposed and difficult seas, we took my baidarka on the car roof and simply started paddling on the southern side.

It was great to have company by Øystein. He has paddled a lot in this area, and is familiar with all the places here. By the way, paddling was far from easy. It was still gale force winds, and paddling 30 km. with such strong wind against you is actually more tiering than paddling 60 km. in calm weather.

Camping with two one person tents in hard rain could become boring, but if you put up the tents close together it's no problem to have conversations through the walls!

That was yesterday - today has also been windy, and we have paddled to Florø. Ahn Loans sister lives here, and has kindly offered her house for us to stay for the night. Tomorrow we will paddle past Askvoll, and hopefully I will be in Bergen in 3 days. The weather shall become still calmer, but it will be rainy. ØØystein follows me tomorrow, and then I'm on my own again.

Meeting people

2011-09-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I paddled by the dreaded Hustadvika in calm weather and rain, I noticed a group of people by a small lighthouse. They looked at me, I looked at them....and kept paddling.

As I came to Bud, a small harbor nearby, they contacted me. It was Wenche and Lars from Oslo kayak club - old acquaintances of mine! They had a cabin nearby, and i was invtited to them for a shower, clothes washing, a good meal and a bed. It was so nice meeting them. These things happen all the time.

I have had some good days now, paddling alone. My breaks get shorter, and paddling is a bit faster now. Today and yesterday, I covered 110 km, finishing early in the afternoon. Now I will slow down, since I will not paddle outside Stadt on Tuesday - strong winds on Tuesday probably. So now I will spend two days getting to Stadt, seeing whatever there is to see. The city of Ålesund could be interesting, so could Rundø - biggest bird cliffs in the country.....We'll see what the days to come will bring.

It doesn't bother me being alone at all. After 7 weeks of sharing almost every moment of the day with others, It's quite satisfying to be alone.

Wenche and Lars followed me to my kayak and waved goodbye this morning

Changes......

2011-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Today Bao Quoc announced thet he wanted to quit paddling for a while. The reason was that he wants to finish his studies.

We paddled to Kristiansund. Here we met Elsebeth and Geir, who kindly offered us a bed for the night, dinner and a small sightseeing in beautiful Kristiansund. Thank you so much Elsebeth and Geir!!!!

We re arranged our gear and got a smaller tent for me. I intend to keep paddling as long as I still enjoy it, so even though I dislike the thought of paddling alone, I take one day at the time an go on....

Tomorrow is Hustadvika - an area feared by sailors. The weather forecast says the weather will be good - little wind and no rain!

Living in style

2011-08-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

Finally we met some other paddlers! Near Bjugn we were met by Greta and Ole Kristian in their kayaks. They paddled with us as we crossed the Bjugn fjord. They invited us to Greta's home for an evening meal, sauna and a good bed, which we of course appreciated! Many thanks - it was so nice meeting you.

We paddled on today in great weather and some light wind. During the day, the rain came, it got cloudy and dark! It was getting late, as we found a small site called Magerøy, where there was a guest harbor. The great people who run the place let us sleep inside a great 17. century house, which is now in use as a guest house for tourists. Our tent was completely soaked, so we gladly accepted their offer.

The house to the right is where we stayed for the night. Talk about living in style!

Tomorrow, we will get up early. We need to use the light hours for paddling now, as the evenings get shorter.

Stokkøya

2011-08-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

The wind had calmed as we left Sætervik, even though some swell had built up during the night. The goal for the day was Stokkøya. We got up a little late, as a nice couple from Haugesund had invited us for a drink the night before!

Evening paddling - calm sea and some ocean swell.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL - sun and light wind. Almost too good to be true. 50 km. of paddling took us to Stokkøya - a beautiful remote spot, with a strange mix of beautiful nature and modern architecture.

The beach bar at Stokkøya.

Good paddling in strong winds

2011-08-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

After we left the North, the weather has been fair. Little rain, and some sun. Until today....
We got out of our moist sleeping bags at 06.00 in the morning. We had some wind and rain the day before, and were happy to see the sun drying our tent and tarp. We had a good long breakfast, consisting of oat porridge and tea. Everything was perfect......

At 08.00 we were seated in our kayaks, heading south-west into the beautiful archipelago.

We usually paddle 3x15 km. a day, on average. With two good breaks in-between, or so. Our first stop after 17 km. at a small harbor was great. As we went on, the fog came! we had 100 m. visibility, and did some small crossings between islands paddling real close to each other, trusting the compass completely. I sometimes get sea sick from paddling in fog, but when I had Bao Quoc in my sight it was O.K. Then came the rain.....

And then came the wind, and even more rain. The best thing was that the fog disappeared!

8 km. of paddling in gale force wind and strong rain took us to Sætervik. The old lighthouse in Buholmråsa was spectacular in this weather!! There is a sheltered harbor in Sætervik, and we figured out there might be some place to get shelter from the weather and take a break. There was not only a good harbor, but an open cafe and....an apartments for rent!!! We were served good coffee by the gentle couple who runs the place, and we agreed to stay for the night. We have had a good shower, washed some clothes by hand, and eaten a good meal.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is promising, and we are optimistic about venturing out early tomorrow morning...

Goodbye to the North

2011-08-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

It was so good to vistit Inge and Bent at Havnomaden's Kayakcentre in Husvær. Not far from Husvær is Brønnøysund - a place that I have visited often, and a place where my heart belongs....We arrived early today, and met my good friend Kurt in the harbor. Tonight we have arranged to eat pizza with Kurt and his family, and other great people from Brønnøysund.

The weather is still good. Yesterday we had what seems to be the last summer night with no wind and sun - we paddled a long distance in complete silence, only disturbed by little dolphins who hit the surface and exhaled.

It is both great and a bit sad to be here in Brønnøysund. Brønnøysund is in the southernmost part of Northern Norway, and leaving Brønnøysund means leaving the North! And I won't be back for a long time... I have enjoyed our trip through Northern Norway so much - especially the last couple of weeks in Helgeland.

(above was written 2 days ago)

Now we have crossed another county border!!!!!! North Trøndelag lies ahead of us.

We have had difficulties connecting to the internet, but now it seems to work! I'll get back with some photos. At this moment we are just about to cross the Folda Fjord. The weather is fine, a bit rainy and windy this morning, but it's getting better. We have had a good break in a guest harbor, but now we need to move on....

1467 km

2011-08-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

We are approximately half way on our long journey now. And we have used half the time. Today we reached Husvær South in Nordland. Soon it's time to change to my next overview map!

Our progress is good, and we still experience amazing things. Yesterday we came across pods of small dolphins, who jumped out of the water quite close to us. Unfortunately, we did not manage to take any photos before they were gone.

We often get up early in the morning. 05.00 is typical. Then it's good to take a nap any time you have the opportunity. Here I take a short nap in a harbor, using my thermos as a pillow.

We eat well all the time. Our typical breakfast consist of oat flakes, dried milk powder and hot water. Usually we add sugar, sometimes butter, and sometimes we even add chocolate! We eat oats quite often, actually. For lunch too, and sometimes as an evening meal.

Once or twice a day, we have "dinner". Dinner consist of vacuum packed, freeze dried meals from a Norwegian company "Drytech". They come in many varieties. Unfortunately Our first food depot to last 3 weeks had only two varieties! Now I have more to choose from. To add a little extra fat (and taste), we have brought lots of olive oil. We add up to one dl. in every meal as often as we can.

We sometimes take a break out on the water. Therefore we need some "deck food". This usually consists of different kinds of nuts, raisins and chocolate. All packed in waterproof little bags, within easy reach.
You actually become a little tired of the same food every day. Therefore, we eat well every time we reach some kind of civilization. We now typically buy bread, cheese, eggs and canned fish. We prefer fat and protein!

Life beneath the sea is often more interesting than life above the sea

Today we reached Inge and Bent Skauen. They run "Havnomaden" (sea nomad) kayak center. We have had a good time with good food, wine and great company with Inge and Bent, who are passionate paddlers. We have slept in good beds, had a good shower, and washed our smelliest clothes.

Wine, chairs and table - luxury!!!! Thanks to Inge and Bent.

Bodø - Ørnes

2011-08-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

We set out from Bodø rather late on the 16. The wind was strong - too strong to cross the Salten fjord. We had to stop and sleep only 12 km. from where we started, and wait for better weather. We got up at 04.00 in the morning on wedensday 17. and crossed the fjord in nice weather. This day, we paddled 62 km. It is very efficient to get up early! Today, we paddled 30 km. We rounded the dreaded "Kunna" in fair weather, and got to Ørnes early. We had a good meal, and went out to find Tor's cabin on Mesøya. We had placed a depot of dried food here, and everything went as planned. Today it is two weeks since we left Tromsø, and we had estimated a two weeks trip to get here - it couldn't be more perfect.

Finally Helgeland! I have been looking forward to paddle this part of the coast.

Tor and his wife Birte came here by car as I write these lines. We had a good evening together, ate fresh food and sat on chairs! Luxury!!!! Birte had brought Tor's old baidarka. It is shorter and better suited for this kind of trip, and Bao Quoc will leave behind his 570 cm. long baidarka on Mesøya. A little rigging needs to be done before we can continue.

Man or kayak? I met this two legged monster lying on its back when I went outside the cabin to brush my teeth!

Tor and Birte approaching the cabin in their kayaks.

Press coverage

2011-08-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

During our trip, the press has shown a fair amount of interest in our expedition. The first newspaper to provide coverage was Sør-Varanger avis, which gave us a two-page spread with lots of detail.

Here is an article from the newspaper Nordlys based on an interview the journalist did while we were in Tromsø.

(Click image for full-size picture).

And here is an article from Avisa Nordland the 20th of August:

Strong winds and a stop in Bodø

2011-08-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

We had a good overnight stay in Leines, where an acquaintance of Tor invited us to have dinner, take a shower and offered us a bed for the night. Such luxury!!! Many thanks to Berit for her genuine hospitality.

At this point we had quite strong winds. Tor still had trouble with his wrists, and the direction of the wind was difficult to prejudge. It was a bit exciting to cross the Folda fjord. The weather seemed stable when we began the 10 km. crossing, but after 6 km. the wind started to blow strongly from shore, and we had to battle against the wind for the last 3-4 km. or so. We camped close to the crossing place near Os on one of the journey's most beautiful places so far. The weather was warm, and for the first time in a month, we could enjoy the evening without socks, shoes and windproof clothing.

On the August 15th - one month after our start in Grense Jakobselv, we set out from Os early in the morning. We paddled quite a distance - 15 km. - in little wind and sun. Upon crossing the little Mist fjord, the wind grew stronger from an unfortunate direction - Easterly. The last 2 km. of the crossing was really hard. We had the feeling of not moving forward at all. We had to concentrate on keeping the course and our balance, when sudden bursts of wind up to storm strength suddenly came upon us for periods of 3-4 minutes. The gusts were so strong, they threatened to tip us over, and we had to lean strongly into the wind to avoid this... which, of course, becomes 'interesting' the gust subsides. We reached Mjelde, 10 km. North of Bodø and decided to take a break and have dinner. Here, the weather only got worse. The strong bursts of wind continued, all the time from different directions. A thick layer of froth from the waves blew constantly across the water, and eddies of foam formed here and there. It was obvious that it would not be wise to continue paddling - such a shame - we had been looking forward to reaching Bodø this day.

As we sat there wit our frustration, i got a message from Jim Ness in Bodø: "I follow your blog, you can stay in Bodø Kayak club if you wish. Hope to see you soon, otherwise have a good trip!" I called Jim, just to check that he really meant it, and he immediately offered to come and pick us up and take us the last bit to Bodø by car. We accepted his offer and installed ourselves in the club house, then we went and had a good dinner in Bodø. Many thanks to Jim for his help, and to Bodø Kayak club for letting us stay at the club house "as long as we wish!".

Jim Ness at the beach of Mjelde - it was actually hard to stand in the strong winds, and loading kayaks on the car was risky business!

According to the weather forecast, the strong and unpredictable winds will continue for a few days. Tor has decided to stop here in Bodø, so Bao Quoc and I will wait for better conditions and go on. It is very uncertain, but perhaps tonight will offer a short opening, where we can paddle for five hours or so.

Bao Quoc making breakfast outside the clubhouse. He has an obsession with food. While Tor and I have both dropped a few kilos, Bao Quoc has gained two kilos! I constantly tell him that he eats too much and works too little, but he refuses to listen!

Steigen - and finally some pictures

2011-08-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

After four days of paddling in Nordland, we have made it to Steigen. Nature only gets better and better. Bright white beaches and small islands everywhere. We have had some rain and some wind. The distances we paddle have been shortened slightly. Tor's arm is not getting better, and we have had to slow down. We will attempt to go to Mesøya together slowly - that is 150 km. from our current position. Mesøya is the home place of Tor's family, and we would like to go there with him. Once there, he will stop paddling, and it is up to me and Bao Quoc to continue the journey. We will have to reorganize things slightly, but there is no problem in paddling on only the two of us. Only a shame that Tor cannot continue with us.

The most impressive sights lately is the eagles that we constantly see. We often get quite close - 30-50 meters yesterday. But not close enough to take a good photo so far. On Thursday, I nearly hit an otter with the tip of my kayak. It was windy, and I approached it from the downwind side. I thought it was a dead animal, lying so still and not being aware of me. As I got closer I saw that he was completely occupied, eating a fish. The bow of my baidarka was only 30 cm. from him when he saw me, took the fish with him, and disapeared in the water.

And finally I have the chance so put in some pictures!!!! See below

Paddling between two giant ships from the Norwegian marine. Paddling long distances is not always that exciting, so whenever we approach something interesting, it has to be explored.

Lunch stop between little islands on a sand beach. Quite a change from earlier where we sometimes had to paddle long distances to find a suitable landing place.

Steigen in beautiful weather

We had decided to find the perfect campsite as we were expecting lots of rain. We had no trouble finding one. In addition to pitching the tent, we stretched a tarp as an additional shelter for luggage. We also cooked our food and ate under the tarp - a bit less claustrophic than eating in a cramped tent. Here the bad weather is on its way.

Nordland!

2011-08-10T23:30:00.001-07:00

Another day on the water…

10th of August. A good, long day of paddling took us from Bø to Korsnes – 55 km. all together. We are happy to have reached Nordland. We crossed the border between Troms and Nordland yesterday and found out that our total distance so far was a little more than 1000 km. Really something to celebrate – to all luck Tor had brought a small bottle of armagnac from Tromsø, and we had a toast!

The first physical sign of being in Nordland was the bright white beaches that consist of coral sand – a beautiful sight. In addition it gives us great satisfaction to realize that the country is changing – we are making progress! We had a late dinner ashore between Ofotfjord and Tysfjord. Paddling here was spectacular – many kilometers of shallow, bright green water and coral sand underneath revealed all the life in the sea: anemones, urchins, crabs, a plethora of shells and different kinds of kelp. A bit later, on our way across Tysfjord, the otherwise cloudy sky opened, and a bright burst from the evening sun illuminated the majestic Lofoten peaks further out in the ocean.

The weather has been fine – little wind and rain so far. Yesterday we had strong winds, but we just took a good long break in the middle of the day, and continued when the wind had calmed down. When the strong wind started, we also had some serious current, so paddling was quite exciting for a while. We have also passed some strong tidal streams in narrow passages – it has been difficult to prejudge how the water is running at high tide, low tide etc. Often the water flows in different patterns – one place you paddle all you can against the current, then suddenly your kayak is turned sideways and suddenly you paddle at good speed in the direction of the current. There are many things to learn for us southern paddlers who are not used to this.

In closing, have to share one funny incident. After a long stretch on the water, we came across an isolated building on shore where we discerned the sign “Kro og Lefsebakeri” – a cafeteria with home-made “lefse” - a baked good that is traditional in this region. We decided to go ashore for a break and see if we could get some lefse. No luck. The place was closed – with no indication of opening hours. We don’t know if the place had closed for the day, for the season, for good or what, but it was clear that we were not going to get much joy from this place. Today. Well, we settled down on the pebble beach, fired up the Kelly kettle, had a hot meal and coffee and enjoyed the sight of the calm sea. The sun smiled to us. It was actually much better than being inside. Still …. It would have been nice with some lefse. Later that evening we went ashore for the evening. When it is convenient, we generally ask permission to pitch our tent when we are in an inhabited area. According to tradition, Tor ran up to the nearest farm house to ask permission and, while he was at it, for fresh water. The woman in the house was accommodating, and when she hear that we were famous (there had been a full-page article on our trip in the local newspaper Nordlys the day before), she was mightily impressed and – unprompted – asked “do you like lefse?”. Well, Tor indicated that we were not completely against lefse. The woman went over to another building a brought back a big, fat lefse! We enjoyed it very much for lunch on a spectacular coral beach we found the next day. Life is very, very good!.

Crisis? What crisis?

2011-08-09T03:59:00.000-07:00

Today, the 8th of August is actually my 40th birthday! No bad way to spend a special day, to be out paddling with friends. I was a bit concerned, since so many people ask me about the midlife crisis – so far it seems to be nothing to worry seriously about!

We left Tromsø late Saturday. 30 km. of paddling took us to the outside of Kvaløya. We had quite strong wind at our backs, and some nice surf too. A narrow passage with strong currents also made the paddling exciting, but fortunately no capsize this time!

From Kvaløya we crossed Malangen on Sunday. We ended up just North of Dyrøya late, after 63 km. of paddling – the longest distance paddled in a single day so far on our trip! We made a stop of more than 4 hours just north of Finnsnes. A paddle friend, Ørgen Karlsen, had arranged a stop at Kurt Sverre Albrichtsen’s summer house. Kurt Sverre has built several skin on frame kayaks with my guidance, and on his own. Meeting him and his wife was a great experience. They served us a great meal (we haven’t eaten fresh vegetables for almost four weeks now), and showed us around in their wonderful summer house. The summer house consists of several small and large buildings, all built and decorated by themselves with second hand materials, stone and wood. It was beautiful and radiated creativity – truly an inspiring visit. Kurt Sverre was very modest about his creations himself, but I was amazed. A couple of true artists, and a place I definitely would love to visit again.

Today, we had a late start. It’s my birthday and I phoned my family while having 4 cups of coffee in the sun. Truly a good start of the day. 39 km of easy paddling brought us to Astafjord. I had a good long surf on the way – the GPS showed a top speed of 16 km/hour – or 9 knots. Almost the speed the Aleuts were rumored to keep for long distances in the old days – I wonder if they surfed too?

Goodbye to Finnmark

2011-08-05T04:17:00.000-07:00

It feels very odd to sit in a coach in front of a laptop with clean clothes and a smell of soap. My whole body is in paddle mode and I can still feel the waves moving me and my baidarka all the time.

We arrived Tromsø yesterday evening after a day's paddling where we clocked up 61 km. It was Thursday, exactly 3 weeks after our start at Grense Jakobselv. Without much effort, exactly on schedule - strange in a way. Finnmark was, due to its exposed nature, the bit of coast I was most uncertain about. 790 km. all together ... so far.

We will stay here for a day or so, and continue south on Saturday.

I think I have lost a bit of weight, otherwise my body seems to function perfectly. I'll spend the day here in Tromsø to eat a lot and make phone calls to friends and family.

I was completely overwhelmed by the nature in Finnmark, and I certainly want to come back some day. We could easily have spent a month or two exploring all the exciting and spectacular bits of the coast - all the fjords, the settlements, the beaches and wildlife.

Our equipment also worked well. The planning could have been better, but we have had the right equipment to make ourselves comfortable at all times, also when the weather was bad. I'm very happy about our choice of camera equipment - with the combination of compact and bigger cameras, we have managed to make a lot of good photos. And I have managed to keep the camera dry and safe.

The baidarkas work well, but Bao Quoc may have chosen a slightly too long baidarka. He has had some trouble steering well in certain winds and tidal streams. We hope that attaching a small skeg here in Tromsø will solve the problems. The paint he used just prior to our departure has partly loosened; still, the baidarka is fairly dry. We washed it in fresh water yesterday, and today we will give it a few coats of fast-drying varnish.

All the way, we have used the ingenious KELLYKETTLE!!!!!! My warm regards to the mr. Kelly, who invented this waterboiler. We use it every morning heating water for our breakfast. Usually you just sit on the beach and pick up whatever you find - sticks, driftswood bits, dried grass and seawheed - whatever. In a few minutes you have boiling water! we use it one or two times during the day at lunch stops, and we use it in the evening for our evening meals.

Commercial: "Go buy a kellykettle immediately - you will not regret it. (Available in my web shop)"

We have made a lot of campfires - both during daytime stops and in the evening. We use drysuits all the time, and a fire both warms you and makes your woolen inner clothes dry for the next paddling. Many thanks to Bao Quoc who insisted on bringing a small hatchet along!

Also my warm thanks to Glenn who encouraged me to buy (and sell in my webshop!) the Crewsaver "Cell" drysuit. It's affordable, and it is excellent! I've been living in this suit for 3 weeks now, both in good and bad weather and I feel just fine in it. I was a bit skeptical to neoprene cuffs, but they work fine and keep my neck and wrists good and warm as well.

I will go and eat!!!!!!! I hope to be able to write more often now, as we enter more inhabited parts of the coast.

Exhibit at Tromsø Folk Museum

2011-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Over the next couple of days we are going to be doing some kayak maintenance, including repainting one of the kayaks to make it smoother (and hence faster). We have struck an agreement with the Folk Museum in Tromsø that we will combine this work with some "show and tell". Friday and Saturday we shall be exhibiting three traditional kayaks on the museum grounds, demonstrating simple maintenance and providing a guided tour to any comers. For anyone in the area ... come and see us in Folkeparken, down by the sea.

Tackling tendinitis

2011-08-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

We mentioned in an earlier entry that Tor had developed tendinitis - a challenge to be tackled. Well he saw a doctor and got a prescription for an anti-inflammatory drug (diclofenac). Combined with some rest from paddling, this has already eliminated the pain. However, we still have a long way to go and we don't want this challenge to recur. We therefore sewed a set of straps together to link the paddle to his arm without the need to use the flexors in the lower arm - see photos. One strap goes around the wrist, the two others go around the paddle, on either side of his hand. It remains to perform the long-term field test of this new contraption.

More photos

2011-07-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Due to limited bandwidth, we have not shared many photos from our trip so far. Well, now we have a chance to correct this. Hopefully these shots give you an impression of the spectacular nature we are enjoying.

A bit of fun

2011-07-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Our days are often serene. There are so few people around - be it on shore or on the water. Ample time for reflection ... or simply abiding in the moment.
Once in a while all concentration must be mustered - especially when rounding exposed points where the current is strong, the waves are high and the reflected breakers contribute to turbulence.
Every so often we inject a bit of fun too - we amused ourselves lining up as the crew of this beached fishing vessel at Hopseidet. (The vessel served another use too - it allowed us to string up clothes lines. This is sometimes not so easy, as there are few trees around).

Wildlife

2011-07-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

We enjoy the wildlife that encounter - lots of seals and dolphins, and of course the multitude of sea birds. One early morning, a group of reindeer sought to pass us along a narrow beach. They were clearly concerned about venturing too close. After hesitating for an hour, they took to the sea and swam around us.

Maintenance

2011-07-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

By and large, our gear has served us well. 10+ days in the field have provided a thorough validation. Packing light requires the ability to maintain everything - from kayaks to cloths and shoes. Here's Tor sowing his sandal - one of the straps was coming undone. The repair kit with needle and thread, glue and tape is indispensable.

Paddling at midnight ... and beyond

2011-07-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

The nights have often been magical. Sometimes, when the sea was quiet, we have just kept going ... into the night ... savoring the silence and soaking up the rays from the midnight sun, reflecting on the fact that there is "nothing" between us an the North Pole. After doing 55 km one (long) day, we hit the sack (literally) at 3AM - with the sun well above the horizon.

10th day of the expedition

2011-07-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Many things have happened since my last blog entry. There has not been much time for writing – nor have we had cell phone coverage!

So far, we have covered more than 300 km. of the most demanding and exposed coastline in the country. One tenth of our total distance actually!!!

We have had good times, great spectacular experiences, and challenges as well. Adjustments still need to be made, both with our equipment and ourselves.

From our last blog entry in Vadsø we paddled to Ekkerøya. We saw lots of birds and other wildlife, and some ”war monuments” made by Germans 70 years ago. From Ekkerøya, we went to Kiberg – a beautiful small, but still active community. Bjørn Hansen from Alta met us there, and we have enjoyed Bjørn’s company for the last five days. We trusted Bjørn to be the toughest sea kayaker among us, but after a few days he revealed that he had never dared to paddle this part of the coast before!

We have managed well together, and crossed great fjords and landed on difficult shores together. Bjørn represents to me the best of the Northern Norwegian sea kayaking culture, and he’s a great guy who has an enormous knowledge about nature, history and culture in this part of the country.

It was great to paddle to Vardø – the most easterly part of Norway, On Bjørn’s proposal, we paddled on to Hamningberg where we stayed one night. From Hamningsberg, we took a short day’s paddling to the abandoned lighthouse Makkaur. The old lighthouse keeper’s house was open, and we stayed one night in this strange and ghost-like place.

From Makkaur, we crossed Båtsfjord, Kongsøyfjord and ended up in Berlevåg. We did some fresh food shopping for the first time, and crossed the great Tana fjord the day after. This was our longest paddle day so far, covering 55 kilometers.

According to the weather forecast, we would get easterly strong breeze for some days, so we decided to take the inner route around Nordkinn, which involves carrying the kayaks across a small strip of land at Hopsfjordeidet.

Now a new challenge has arisen. Tor has got tendon inflammation in his right wrist – probably due to gripping the paddle a bit too hard for the 30 000 paddle strokes a day in low temperatures. This kind of inflammation is best cured by resting for a while. We head for Kjøllefjord at a slow pace and will try to figure out some way to solve the new challenge.

A quick sign of life...

2011-07-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

July 14, Bao Quoc and I flew to Kirkenes where we met Tor, his wife Birte and their daughter Susanne. Together we drove out to Grense Jakobselv where our adventure was to start in the morning.

By the light of the midnight sun we pitched our tent and settled in for the night. In the morning we packed, and packed, and packed – including three weeks’ worth of food. Birte and Susanne waved goodby as we set out in gale winds and choppy waves. As this was the first day and conditions were challenging, we paddled 12 kilometer on this first day. At that point it felt good to enter a quiet fjord which was protected from the wind. Anders traversed a challenging tidal current and almost capsized. Tor followed him … and did. No problem. Tor was wearing his dry suit and Bao Quoc quickly came and provided support. With Anders there in addition, recovery was quick. We were next to a beautiful campsite and settled in for the night.

Next morning we passed Bøkfjord lighthouse and continued on to Skogøya in great sunshine and fair winds. Having found our rhythm, we did 42 kilometers before landing on a boulder beach with waves from the back. Getting ashore quickly is critical to avoid getting wet. The area was intriguing – and inhabited by a large number of foxes. They had ribbed birds and even eaten a badger where only a bit of the skull now remained. We found a hollow that was protected from the wind, and spent a very calm night. The foxes did not bother us.

Next morning we gained Bugøyneset after a short, uneventful crossing. We trimmed the kayaks during the crossing so that they would not weathercock during the longer crossing that was to follow – to Vadsø. During a short break, Anders discovered the he had got a small rift in his kayak – the first time this had happened in his 20 years of skin on frame kayak paddling. A few liters of water had seeped in through the rift. Anders quickly pumped out the water, mopped up the remaining drops and patched up the rift with a few centimeters of duct tape. Two incidents in two days? Hopefully a bit more excitement than we will experience on average during our trip.

The crossing to Vadsø was smooth, and we enjoyed a late lunch at Rica hotel – which very hospitably let us charge our cell phone batteries and create this blog entry in the calm of their reception. Thanks.

We plan on doing a few more kilometers this evening before wrapping up for the day.

2011-06-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

Several things have happened since my last post:

I did some self rescues in the 7 degrees “warm” water, only wearing woolen shirt and neoprene pants. It was cold and unpleasant, but it did work well.

I had a great day trip with some friends, Hanne and my two girls.

I paddled with my baidarka fully loaded with 40 kilo of weight. I noticed the difference for the first 5-10 minutes. Then I forgot all about it. My track log showed that I paddled the average of 7,5 km/hour for 20 kilometers – no difference from my normal paddle speed with an empty baidarka.

I made some decoration on my baidarka.

I have fixed a lot of details on baidarka and other equipment. I try to show everything under the submenus on the blog before we begin our trip.

And then I peed in my kayak today! (I’ll spare you the pictures) A while ago I had thought out a system of helping yourself if you need to pee without going to shore. Today I finally had to test it. The idea belongs to Jim Danielsson – a Swedish long distance paddler. He folds a carton milk container and places it in the cockpit within easy reach. I had done the same, placing the container in the pocket I use for my cockpit cover as well, inside the sea sock. It worked fine!

Evening trip and more video!!!!!

2011-05-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Me and my friend Alexander took a trip one evening and played with a video camera - see the super cool video below!

I paddle my expedition baidarka, Alex paddles his baidarka that he built under my supervision 10 years ago.

The weather was very.....changing!

Hope you like this - please share it with everyone!

Camera test

2011-05-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

In this video you see the baidarka I intend to use for the trip. I have never rolled it before, and I was impressed how easy it was to roll. I did static braces on both sides, and they worked so well that I let go of my paddle and just floated. The water was quite cold, so I go on rolling some other day.

Expedition planning and more...

2011-05-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

The expedition gets closer and closer. There are lots of things that need to be planned and done. Most difficult is my own physical shape. We have promised each other, within the group, to be in “good physical shape” and “able to paddle a 50 km. daytrip without difficulties” when we begin the expedition. I have been doing some strength exercises since the beginning of January, and that really helps. What troubles me is a pain in my elbow when I paddle hard. But it seems that it gets better.

Since the ice has melted, I have done some trips on my own, where I slowly try to stretch my limits of being seated in the baidarka. I can easily paddle for 20 km. at good speed without a break now. I eat and drink on the way, and try to break up the normal cruising speed with some minutes of hard and fast paddling in between. It all helps.

At 09.00 this morning, I and my neighbor Thomas went for a 20 km. paddle to the beautiful island “Holtøya”. We paddled on totally calm water for 10 km. or so, and had a great break at the island with cake and tea. Thomas had never seen my Kellykettle in action before and was, of course, impressed.

Tor has taken responsibility for bringing out food at different locations along the coast. I am most thankful that he does, and I just say “yes, thanks – the same for me” when asked about what I want to be placed there for me. I feel that I could use far more time planning the expedition, but now I’m most concerned about getting the business going. It’s high season for a kayak and paddle maker.

Paddling from Vestfossen to the Swedish border, or....

2011-04-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, me and my youngest son, Åsmund had planned an “expedition” from Vestfossen river, into the fjord, cross to Østfold, and all the way down to the Swedish border. All together a 150 km. trip that we had 4 days to do. We packed food, water, tent and all other necessities in our new built double baidarka, and headed out early Thursday morning.

The trip started well, in spite of ice cold water and cool weather. We noticed several types of ducks, geese and other birds that had returned from their warm winter residence. We also saw fresh beaver tracks and a mink running along the shore. When we had our first break, the sun came out, and we could really enjoy warm weather.

It was joyful to follow the change of landscape on the way, from the crooked and shallow Vestfossen river, to the straight and deep Drammens river, and finnaly Drammen city, Drammen harbor to the Drammen Fjord.

As we approached Drammen, the wind grew stronger, and on the fjord, white topped choppy waves rose. We paddled partly in lee, and partly with the wind in the back, but had a hard time steering safely sometimes, when the waves grew really big. We were close to shore and both wore dry suits, but didn’t want to take any chances with a heavily loaded double kayak.

I was a bit anxious about the Svelvik stream – a narrow passage at the entrance to the Drammens fjord. The current here can be as strong as 10 knots and great ships pass here constantly. As we came close, it was obvious that there were no problems passing, even though a great timber freight ship passed us, when we were half ways through.

Just after Svelvik we found a nice beach sheltered by some pine trees, and we decided to camp for the night. We had paddled 45 km. then, and Åsmund was a bit tired. We enjoyed a nice evening meal and coffee in the setting sun, and went for a small walk before we jumped into our sleeping bags and slept well – what a day!

According to the weather forecast, the weather should be sunny with light winds from south east. Our route should continue around the Hurum peninsula, and we would make a crossing to Østfold at the shortest possible place. From here we would follow the coast south, either on the inside or the outside of some sheltering islands, depending on the weather.

That was the plan, but the weather turned out slightly different then the weather forecast. Light breeze became breeze about the time of our first break – 15 km. from out campsite. This was on Rødtangen, Hurum. During the break the wind got even stronger, and when we stood up and tried to look in the direction of the wind, we actually had problems standing straight. A gale was on its way. Strange, because the sun was shining and the weather was otherwise good.

The outer Oslo fjord where we were is open, and offers few alternatives for paddling in bad weather. Continuing was not safe, and we decided to cancel the trip for now, and call for someone to come and pick us up.

Not far from where we were, was a car road down to the water, and we decided to try to paddle back to that place, 1 km. from where we were. There was no real danger, since we paddled close to shore and would be blown to shore within few minutes in case of capsize. This last bit against the wind was almost as exhausting as the 45 km. we had paddled the day before. Breaking waves kept pushing us sideways, and the wind made us feel we were hardly moving forward. After 30 exhausting minutes, we finally made it to the car road, where we had a good break, organized and unpacked the kayak, and were picked up after an hour by Hanne, my wife.

It was a bit disappointing for us both to cancel the trip, but there were no other good opportunities. We could have chosen another route, that would be safe with the weather that came, but we planned according to the weather forecast, which was completely wrong, so….. We have decided to make another attempt some other day. As I write these words, I read today’s paper, speaking of yesterday’s weather:”Stormy wind blew the roof off a school building” is on the front page……Perhaps it was anyway a wise decision to cancel the trip!

Miscellaneous equipment

2011-03-17T01:56:00.001-07:00

I just finished some essential equipment details today. Neoprene wrist warmers, cockpit cover and paddle jacket. Since Anne Berg had no time to make me an anorak, I had to make one myself in order to get it just the way I wanted. It became a compromise, where I changed an old anorak that I like, into something even better! Watch the video and see. I also fixed my dry suit neck seal.

Finally spring is here!

2011-03-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

The last week I’ve been watching the rivers become gradually more open. Last weekend we had a disappointing car trip to the outer fjord, to take a kayak trip. There was ice as far as the eye could see!

But today the time was right to do a small trip, just to see how far I could paddle on the river. Weather was beautiful, sunny and the temperature was around 0 degrees when I launched my kayak in the Vestfossen river.

What a feeling to finally paddle on the local waters after a long and cold winter. Birds were singing, and the river was quiet. The loudest noise was created when the waves from my kayak set the thin ice along the shores in motion. And then the sound of streaming water in the from time to time rapidly moving water.

Nature was surely wakening from the winter sleep. I met ducks and swans on my way, and saw many tracks of recent beaver activity – trees were freshly cut down and the bark had been eaten completely off the trunks.

(Beaver eaten tree trunk)

I managed to paddle free of ice all the way to Hokksund – 5 kilometers from home when my way was blocked – not by ice, but by a flock of 20-30 swans. I always feel pity for them in winter, as I scare them with my presence. They use a lot of energy to fly away. So I decided I had paddled enough, turned my kayak and left them in peace. I was also worrying a bit for the return trip, which might get tough, bearing the force of the stream in mind.

It went O.K. home. Paddled an average of 6 km./hour which is not so bad, when you paddle against a strong current.

I’m SO happy to finally be able to paddle again!

Kayak building in Tromsø

2011-02-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much paddle activity lately, but lots of activity.

I just returned from Tromsø in Northern Norway, where I contributed to an exhibition about Norwegian polar explorers and how they achieved their results after learning from Inuit and Sami people. Part of my contribution was giving a kayak building course. We built one Greenland style kayak and one Baidarka. The whole week was very inspiring to me.

Bjørn, who is a long distance paddler living in Finnmark, supplied me with valuable information about paddling in the northernmost part of Norway. Thank you Bjørn!

I played a little with my camera. I have to be better at holding the camera steady, and focusing! I’m learning to use an editing program, and I’m not very good at it yet. In the clip below, you see part of the building process. Steam bending of ribs, and oiling the finished framework.

Day trip in 15 degrees cold

2010-12-23T13:08:00.000-08:00

Finally we managed to meet, all three paddling companions. We had arranged a “meeting” – that is a paddle trip where we get the opportunity to discuss matters of our long distance trip.

I had suggested Håøya, an island in the inner Oslo fjord. Håøya is a good destination for a short day trip, you can paddle 20-30 kilometers around the main Island, and visit several smaller islands on the way.

When I started packing the car this morning, the thermometer showed 20 degrees below zero. I really like to paddle in cold weather; the only drawback is all the packing in and out of the car, and packing kayaks on the car roof with frozen fingers.

At our launching place, the water was frozen, so we needed to drive a little extra, to find open water for kayak launch.

The frost mist was blowing across the water, and the sun rose, as we finally found ourselves seated in our kayaks on the water. It was spectacular – immediately worth all our efforts.

We paddled for 3-4 hours, didn’t land but had some small breaks seated in the kayaks. On the way we discussed issues of safety, preparations to be fit for the trip, and equipment. Tor had made a sea anchor that we tested. I had for the first time my new anorak – it felt really good. Thanks Anne for your kind help! Quoc brought up the subject that a large outdoor equipment business was willing to sponsor our trip. When I heard that they also perhaps wanted to sponsor us with freeze dried food, I really became interested! Food is actually the only major expense in this project. We already have all the equipment we need and more…

My fingertips are still a bit cold, as I write these words. It was a great trip – really worth the effort. On my way home (1 hour drive), I saw 4 car crashes – only minor accidents. People were driving like madmen. You could really feel the stress on this last shopping day before Christmas. I felt privileged that I had the opportunity to spend my day on the sea instead.

Happy christmas everyone!

Ice and cold in Denmark too!

2010-12-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

I was fleeing from the very cold and early winter in Norway, hoping for better conditions in my old homeland, Denmark. I brought along my baidarka, a new paddle (bent shaft Aleutian type), dry suit and other gear for winter paddling.

I was quite disappointed when I found out that winter had really come to Denmark for once. Normally, winter is quite cold and rainy in Denmark, but it seldom involves lots of frost, ice and snow – until this weekend!

My first attempt was in the Faxe bay – by my home town. The sea was calm, but lots of ice made paddling difficult. It was no problem to go through, it was just that it slowed down the speed of the kayak so much that I felt there was no point in paddling very far. I took a few nice photos, though, and got back to my dad’s summer cottage, that had become my base for the weekend.

I also filmed a short cut with my new canon camera. I think the quality was really impressive – check out the sound also!

Later, the ice disappeared with the strong westerly wind, and I had a great time paddling in lee, along the coast of my childhood’s landscapes and beaches. I had one trip to the Fed peninsula where I felt that this one trip was worth the whole trip. The kind of experience where you feel a strong unity with yourself, your craft and the elements, and you get the feeling that you can go on forever, and that time stops. Truly a good experience!

Later in the weekend, the wind became stronger, up to gale force! It was 6 degrees below minus in daytime, so I gave up paddling any more, and spent some valuable time with my father, my mother and my sister and her family.

Test of video

2010-12-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

I thought it could be fun to add some movie clips once in a while. Outside, it's still cold, below 20 degrees! So making new movie clips is not so tempting. I joined Vimeo, and just made this test movie clip for fun. It was taken last year with my waterproof olympus mju 8000 compact camera. I think the quality is O.K. for internet use. Actually I'm impressed that such a small camera can make this kind of pictures, but maybe I'm old fashioned! Check it out:

And now I'm looking forward to some more paddling. Next week I can hopefully paddle 150 km. or so.

More (6/12): I haven't figured out how to answer the comments yet, so now I do it this way! Still got a lot of things to learn, it's probably easy. But to the comment - This was so fun and easy to do. I will definitely do more rolling video in the future - one roll at the time, and post it on my main web page. And to do it in english should be no problem - good idea!

Finally back on the water!

2010-11-25T03:07:00.000-08:00

It has been some time without paddling. Winter came very early this year, starting 2-3 weeks ago. We have had temperatures below -10 degrees, and there is 20-30 cm. of snow everywhere. The downhill skiing centre in Kongsberg just opened, and the smaller inland waters are starting to freeze! I'm not that happy.....

This somehow cools my will to go paddling.

Today I had a nice short trip in the morning. It felt really good to be back in the baidarka.

Recently I have been working with paddles and some kayak building jobs. I have made a new formula of paddle oil finish, and feel that I have really done a lot. Improvement for my zipper sea sock is on its way. I have got hold of some materials, and will write something about it when I have done a few test projects.

Now I'm planning a small vacation in Denmark in December, so that I can paddle more. Its a bit warmer down there!

Daytrip around the "Worlds end" in gale force winds

2010-10-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today me and my friend Alex did a day trip in Vestfold. We had planned to visit the remote "Færder" lighthouse. But when we approached the starting point in the Tjøme Island, we knew that it would be impossible. Gale force wind straightened out the flags and bent the trees. We decided to paddle around Tjøme - a 35 kilometer trip. We had started out early, so this could be an O.K. day trip. We had some concern about Tjøme's southernmost point, which is called "Verdens ende" - "The world's end"! Very exposed to the southerly wind. Anyway, we started out in a lee spot, and held on to the opportunity of going the same way back, if conditions were too harsh.

It was a tiring paddle, first, from lee spot to lee spot, from one island to another. But we managed well without being exhausted. We decided to begin the most exposed part of the trip before lunch - the south end of the "Vasser" island. Here conditions got from bad to worse. We had hard rain, gale force wind, and very messy seas. Large swell, windwaves and reflective waves from the steep shores of the island made paddling very demanding. The sea bottom in this area is also quite uneven, making waves difficult to predict.

My new baidarka preformed well. I noticed it was not much faster that Alex' 10 year old (530/56)baidarka, but the slightly upswept bow made my foredeck slightly drier that was the case with Alex. That was good to see.

We managed fairly well, having paddled non-stop for 4 hours. And we decided to take a break on the first island that was possible to land on. It was hard horizontal rain, and worst conditions for finding shelter and firewood. We put up the Kiva. Tied it to our kayaks, and had a comfortable shelter for the break. It took 3 minutes to make the shelter! Finding firewood and make it burn was hard. Normally i will stuff some firewood in the kellykettle, but not this day, of course. We worked for some 15 minutes to find wood and try to make it burn, but we managed that too, and could enjoy hot food and tea for an hour or so.

The rain stopped, and the sky was lighter when we went on. Now we "only" needed to round the "worlds end" and then paddle downwind, direction north, to our starting point. There was some extreme conditions here, and we managed well. But the easy downwind paddle was not so easy. The seas were still messy, making it difficult to maneuver and surf the waves. We had a less tiring paddle in one way, since we didn't have to paddle against the wind, but technically it was more demanding, and, therefore nearly just as tiring.

I noticed the difference between my unloaded 51 cm. baidarka and Alex' 56 cm. baidarka. I had to do a number of support strokes on the way - maybe 10-15. Alex only did it once! Having the baidarka fully loaded, however, will change this (I hope!).

We came safe home to the starting point. We were quite tired. The total paddling distance was 36 km. and we had paddled at an average of 5,8 km./hour. A little slow, but not bad, holding the weather conditions in mind.

Day trip with the kayak finished

2010-10-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Since my last actions in this blog, I have done a few speed tests. 20 km. nonstop paddling brings me to an average speed of 7 km/hour, or nearly 4 knots. For short distances, I have paddled faster in this baidarka than in any other baidarka I have built - up to 14 km/hour, or 7,5 knots.

Today I did a 20-30 km day trip with my old friend and paddle-mate Erik. We paddled in the inner Oslo Fjord, and the weather was marvelous.

I have painted the deck bright orange. It was first painted yellow, and then I gave it a thin layer of clear varnish with some red color pigment added. It looked good, I think. The hull is now as smooth as it can get, and also covered with a clear varnish.

We had the whole fjord for ourselves, except for a few curious seals, who disturbed our lunch, begging for food?

I had brought the Kellykettle. The medium size nicely went in through the aft hatch, and we did a small water boiling contest, which the Kellykettle won (of course).

During lunch, a passing cruise ship raised some great swell, and the kayaks were thrown along the shore. We managed to save them. First, the kayaks were lying where you can see the wave passing in the picture.

On our way home, Erik managed to catch this little fish:

All in all, so far, I think the baidarka works perfect for me. It's fast and stable. It's also easy to maneuver, it tracks well and it has just a slight tendency to weathercock. I think I will attach a removable skeg, but not until I have some experience with paddling this baidarka fully loaded. A full load may change things. The deck rigging is the point I still have to work with. I have only made a standard rig now, that includes ropes across the deck fore and aft, and deck toggles that can hold a paddle outrigger for extra stability. I still need some fittings that can hold various gear in place.

The camera solution also has to be worked on. Having my heavy camera on the side of the front deck simply doesn't work. Today I tried to hold the camera between my legs - not so good. I think I will need some way of securing the camera on the aft deck, but that is difficult when you need instant access.... problems to be thought of, and, hopefully, solved....

A new test ride

2010-10-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, my baidarka is sanded down and painted 5 times, and the hull is really smooth now. I took a trip to the nearby archipelago of Vestfold. With the hull really smooth, I could easily padddle for 8-9 km. pr. hour without much effort. I noticed how the baidarka took the little choppy waves nicely. The bow lifting itself over the waves in a smooth and noiseless way.

The sea was otherwise calm, but there was a light breeze at the end of the day. I had been concerned whether i had placed myself too far behind in the kayak. I can see from this picture that the kayak is well balanced. I found the kayak quite neutral in sidewind, with a minimal tendency to weathercock - what luck - exactly what I wanted.

Today I also got a prototype of my new home-designed paddling jacket. Anne Berg from Brønnøysund has kindly offered her help with putting my ideas into a pattern. She had made me a great paddling jacket using leftovers from winnie-the-pooh curtains (It looked great - I should have taken a photo!). The fit was almost perfect, and we're very near making it from some good quality waterproof material. More about this later on the "equipment" page.

Finishing the baidarka and first test trip!

2010-09-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

After a few busy weeks in my workshop, I finally had the time to sew the baidarka and paint it. I chose a heavy organic cotton canvas for the cover. The hatches and cockpit were already made, so it took only one day of hard work to sew and paint. The paint I use is ordinary house paint, based on organic oil.

This is what it looked like today.....

I couldn't resist the temptation to take it to the water for a brief test paddle. It is not yet 100% waterproof, and the skin is really rugged - giving a lot of resistance in the water. I didn't expect any kind of speed, I was just curious about how it would feel like, and where the waterline would be.

It weighed 17,5 kg. with the sea sock and hatch covers on. It will probably gain another 1,5 kg. of weight with more paint, deck ropes, wear strips underneath and all. But 19 kg. for a big and tough expedition kayak is not bad either.

I felt I should really have had more time for this moment!..... It looked really perfect on the water.... The slightly built-up front, that I was uncertain about whether I liked or not in my workshop, now seemed just perfect. The stern just touched the water where it ended, and the bow touched the water about 25 cm. from the tip. That was without me in it!

What a feeling!!!!!! WOW!

It turned out to be anything I had dreamed about. This felt like the perfect kayak for the trip. It was not VERY stable, like boring stable, of course. It had no load either. But it had plenty of initial stability for me to feel perfectly comfortable. And it also had enough of secondary stability for me to lean well over to the sides without fear of getting wet (didn't wear paddle clothing, only jeans and sweater).

As I mentioned, the rugged surface of the hull really slows it down, but I did a small speed test with the GPS turned on anyway. Normal paddling with my new 220 cm. bent shaft Aleutian paddle went between 8-9 Km./h. - or 4,5 knots. Paddling as hard as I could, took me to 13 km./h. - or 7 knots. Really not bad for a coarse canvas covered hull!! I can't wait to get it sanded and painted to a perfect smooth surface! However, it takes a few weeks, so I just have to be patient, I guess.

Sea sock

2010-09-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Before covering the framework, I started making the sea sock today. A sea sock is extremely important in a skin on frame kayak, for safety reasons. This one will be permanently fitted with a zipper. Some extra work, but I happened to have an extra waterproof zipper, so why not!

Making it before covering the baidarka enables me to give it a perfect fit. Now I'll start covering the baidarka.

Framework finished today!

2010-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

So, today the framework was finished. A lot of anxiety, like "will this be good enough" went through my head. I brought it out in the beautiful sunshine and oiled it, using the traditional red colour of the Aleut baidarkas. Like a real serious artist, I had to keep telling myself "Don't fall in love with your own creations". This baidarka will be a real beauty, and no doubt, well performing.

It's so cool to hear from you, Claudio! I just discovered how this blog thing can keep me in touch with a lot of great people! I will surely post some more pictures. Best wishes!

And here, the whole framework, seen from the side.

Sea anchor

2010-09-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

I made this unique little piece of equipment yesterday!

It took me half an hour on my sewing machine. It weighs 100 grams, and measures about 10x15x3 cm when packed together.

Parts of the coast are very exposed, and landing may be impossible. We need to do lots of long open water crossings also. The sea anchor may be handy for taking breaks - rafted together - on open water far from shore. It will ensure that you're not blown back where you came from. It may be a life saving device also, if you are drifting helplessly from shore, for some reason unable to paddle. Hopefully we will not need the sea anchor for this - rather for having pleasant lunch breaks on the sea without drifting too much!

The baidarka framework is soon finished

2010-09-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Now the framework is nearly finished. The kayak will be 51 cm. wide and 540 cm. long. It's mostly made of spruce, though the ribs and the bifid bow piece is made out of oak. It all weighs 12,3 Kg. I guess it will be around 20 when the skin is on. The hull shape should be pretty perfect, as far as I can tell. I just can't wait to get this baidarka on the water and test it.

As you can see in the picture, I have built up the front slightly, in order to give it a better lift in waves. I think a flat profile looks better, though.

Test trip and meeting

2010-08-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Meeting today - and a short paddle trip.

We discussed a number of things, including maps, food, photography etc. We paddled a short distance, and had lunch outdoors. We tested the kellykettle (http://kajakkspesialisten.no/kellykettle.php), and Tor was positive to bringing one along on the trip. We also set up the Kiva tent - intended for shelter during breaks in bad weather.

The weather was very nice!

Testing the Kiva

2010-08-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

I have thought about bringing two tents on the trip - a safe, dry and stable one for sleeping, and a light one, really fast to set up, to use as shelter during breaks, for storing gear at night and maybe for sleeping if the air in the other tent is too thick!

For the second tent I thought of the Mountain hardwear "Kiva". I did a test today - setting it up. I haven't set it up for a year or so, and it took me just 2 minutes from it was stuffed in its bag till it stood on the lawn outside my workshop! I think this is a good idea to use.

Building the baidarka

2010-08-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

After finding a nice pair of light spruce gunwales, I have started giving the deck shape. I don't really have time for this work at the moment, so I will look at the deck shape over some weeks now, and will have plenty of time to make changes. So far, the baidarka will be 535 cm. long and 51 cm. wide, but that may change!