Spring kayaking

When the plans for the weekend changed, I asked T from the local kayaking club about an overnighter. She had already made plans with someone else, but I was welcome to join them. I thus found myself driving to Kasnäs with my kayak on the roof immediately after work on Friday. The sea weather forecast mentioned a wind speed of up to 12 m/s, which means that the inner archipelago east of Kasnäs would be the destination of choice. The water temperature is still only around 5°C, so safety still takes priority over fun.

We packed the kayaks and launched from Kasnäs and paddled a one hour loop...

... before R arrived. As it turned out, I had met R before during a ski overnighter and some mountain bike rides. Soon the three of us were on the water.

It was evening, but we still had plenty of time before the sunset at 21:50.

We landed a little too far to the north after the crossing and had to turn around.

Near the planned tent spot.

The planned spot turned out to be too wet at this time of the year, so we continued.

I checked out another possible place.

T found the place for the night.

The third tent was smaller.

Dinner followed. We were up talking until about 23:30. At this time of the year it doesn't really get dark anymore.

Being the only morning person, I got up at 6:45 and went for a one hour walk on the island.

A rowan is getting leaves.

I found a lagoon which looked like perfect place for the kayaks and went to check it out. Unfortunately, there was a summer cottage too close to it.

The tent spot.

The tent spot wasn't perfect. The view was basically nice, but the wind came from the same direction, which meant the tent door had to be closed. The wind pushed on straight through the night, but the Fjällräven Akka Dome 3 tent was quite silent. The guy lines were secured with driftwood and stones from the beach. The stones were returned to their original places afterwards, which I think is something you really should do.

I made coffee and sandwhiches for breakfast. T got up at eight and R one further hour later.

An intersection.

We were in no hurry and got going again a little before eleven.

Proof that I was there as well.

We checked out small possible tent places now and then and just paddled along. Occasionally the sea was a little more bumpy on some crossing, but we mainly stayed in sheltered places.

Coffee break.

We are starting to get some flowers now, in this case Viola tricolor.

On the move again, with some navigational discussions.

The archipelago east of Kasnäs was quite nice. In some place there were summer cottages, but there were also lots of islands without any. And the water was crystal clear.

A dead end.

A toilet with a view.

Another short break.

Going back to Kasnäs. The wind was now noticeably weaker.

I landed at Kasnäs and packed everything up and drove home. The others continued for another night out, but I had decided in advance to prioritize Mother's Day the next day.

This was a really nice outing again. It might look quite warm and summerish in the pictures, but in reality it was a lot chillier than can be seen.