We decided to have a kayaking trip for beginners again this year, since the one last year was much needed. The trip was fully booked, but one had to pull out in the last minute. Still there were eleven participants and three instructors.
The area was the same as last year, since it does have islands with big slick rock areas suitable for many tents. There are also possibilities to both sheltered and more exposed paddling. In addition, this area was pretty much spared from the algal bloom, which has seen enormous proportions along the south coast of Finland, due to the extraordinarily long heat wave, that seems to have no end.
We started from Pleikilä a little over seven in the evening. With only 8 km to Kaaskeri, the goal for the evening, we had plenty of time. The evening was nice.
Esko to the right was the boss and Kari to the left was an additional instructor like me.
The route is quite nice.
When we arrived at Kaaskeri there was already a tent and two kayaks at our tent site, but it turned out that it was Johan, a Vigu mate and Aavameri kayaking guide, with his wife and they invited us there. Otherwise it would be a bit impolite to arrive next to someone else with a big group, at least if there are other possibilites nearby.
Time to enjoy the sunset.
The weather was hot, the beer was not.
A nice portrait of Kari.
Dinner.
The Isokari/Enskär lighthouse about 16 km away.
After some time everyone went to check out the lunar eclipse, which would be total and unusually long. For a long time we couldn't see anything, since there was clouds low over the horizon. Later the moon rose higher and a faint red ball could be seen behind the clouds, but it was only when the eclipse started to end that it became totally visible. In the picture the sun shine is again starting to light up the moon from the left.
The night was hot, probably around 20°C, but I still slept fairly well without anything over me.
Saturday morning.
Breakfast...
... with entertainment. A poor European grass snake was a little confused about us being on its home beach.
Some shelters.
A little before ten we started paddling, with a few kilometers to Katanpää for icecream.
After Katanpää we went to the south.
Lunch at Lanskeri.
Esko made a tortilla meal with a perfectly acceptable dessert.
Continuing, here to check out the deep bay into the island.
We went a bit further south to check out the islands. As a bonus we got at least some wind, around 8 m/s from the east, and at least some waves.
Dinner. I'm glad that at least someone listened at the beginner's course in May, when I said that it is customary to eat good food when kayaking, instead of freeze dried meals.
The water cooled the wine down to maybe 22°C, clearly less than the air temperature.
Due to a lack of coordinating the meal plans, Kari also made tortillas, but slightly different ones.
Enough clouds that there would be no spectacular sunset.
A grey seal in the distance.
We eventually went to sleep. Just before going to sleep I spent a longer time in the water to get the body temperature down and actually was a bit cold when I went into the tent. A nice feeling.
Despite the forecast, the next morning was dry and there was no thunder. Even the wind speed was about half of what had been forecasted.
Skim parking.
Esko, the boss, clearly shows the direction of the attack.
We paddle back to Pleikilä, around 8 km and arrived there a bit before noon.
A final break for a swim, just outside Pleikilä.
That's it. Hopefully the participants agree that we had a great time. They did well and it was a really nice group.
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