Kvarken kayaking trip part 2

Continued from here.

Kvarken kayaking trip part 1

It was sometime during the winter I mentioned that I had paddled a little in the Kvarken region when we were out paddling. One thing led to another and suddenly I sat there planning a week-long trip to the area for the local paddling club here in Turku. It quickly turned out that the area we would preferably visit was the Kvarken World Heritage area west of Vaasa, where I had never been in a kayak. I had paddled the 100 km stretch south of Vaasa, but I assumed the basic principle would be the same. Lots of stones everywhere.

Vacation kick-start overnighter

June was far more hectic that I would have like. A four day Vigu course, five day family vacation to Denmark and Legoland and the conclusion of a five-year project at work kept me very busy. Even the very last day at work before the vacation had me take a work trip to Helsinki, despite having agreed to a paddling overnighter in the afternoon. After some quick packing and a slight delay we got in the car for the two hour ride to the far side of Korpo, for some paddling, team building and filming exercises for the coming paddling film of Lennart Media.

Canoe overnighter with the kids.

This time of the year always seems to pass to fast. So much to see, discover and enjoy, and so little time. The weekends seem to be full of other stuff, and suddenly it's Midsummer, after which the most interesting time in the nature is over, at least from my point of view. I would have liked to relax and do something on my own this weekend, after the intensive course last week. A look in the calender revealed that the number of free weekends is very limited, though, so I found myself going on an overnighter with the kids. It's something I want to do, since it is fun and rewarding. It is however not entirely relaxing...

Vigu white water canoeing course

It was finally time for the four day white water canoeing course, which I had looked much forward to. I knew pretty well what was to expected due to a video made from the same course a few years earlier. I expected to learn a lot and have lots of fun.

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.

Greenland Paddle, Six Months Later

In November 2014 I bought a Greenland paddle. I had been curious for quite a while, and inspired in particular by the Swedish kayak designer Björn Thomasson, see www.thomassondesign.com (lots of info in Swedish and some in English). During a visit to the local shop Melontapiste, I noticed that Lahnakoski had a rather cheap Greenland paddle in my length (228 cm), so I bought it and started to use it.