First paddle

I had planned to go with Vigu course mate Anna on a kayaking overnighter to celebrate her finishing her new kayak, which she built entirely herself. For different reasons, the overnighter was changed into a day trip, but as an added bonus I had a new kayak myself, bought the day before.

A late summer kayaking weekend

I really got into kayaking again this summer after a long break, so it felt natural to join the local paddling club, Saaristomeren Melojat, to get in touch with more people doing kayaking. The club arranges trips and courses and an interesting one that also fit my schedule was to take place in the middle of September. I got in touch with Kristian, who arranged the trip and he interviewed me by phone to see how I would fit into the trip. A useful thing for a guide to do, though the final truth is revealed on water. The trip promised fall weather, paddling in the darkness and maybe bigger waves.

August Vajosuo Beer Ride

It feels like the summer ended when I returned from the kayaking course and the schools started. The temperature dropped and it started raining almost constantly, after a very long period of (too) hot weather and drought. I had some kayaking planned, but for different reasons the plans were not realized, so when JJ asked about any possible overnighter plans, a plan was quickly formed. According to the weather forecast, there was to a brief recess in the raining on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th, so we went for a short overnighter.

Vigu Sea Kayaking 1

It was time for the first sea kayaking course of the Vigu Wilderness and Nature Guide education. Having started kayaking again this summer after a long break, I had looked forward to this one. And our main instructor would be Benjamin Donner from Aavameri, who is probably the foremost sea kayaking instructor in Finland.

Kayaking in the Archipelago Sea

The continuing (too) hot weather still makes kayaking a lot more tempting than riding in the woods. Fellow Vigu students Benjamin and Dani decided to join me on a three-day trip in the eastern part of the Archipelago Sea. The Archipelago Sea is an archipelago with many thousand islands, most rather small. It is quite well suited for kayaking. In bad weather it is possible to avoid larger passages or stay in the inner archipelago, while good weather permits interesting trips in the outer archipelago.

Back in the kayak

Longtime readers might remember that I bought a kayak in 2012, in order to start kayaking again. For some reason, it didn't happen in 2013, but now, in 2014, I'm back on the sea. I started a little late, in June, but there is still a lot of kayaking season left.

Kimito Island

I thought an overnighter would be a good way to reset myself from the work life and start the summer vacation. A more traditional Finnish way to achieve this reset would be a bottle of vodka, but that's not really my style. Toni was also interested in an overnighter and he had scouted a good location on the Kimito Island earlier in the week. Everything was thus set and I took the car to Kimito to meet with Toni. Around 19:30 on Friday evening we started our ride.