Aquarius Sea Lion kayak one year review

This review is an updated version of my initial review from earlier this year. I think it is motivated to update it, since fairly little information is found on the web about this particular kayak. It has gained at least some popularity in Finland, along with the kayaks of another Polish manufacturer, Kayman kayaks. At the Hanko Sea Kayak Gathering in August I saw about five other Aquarius Sea Lions.

The last kayaking overnighter of the season - second attempt

This was supposed to be about the Mammoth March. About 25 hours of epic struggling, riding the bike on roads of different size, trails and non-trails and searching checkpoints over seemingly endless mires. Unfortunately, I was not well enough to participate. A persistent flu had me make the choice to opt out. It simply didn't make sense to start pushing myself far beyond the comfort zone when not being in perfect health. It was the sensible choice, but seeing the GPS tracking of my team mates Toni and Jarkko really had me wanting to be there. Ultimately they didn't make it to the finish. After almost 26 hours of struggling they decided to call it in.

While I wasn't well enough for the Mammoth March, a light kayaking overnighter was no problem.

Fall break

 

The kids had fall break from school and I also had the opportunity to take a day off, so on Thursday afternoon we drove northwards. The wife dropped off at her former home to meet up with some friends, but I continued to Vaasa with the kids. The next morning my brother would take the kids by boat to his cabin at an island in the outer archipelago, while I chose to take the kayak. The weather was the brilliant, the best one can get during fall.

The Vigu Gathering 2015

It was time for the annual Vigu gathering, where current and previous students and instructors of the Axxell Wilderness and Nature Guide education get together. This time I had no course associated with the gathering (last year we had a food course and made an excellent dinner for 150 persons), but I wanted to take the opportunity to get a few exams done. I also was in real need for some cycling training, because of the Mammoth March two weeks later. Almost 1000 km in a kayak does little for the cycling power of the legs, and a flu that took three weeks to recover from had prevented any cycling training.

The last kayaking overnighter of the season?

A look at the calendar showed that  most of the weekends of October were already filled. This weekend, however, was entirely free and when the weather forecast also promised great weather the decision was made: A short overnighter leaving on Saturday afternoon and returning around lunch on Sunday. I got Tarja and O-P to join me.

Örö kayaking trip

The fortress island Örö was opened up to the public in 2015 as part of the Archipelago National Park. Incidentally, I was one of the four first persons on the Örö national park, in a group of four that paddled there immediately on the New Year's Day. Örö was also a natural destination for a trip by the local paddling club, and Esko was the natural choice to lead such a trip, since he had worked with preparing the island national park for quite some time. He asked me to be his assistant guide for the trip, which suited me fine. The date was set to the last weekend of September. A few weeks earlier we had a meeting with the participants to plan the trip. The trip would eventually have a total of 13 participants, including Esko and me.

The Outdoor Guide to Turku

Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and was the most important one for many hundred years, which is reflected in a rich cultural heritage. It also has a lot to offer for the outdoor lover. You can go hiking, trail running, mountain biking and paddling right from the middle of the city. There are a number of outdoor shops where you can complement your gear and then there are also the cafés and pubs along the river where you can meet outdoor people over a hot brew or cold beer.