Some stout conditions on the north coast earlier this week with @seumas_nairn
Both finishing work we headed north to Sango for a much needed sunset blast. Squeezing an adventure onto the end of the day.
The value of placing ourselves in conditions at the edge of comfort zone is immeasurable, both for experience but also for the love of our sport. It’s these moments that make your soul smile.
Big sets over a significantly strong shore rip made for some intimidating conditions and a ‘no swim’ mindset. Lots of rolls were had but when the set hit just right boy oh boy did we fly. These are the conditions where my @phseakayaks Aeries 150 really comes to life.
📸 : @seumas_nairn
#kayaksurf #sango #surfscotland #scotlandsurf #surf #surflife #kayaksurfing #phseakayaks @phseakayaks
Around early September the chance of Aurora returns to the sky over northern Scotland.
Last night was a pretty special one with our @kayak.summerisles group. Camping in the southern Summer Isles, we enjoyed a fantastic aurora show in the early hours of the morning.
As folk went to bed, I took advantage of the ‘infinity pool’ of Carn Iar to achieve a photo I’ve wanted to capture for about a decade.
Careful use of submerged rocks, foreground lighting and the group tent as a tripod worked together just in time for the Auroras biggest burst of the evening.
To say I’m quite pleased with the results would be an understatement.
#bbcweatherwatchers #bbcweather #kayak #aurora #auroraborealis #northernlights #northernlightsphotos #seakayak #kayakadventures #canon #canonphotography @canonuk@bbcweather@bbcweatherwatcher@stvweather #nationalgeographic #natgeo #natgeotravel #natgeotravelpic
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Today the river levels hit the sweet spot, just high enough to run, just low enough to make carrying and lining the kayak in possible.
Could this be contender for UK’s most scenic grade 2?
Not that it matters, possibly a first descent through sheer obscurity. The future game will be an abseil in and high volume run out, which I reckon would be superb with appropriate avoidance plans for the river wide strainer near the end of the gorge.
And no, I did not run the 46m ricochet fall of doom into a 7m plunge pool that is the Falls of Measach. That definitely does not paddle.
A superb adventure alternative to our usual gorge walks in Corrieshalloch gorge.
#corrieshalloch @kayaksessionmag@pyranha.kayaks@wernerpaddles@kokatatusa@nitewatches@paddlingmagazine@natgeotravel@natgeoyourshot
Day 6 +34km Total 196km.
After a late start to let the rain pass, it was a pleasant morning chasing long horizon lines and hopping inlets under bridges. Pauses on beaches meant Kelly kettle coffees and pickled herring on the remaining rocket from last nights dinner, a fine combination for the hungry paddler.
The afternoon saw the first real headwinds. Force 4 on the nose. The kayak took it well but as expected suffered wind resistance and took a little extra grunt to paddle. After a particularly long final 5km into the wind without any good landings I finally found a good site to camp. A small beach with an old pier and ample grass.
Another evening enjoying cooking under my tarp, sheltered from a light drizzle outside it. The menu was smoked salmon and fresh rocket pasta with a drizzle of lemon and cracked black pepper. Simple yet super tasty. All washed down with a Smokey kettle tea.
Day 5: +36km Total 152km
Turning east I finally entered Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. At 205km long I would paddle most of it en route to my destination of Flåm.
A mid-morning arrival to a lovely archipelago of islands felt a little like the Summer Isles, surrounded by large rocky peaks on all horizons. The weather was fine too, sunshine and still waters, which prompted me to linger here and enjoy a lazy lunch.
Beyond here the fjord changed character. I could now see most of a days paddle ahead in one view, both exciting and somewhat mentally challenging at the same time.
Good conditions made good miles. #feathercraft
Night 3 was spent atop a rocky slab, pitched directly on rock. I arrived tired in heavy rain. Extraction from the water was tricky on the slippery rock and took time.
As a few have commented on my tarp over tent setup. I have a preference to set my camp like this for a whole list of positive reasons. It adds comfort and allows me to cook with an open door without risk of rain. It also reduces accumulate moisture in my tent setup over a long term trip and minimizes the need to detach the inner tent each day. Yes the tent alone is perfectly sufficient, but why not make my life easier and add some comfort for the sake of 10 minutes setup each evening.
Once pitched, I piled inside, I was tired. My evening was spent baking a lasagna in my @hajkaoven and then putting myself into a major food coma.
Photos taken the next morning when the rain had passed.
@hilleberg_the_tentmaker
On local recommendation I paddled into Skjerjehmn Harbour for an explore. Hosting a hostelry since as early as 1641 it felt like a place that had been forgotten in time.
A large statue of King Olav V salutes your arrival before rounding into the bay, apparently rejected from Oslo due to its open palmed wave being misinterpreted post WWII.
The port has been a hub for fishing and commercial trout/salmon trade in more recent centuries and reflected so with somewhat pro aquaculture artworks and installations in the grounds.
The restaurant for which it is now famous was closed, in anticipation of a large business booking later that afternoon. It gave the impression of old style high grandeur and looked quite the venue.
Perhaps the most bizarre was being invited to look inside the Swiss style villa which had been left with its original 1800s furnishings like it had been preserved from time. Contrasting the old woodwork and frilly curtains were some gaudy nude and satanic prints adorning many of the walls giving what I could imagine as a sort of playboy bunny mansion vibe.
It was intriguing and confusing, I’m sure they probably felt the same way about me in my little boat an umbrella rig. I’m glad I stopped to have a nosey.
Day 4: +38km Total 116km.
Setting off early my day began with a 5km crossing of Fensfjorden which is a major shipping lane into Europes second busiest shipping port. The smell of natural gas was present on the air as I went.
I’d timed my passage around the published pilot times, which suggested no shipping between 6am and 12 noon, backed up with live ship tracking from marine traffic. All went well until around 1.5km into the crossing when the large container ship behind me upped anchor early. Simultaneously to my east its sister ship left dock early, presumably ready to swap berths.
The remaining 3.5km was a careful sprint with constant observations to my bearings to both a container incoming to my side and rear. Less than desirable.
I was quite relieved to reach the far shore and all went well, avoiding the ships by a 700m gap, which is closer than I’d have liked.
From here the wind picked up and so the umbrella rig returned.
On my initial plans I’d intended to go east of the island I was now passing. Instead, on local advice, I went west which was far quieter and more scenic. I had been told of a famous restaurant on an island which was worth a wander around, so set my goal on that.
A pleasant end to a downwind sort of day was landing at a random peninsula looking for camp to discover I had inadvertently landed at Norway’s western most mainland point, which explained the large cairn.
A tucked away camp in the forest gave shelter and to my pleasant surprise I discovered the peninsula also had a luxurious ‘day bothy.’
This was a community project built to give a warm, sheltered space to spend the day, had a library of books (including a local sea kayak guide) , a fire and even usb charging from solar power.
I met the caretaker late in the evening who was quite happy to me to spend the evening inside, where I very much relished the dry space to read and relax before returning to my tent to sleep.
He also explained how the point is a popular place, counting upwards of 40,000 visitors a year! Hence the no sleeping inside rule to discourage misuse. Surprisingly apart from him and his partner, who came to clean and chat, I was all alone.
What a wonderful place to stumble across.
One of the greatest experiments of this journey was the successful repurposing of a broken umbrella I found while walking to the sea from the airport. A little jerry-rigging with straps made an effective improvised sail.
Leaving the marina full of burger and optimism I took off under the power of sail. Wow did it work! At one point I hit 12km/h with a particularly stiff gust, averaging around 6km without paddling. What followed was a few hours of elated sailing, paddling and peering over my rigging to see ahead.
This combined with passing through a particularly scenic and narrow set of channels and islands made for one of my favorite days of the trip.
Over the coming week the sail took further developments with a collapsible ‘fail safe’ rig, a window and a reefing system. It consistently gave as much of a psychological boost as it did physically.
Thanks @delideluca cafe for loosing your broken umbrella, it brought lots of joy.
Day 3: +35km. Total 78km
Perfect blue skies and crystal clear water set the tone for the morning. A more relaxed start and a gentle downwind paddle took me north west through some very pleasant forested landscape.
As the channels narrowed I enjoyed the rippling light on the crags at my side. A small sign in the distance started to perplex me as it became visible, a large billboard with a hamburger on it. I must be hungry I thought.
Sure enough just around the corner was a marina selling burgers. It seemed rude not to so I pulled in to enjoy one of the best hamburgers I’ve had in years, it really was excellent. A pleasant surprise to end a pleasant morning.
#BergenToFlåm
