Köpmannebro is an old small harbor at the beginning of Dalslands Kanal. It was a long time ago since it was in use but they have a few boats tying up there for the night sometimes before going in to the locks at Dalslands Kanal.
For me it's a great place to paddle to from Sunnanå which is 10 minutes away with my car and there are some nice places to put the kayak in. The distance to Köpmannebro, from Sunnanå, is about 12 km and as there are a lot of small islands and reefs to go around, I guess it will make 30 km from Sunnanå and back.
The weather was fantastic, again. And I was almost alone on the lake, only two boats out. And I saw two big sea eagles.
Strange to paddle with an Euro paddle again. But as all my Greenland paddles are now broken I had to o back to one of my carbon fiber/glass fiber paddles again. Well, I have all the wood now to make a new Greenland paddle but the weather is to nice to be indoors when I can be out kayaking instead. We will see next weekend or the week after if I will start making a new paddle.
After a night working overtime I went down to the old and beautiful town Hjo to meet a kayaking friend. Frida wanted to test my Nordkapp as she is on the way to buy a kayak and don't know which one yet.
We went to the lake Mullsjön for her to test my Nordkapp. Some roll practice was also planned.
After a rainy day the evening was very nice and again this September it was a very nice sunset. We did do some roll training and for the first time Frida made a roll. Congratulations Frida! Good job! And again my Anas Acuta was the kayak to roll with. The Nordkapp is not hard to roll but the Anas Acuta makes it very easy.
I did some rolls as well but I broke my paddle. Well it was getting a bit worn and I had the feeling this was going to happen sooner or later. It was sooner. Never mind, it just makes it more urgent to make a new paddle.
On my way home the wind and rain was back and a lot of yellow leaves from the trees were on the road. Autumn!
Broken!
Frida is practicing the roll with a paddle float
My Nordkapp and Frida in the sunset
Mullsjö
A video from last week. Me doing a Butterfly roll.
A very busy week working. Not so much time for kayaking but I started the week with a day training rescue with the pilot boat. The crew on the boat needs to practice to pick us pilots up from the water if we fall in. I was in my kayak taking photos and then beeing "rescued" by the crew. With my dry suit I could stay a bit longer in the water then my colleagues.
Then on sunday it was very nice weather although a bit windy. I started at Nordkroken in Vargön and paddled around Halleberg to Gardesanna. Three nice hours in my Anas Acuta. I also tried to do some rolls in the surf. I went better than expected and I found out that the butterfly roll was better to do then the standard sweep-roll.
The west coast of Sweden has several archipelagos. The northernmost is the archipelago of Koster about 2 km from the mainland (actually the closest island with a bridge). This is also the first national marine park in Sweden.
Me and my daughter, Paula went there for two days kayaking. We started at Rossö and went straight west across the straits of Koster (Koster fjord) which has a bad reputation for high seas. Almost no wind on this very beautiful Friday in September made for an easy crossing.
Well on the other side we paddled south trough the small islands and passages to the island Tjälleskär where we set up our tent. In empty kayaks we set out to explore this maze for a couple of hours. We saw very few boats and just three other kayaks this late in the season. Back at camp we made dinner and took a small hike to watch the sunset.
Next day was a bit more windy but luckily from the east so the waves were not very high. It took 45 minutes to cross the strait back. We then paddled north and east to go around the islands Saltö and Tjärnö. The last is where The Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences are. A bit more sheltered from the increasing wind inside these islands.
We made some late lunch on a nice beach and was back at Rossö and my car at about 16:00.
Two very nice days at the end of summer. It was nice that again I had my daughter Paula with me kayaking and whom I had not seen for three months. Our paddled distance was 32,4 km and average speed was 5,2 km/h.
There is a video at the end of the post, don't miss it!
This evening turned out to be almost as beautiful as last one. I took my Anas Acuta from Sunnanå to a friend in Guttvik, about a 15 km trip. Very nice and calm on the Lake Vänern with no boats out except my friend who joined me for a bit to go out fishing.
And the compulsory roll, actually two of them that I showed my friend I could do. But the evenings are getting a bit chilly now and soon it will be to cold do roll with only a wet suit.
Tomorrow it's back to paddle in salt water. Men and my daughter Paula will go out to Koster islands for two days.
The seat of my Nordkapp had broken a month ago. It had broken clean trough up on the side just below the point where the screws are going through the seat. This has happened because some foam bricks had fallen out below the seat at then undue stress has gone to the seat side, probably when rolling or surfing.
I got a new seat and replaced the broken one (I can probably repair that and use as a spare). New small foam was glued into place.
Broken
Foam bricks in place
New seat in place. Only the padding to mount.
Then in the evening it was a trip with Friluftsfrämjandet in Vänersborg. It was a remarkable sunset over Lake Vänern. A very nice evening kayak trip with some nice kayaking friends, about 20 of us altogether.
I did as usual some rolls. The normal Back-sweep and Butterfly roll went very well but when I tried a Hand roll it didn't work so I had to grab the paddle and roll up with a Back-sweep roll.
..
Seaside in Vänersborg
A video clip made by a friend of mine (Fredrik). It shows me rolling a bit into the clip.
We were five friends who on Friday afternoon set out from Björholmen Marina on the island of Tjörn. It was me, Christina, Robin, Peter and Lotta.
This was a nice day where we paddled out to the small archipelago Grönskären. After some exploring we set camp on the island Altarholmen that had been a Pilot station at the end of the 19th century. Unbelievable how people could live on such a small island at the edge of the North Sea. Apparently the seas sprayed over the whole island i westerly storms.
A glorious sunset was presented for us.
Next morning started with a terrible thunderstorm with a lot of rain and hail. So much for "A red sky at night is a sailor's delight". That didn't work this time. Then most of Saturday was rainy , but we did some kayaking anyway.
On Sunday only me and Christina was left of the group and the weather was just fantastic. A northerly fresh breeze but not a cloud in the sky. We set out from Bleket and paddled north to Skärhamn where we again turned south with the wind in our back. A nice lunch with a swim at Flatholmen. Finally back past Klädesholmen to Bleket again. Was this the last nice summer day in the kayak this year?
I did a few rolls with my kayak and for the first time fully loaded. Nema Problema! Even a Butterfly roll went well.
All in all a very nice weekend despite all the rain on Saturday. And thanks Christina for your hospitality and for taking the initiative for this trip.
I did on Monday a short trip on the Lake Vänern by myself in an increasing wind. That was like a short training trip for two hours in a fairly good speed. A roll at the finish at the old fort at Dalaborg.
Some nice seas
A non edited video clip from the trip
Then on Wednesday it was a trip with Friluftsfrämjandet, an old organization for outdoors activities in Sweden. We were about 25 of us out on a lazy kayaking tour for two hours. Again some rolling at the end of the trip.
