Another very nice autumn day. We have had a lot of those this year.
This Sunday I was out with 25 other kayakers from Friluftsfrämjandet (an outdoors organization) and we paddled about 15 km outside Lysekil. This is a town on the Swedish West coast (North Sea) and there is a nice archipelago outside the small town.
The weather forecast is now warning for snow and colder weather so it's best to enjoy every day possible.
I did a few rolls at the end of the trip. Working very good but I didn't test any "storm roll" as I have to practice more indoors first to have a solid roll. But the laid-back and butterfly rolls are almost perfect.
I am testing a new video editor, the AVS Video editor. It's better than GoPro studio but I will try Adobe Premiere Elements on the next video. I will also have a new computer next week, that will save me a lot of irritation. The one I have now is too old and slow.
As the nice September weather continues I took a short trip at about 10 km close to home. This is att Sunnanå yacht harbor on Lake Vänern. A beautiful afternoon where I practiced my strokes and steering.
The days are getting shorter, I work a lot and soon the autumn will be here in full force. That means some less kayaking now but I hope to paddle an average of 2-3 times a week. The last five months there has been 3-4 days a week.
I also start planning for next year. My plans are to build a Black Pearl kayak and in the summer go to Helgeland in north Norway to kayak for two weeks. Hope to bring some friends with me.
Enjoy my photos from a colorful September
The lighthouse Högeholme will soon be in use again. The local yacht club will take care of it.
As I have broken my two greenland paddles made of wood I have been thinking of buying one in carbon fiber. After checking on the Internet for one and also looking in some shops and not finding on I liked for a resonable price I did find one from Gearlab, in Taiwan, recently.
It was a paddle with a 2-piece design I really liked and also the first carbon fiber paddle with color I have seen. The price was not to bad either.
I checked reviews and a bit about the company and decided to buy one. I went for a shoulderless one called Akiak, 210 cm long and red color. This paddle also got the advantage of exchangeable paddle tips. I ordered with flat tips and one extra pair plus a bag for the paddle.
Paying with PayPal was easy and four days later I had my new paddle. Very fast all the way from Taiwan. And the paddle is beautiful! Nice and tight split, very light paddle with a very nice finish.
I have been working a lot this week so I had to wait three more days before testing this marvel. On a rainy Saturday afternoon I went out on the lake for two hours and paddled round some reefs and did a few rolls. Very, very light paddle. It dosen't feel like I'm lifting anything, very smooth through the water and I can get a nice grip on it without slipping.
It will probably take a few more times out with this paddle before I'm 100% confident with it but already now I feel that this is the paddle I've been looking for some time. That it matches my kayaks just makes it perfect. As for rolling it went ok, probably more my fault then the paddle, it wasn't perfect rolls. But I have not been rolling with my own kayak for some time and I need to practice more.
All I can say is that I can highly recommend the Gearlab paddles and the nice and quick service they have.
