Surf!

Again at Svalnäs beach and this day it was more wind and higher seas. It was bloody perfect!

Photos of me by Magnus Hägg

Andreas Bergen & me

Photos of me by Andreas Berger

Testing my new tuiliq, day 2

After a beautiful day yesterday I was out again this Sunday with my daughter, Paula. She got a new PFD (flytväst), paddle pants and paddle boots. She wanted to test those things together with her other gear and see if its working for winter kayaking. So, this was actually her first kayak trip in the winter.

Myself I tested my new tuiliq from Reed Chillcheater again. I changed what I was wearing under a little bit from yesterday, and today it was perfect!

Here is what I used (and I was not cold or too warm at any time today):

Top

Reed Chillcheater tuiliq
Devold Expedition merino wool base layer.
Pinewood Outdoors Collection fleece jacket

Bottom

Devold Expedition merino wool base layer. 

Immersion Research Zephyr pants 

Hands

Snapdragon Hyper hands poogies

Feet

Coolmax socks and Bola "raggsocka"

Palm Nova boots

Extra when on shore

Fjällräven Luukha cape

Edvardson vadmals mittens (felt)

Paula using my Anas Acuta

Me in my Nordkapp

Daughter and father ready for cold water kayaking

Paula is trying to break some ice

2016 was a good kayaking year

Then 2016 is at its end. This has been a good kayaking year for me. Here are some of the statistics and highlights of the year.

• 1500 km in my kayak (1541 km to be exact 😅)
• 33 months in row kayaking on Lake Vänern
• Second "Harry" year (all 12 months during the same year)
• I have been kayaking 45 out of 52 weeks this year
• About 60 nights outdoors in my hammock, tent or tarp.
• I have done a norsaq roll and have learned the "storm roll". Not perfect yet but it's working
• Four weeks in Alaska kayaking, hiking, and sightseeing. Fantastic!
• I have invested in a new paddle (Gearlabpaddles) and a new GPS (Garmin Oregon 600)
• My yearly trip "Dalslandspaddling" was a success with 16 kayakers.
• I have started a new tradition with an October trip in the smaller lakes in Dalsland
• My YouTube channel has improved a lot and one video has now 120.000 views!
• My surfing and big waves skills has improved a lot.
• I have been to Stockenträffen (Stocken Kayak Meet) for the second year.
• Koster islands has also become a tradition to go to every year.

And what about 2017?

• I plan to buy a new kayak. A PE one for surf and rock hopping.
• The longer trip this year will be to the Arctic circle at Helgeland, Norway
• Hopefully I will go a course to become a kayak leader in Friluftsfrämjandet.
• I have to re-certify my WFR certificate.
• Then I hope to paddle more weeks in 2017 and do more kilometers
• Work on my storm roll so that it's 100% even outdoors in a surf
• Have a lot of fun! With old and new kayaking friends.

The last trip 2016 was close to my home December 30, a windy day but not very cold.

Happy New Year all my kayaking friends

No ice and snow! A very warm December.

Do I take this color matching too far?

The SnapDragon poogies are great. No gloves required when I use those.
I will make a video about what to wear in the winter when kayaking in a few weeks.

40 shades of grey? And a bit of black & red.

End of October

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.

At the start

A lot of kayaks!

Fredrik and Marcus, two of the leaders.

What a day!

Fredrik against the sun.

At our lunch break.