3 years

I have now been kayaking every month since April 2014. That is every month for three years! And I think that I have been on the Lake Vänern every month as well.

This day me and my friend Christer had snow, rain, wind with us, wind against, calm and sun. Spring weather! We started at the Yttre Bodane nature reserve and at the jetty a bit from the parking lot. Some ice at first but then open water and with a good pace we went mostly outside the islands upp to Vingens hamn and around Gåsön. 

As it then started to rain (mixed with some snow) we went ashore and into the trees to have our lunch. After a bit it stopped raining and the sun was back.

At the trip back we had some head winds and with my Gemini I had to paddle hard to keep up with Christer.
We saw the first ospreys for the season, probably getting their nest ready. 

All in all a very nice day and good training for a long trip we will have in Norway this summer. (More about that in a later blog post).

Some statistics from the day:

Distance = 22,1 km

Time = 5:17 

Travel time = 3:33

Average speed (whole day) = 4.1 km/h

Average speed (paddling) = 6.1 km/h

Max. speed = 8 km/h

Christer is getting ready to go out in the ice.

I put the GoPro on Christers kayak. Here we got some small surf.

Not yet summer!

Christer at our "fika" break

On our way back

Christer in his Arrow play

It's not possible to paddle into the quarry at Trollön  with this low water level.

My Gemini

Nice!

New kayak

I have now bought a new kayak. It's a Valley Gemini SP that I will use mostly for surfing and rock hopping as it's a durable plastic kayak. I got the kayak from Kajakguiderna where I also bought the Nordkapp and Anas Acuta.

Length=4,52 m (14'10")
Width= 0,56 m (22")
Weight= 26,5 kg (58,5 lbs)

After testing it a few weeks back I decided to by this model. As it's not possible to get one in black I took a red one, that will fit nicely with the rest of my gear.

I was out today with my friends Christer and Johnny and we started at the beginning of Göta älv (Göta River) where there is a current and no ice. It has been a very beautiful day with about -6° Centigrade at the start and about 0° when we came back. Partly a lot of ice and som nice places to cruise around in the ice fields. And breaking ice in some places.

The review of the kayak so far:

Easy to maneuver but not as easy as my Anas Acuta, but better than the Nordkapp. You could lean a lot with this one without tipping over. Slower than the Anas Acuta and a lot slower than the Nordkapp, it's a much shorter kayak. Great cockpit and seat as on all Valleys kayaks.
We didn't have much sea on this trip but the small waves that I found was enough to have some short surf. That I would not have on my other two kayaks from Valley. This will be a superb kayak for surfing.
I did one roll in the cold water, was working ok. Very good knee braces that makes a back sweep roll easy but the Anas Acuta is of course a much better kayak for rolling. You just have to be more thorough when making the roll in a Gemini.

It's going to be a great kayak and I can't wait to take it out in rough weather!

My new Gemini with my Anas Acuta behind it.

On the way into the water for the first time

Freezing on deck

We found a nice reef for a "fika" break.

Johnny and Christer

Nice kayak

The sun was very nice this late February day.

Kayak technique drills

This day was a very rewarding and frustrating day. I went to Lysekil, at the west coast of Sweden, to have a whole day training kayak technique with my friend Tony from Kajakguiderna. He is a very skilled paddler and was instructing me in all types of kayak techniques, forward paddling, high and low braces, high and low brace turn, forward rudder, towing and much more.
Now I only hope to remember all that he has taught me today. The rewarding part is that I have learnt a lot today and by a man with infinite patience. For the frustrating bit it's to realise how much I have to learn and practice to be a good paddler with a good technique.

Well, at least my roll is one of the few things he didn't have to correct. That one I got right! But he has been one of my rolling instructors so it figures.

We saw a lot of harbor seal and a mink this very beautiful autumn day. Not sunny but calm and the water still a bit warm.

Harbor seal

Tony paddling under a rock

Tony from Kayakguiderna paddling his Gemini from Valley