Now it's the third year in a row that I have visited Koster islands in september. (2015 and 2014) As last year my daughter Paula was with me but this year also a friend, Fredrik joined us.
We started Friday afternoon from Rossö and in the strong SW-ly wind headed out to the southern part of the archipelago. Here there are a lot of small uninhabited islands that's creating a maze to paddle through. Probably one of the best kayaking places in Sweden. A nice swell and some 1 meter (3 feet) high seas made the crossing a bit over an hour. There was also a rather strong N-ly current which made us head more south to compensate. (I have a problem with my GPS where the USB port is not working anymore. So no tracks until I have a new one.)
Passing Ramsholmen and entering the passages north of Tjälleskär the sun set. And what a marvelous sunset! Magical! When we arrived at our campsite at Tjälleskär it was already dark. So we got our tents up and a tarp to sit in for our meals. Nice to have to break the strong wind.
In the night we could hear the wind and some rain but I think we all slept OK. Next morning the skies cleared but the wind was still there, west about 11-12 m/s (22-24 knots). We headed into the wind towards Ursholmen that used to be the most westerly inhabited island in Sweden. It was people living there until 1965 when the lighthouse was electrified. Then the lighthouse keepers with families had been living on the island for 70 years.
We had i nice walk up to the lighthouse and then a fika. At the way back to our camp we had some good surf. In the afternoon we hiked to some of the highest "peaks" on Tjälleskär to have a look over the archipelago. Nice to walk and climb after spending hours in the kayak. Then a short nap before going up to one of the highest places to watch a new nice sunset.
Next morning we took it easy to break camp and then headed with some nice detours to the northwest of the islands to start the crossing back to Rossö. On this Sunday the wind had changed to a N-ly wind and just 3-4 m/s (6-8 knots) and not a cloud on the sky. After taking some fika at St. Brattskär we crossed over the fjord. This day it took only 20 minutes! The wind slightly with us and almost no current.
Back at Rossö we had time to practice some rolls. Nice water at about 20°C.
A very nice kayaking weekend with Paula and Fredrik.
Just crossed over Kosterfjorden.
Fantastic sunset!
At Ursholmen
The old lighthouse
To the left the old lighthouse, then me and finally the new lighthouse
"I want to go there" Paula.
Fredrik
Nice place to take photos
Superman?
Rowan tree. When they have a lot of berries the winter will be cold, they say.
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!
