Again a trip to Lurö archipelago. This time we started at Spiken and I was not alone. Eight friends joined me on this extraordinary nice evening. It was Frida, Christina, Per, Eva, Peter, Göran, Lotta and Robin.
The crossing to Lurö was the nicest I have had, sunny and completely calm sea. We set camp at Svinön and had a nice dinner and most of us enjoyed a glas of wine.
During the night the wind picked up and our plans to go to the island Djurö was changed. To much wind and to much open sea. That is about 6 nautical miles across!
Instead we went to Vithall, Aspholmen and Gunnarsholmen. At Vithall I had to do a roll just to cool off.
Back at Svinön we decided to change campsite to Bösshamn at Lurö. Christina, Lotta and Göran changed their minds and started for Djurö anyway, the rest of us went to Lurö where Malin, Helge and Mikael from Värmland greeted us. They are three kayaking friends and later Gregory joined us as well.
Me, Frida, Robin, Per and Eva took a walk to Stenstaka where we had some ice cream, coffee and a beer. Sitting at a cliff watching the sun go down while drinking a beer is as good as it gets.
Next morning we paddled round the island Lurö while our friends from Värmland went back north. Also this a windy day but still very sunny. As we went back to Spiken the wind died down somewhat and the crossing was excellent in a nice tail-wind.
I took my first swim this year at Lurö and again at Lill-Eken. Cold! But some of the others disagreed and said it was very pleasant. Not for me, at Lurö it was supposed to be 18°C in the water. That is not pleasant!
Again a very, very nice trip with some old and some new kayaking friends. Thank you for a fantastic weekend.
Here the video is finally up.
Our track
Distance 52,1 km
Average speed 5,5 km/h
Max speed 9 km/h
Time paddled 9,5 hours
Frida is arriving at our first camp site (Svinön)
Lunch at Vithall
Time to leave this wonderful place
Per and Robin
Göran and Peter
Camping place #2 (Bösshamn at Lurö)
Morning and time to leave
The sauna and wood heated bathtub at Stenstaka. It's on a rather large float.
Frida in her Skim Beaufort
Robin in his Anas Acuta (totally black compared to mine that got a white hull)
The last day of May and first day of June were the first real summer days this year, maybe 25°C in the air, a fresh breeze but cold water still.
Me and two friends went to a place south of Säffle (a small town 100 km from my home) where the north end of a fantastic archipelago starts. (Here is the Google Map adress for Hjälleskate ) Perfect place to start a trip in Millesvik skärgård and to kayak south to Lurö, Ekenäs or just to go around all the small islands and reefs in this almost uninhabited archipelago. We did't see any other kayakers and only one sailing boat (a bit out on the lake) and one small motor boat during the two days we were there.
We started on Tuesday noon and paddled south to Sjötungsholmarna where we stayed the night. And the sunset that evening! Marvelous! Just watch the photos below.
An amazing place to kayak in. We saw only one person (and a few at Ekenäs) the whole trip but a lot of birds. Sea eagles, ospreys, a heron, storlomm (gavia artica) and heard the great bittern (Botaurus stellaris) and the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Besides those all the normal birds in the area.
After only two weeks I'm back att Lurö. It's weekend and I just had to go out kayaking. For once all my friends were otherwise busy so I took the trip alone. The weather forecast was not that great but I wanted to kayak out to Lurö again anyway, it is always possible to go on the lee side of the archipelago even on windy days.
I started at Ekenäs again and with a slightly different route from last time took myself down to Lurö. Mostly sunny and not too much wind this first day. At Stenstaka the restaurant was open so I took the chance to have a beer there. This is the first time I got a beer while out kayaking since 2014 in Croatia.
As it was getting more windy in the evening I had to find a new spot for camping, but with a hammock you just need two trees so that is fairly easy. I found a nice little beach on the north side of the island and set up the hammock with an extra tarp over it as it was supposed to rain in the night.
A bit cold I took a walk to warm up, grilled some hot dogs and made a pot of tea. Warm again I went to bed and after a movie on the iPad fell asleep. Sometime in the night the wind increased and it was raining. Never mind I was dry and comfy so I just turned over and went back to sleep.
Next morning it was still raining so I took it slow to get started. After an hour the rain stopped and I packed my gear and in a strong head wind made it back to Ekenäs.
On the whole trip I did not see any other kayaks or any yachts, just two small passenger boats going to Lurö. It was a nice and very quiet trip.
A video is on the way but the editing takes time as I'm not home a lot now, mostly out kayaking.
Getting ready at Ekenäs
A short break. Nice weather.
Inbound to Stenstaka, Lurö. I wonder if the restaurant is open?
Me and my friend Christer had three marvelous days crossing the Lake Vänern from Värmrandsnäs to Kollandsö and back. That is the shortest way to cross the lake and its about 23 km (14 miles). But we made a lot of detours and stayed two nights on an island north of Lurö island. Lurö archipelago is a big fresh water archipelago in the middle of the Lake Vänern with about 250 islands.
We started at Ekenäs on Friday and paddled in the warm sun down around Lurö and finally made camp at Svinön. It was 18,5 km in our T-shirts. And just one and half week ago it was snowing!
After a marvelous night with a stunning sunset and even more beautiful sun-up we continued down to Spiken, the southernmost point on our trip. On the way we met two friends, Michael and Camilla, at Mellskär reef for a coffee break together. They were on the opposite way towards Lurö.
At Spiken we had an ice cream and a coffee before heading back to Lurö. An increasing headwind made the crossing over mostly open water rather long and we were a bit tired when we arrived at Svinön again. On my GPS the track showed 30,4 km for the day (about 19 mi). A bit later Michael and Camilla showed up and we but up our tents (I had my hammock) and had another nice night.
Next morning after breakfast me and Christer continued north while the other two headed back south. This day it was just as calm as on Friday and even warmer. about 20°C, and clear skies. T-shirt weather again! We both had some sun burns by now even when being very careful.
We took a lunch break at the island Vithall, an small island inhabited until 1959. How they could survive on that small island is a mystery.
At five in the afternoon we are back at Eken. The whole trip was 62.3 km long (39 mi) and average speed was 6.1 km/h (just over 3 mi/h). Many times our speed was 7-8 km/h. A very good trip in a nice summer weather.
Update: Now I have finished the video from the trip.
Our track
Leaving Ekenäs
Christer
At 3 am. We are closing in on midsummer and the nights are short.
Christer again
Me. (Photo by Christer Bodling)
Passing Stångudden light house. I pass here every week with ships.
Runnen light house
A wreck (called Matvreaket). That is a long story.
En härlig kajaktur med min dotter Paula till Lurö ifrån Ekenäs 1-3 maj.
Sorry all my non-Swedish readers. Please use the "Translate" gadget up in the right corner. This will translate to the language you like. The translation is not the very best at times but I hope you get some clue about what I'm doing.
Paula
Vithall
1:a maj
Vi lämnade Ekenäs på södra änden av Värmlandsnäs fredag förmiddag. Lite kyligt väder, molnigt men inget regn. Första stoppet blev på Vithall där vi var iland och tittade in i det gamla torpet som nu är museum. Väldigt fint, det ser ut som för 100 år sedan fast de senaste bofasta lämnade 1959.
Därefter fortsatte vi ner till Bösshamn på Lurö där vi satte upp vårt lilla läger vid den vackra sandstranden. När det var klart tog vi en paddeltur ner till Stångudden och över till Trädgårdsholmarna där ett vrak ligger och en fantastisk strand med vackra stenar.
Åter tillbaka till Bösshamn och en promenad ned till Stångudden landvägen och förbi den gamla klosterruinen. Efter promenaden var det dags för kvällsmat och läggdags.
Stångudden fyr i bakgrunden
Trädgårdsholmen med Kinnekulle i horisonten
2:a maj
Det regnade och blåste under natten så vi tog en rejäl sovmorgon. Därefter var det i kajakerna igen för en tur Lurö runt. Först Stångudden och sedan in i Maren för att ta en paus vid Stenstaka. Några gäster fanns det där redan så här tidigt på säsongen annars var det de "bofasta" som höll på att göra klart inför sommaren. Det finns ingen som längre bor hela året på Lurö en någon vi pratade med.
Sedan över på västersidan och in i bland Munkstackorna, en spännande grupp öar och skär. Nu var det helt stilla och vi återvände till Bösshamn för att laga middag. Thaigryta stod det på matsedeln i kväll.
Det stilla vädret gjorde att vi tog ännu en tur över till Trädgårdsholmarna. En härlig dyning fick vi norrifrån. Dyning är väldigt ovanligt på Vänern men det blev lite havskänsla den här kvällen.
Tillbaka till vårt läger tog vi en sen promenad till Stenstaka för att se solnedgången. Vi var lite sena så vi gick tillbaka till tältet igen i mörkret. Men det blev ändå en trevlig promenad på kanske sex kilometer.
Vårt läger vid Bösshamn
3:e maj
Stenstaka
Idag var det upp lite tidigare för att göra frukost och bryta lägret. Lite blåsigt ifrån NO men soligt för första gången. Vi höll oss nu på västra sidan av arkipelagen upp mot Gunnarsholmen för att efter fågelskyddsområdet svänga bort till Aspholmen. Där var det ingen som hade börjat säsongen så vi lagade oss lite lunch vid en solig sydvägg alldeles själva.
Sedan var det den tråkiga, lite öppna sträckan tillbaka till Ekenäs i den ökande vinden. Som tur var så var solen framme hela tiden. Vid 14:30 var vi åter iland vid Ekenäs och in med grejorna i bilen och kajakerna på taket.
En härlig tur så här en kylig maj. Tack Paula för sällskapet.
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