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)
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.
