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

Svalnäs

Svalnäs is a shallow and very beautiful sandy beach on Lake Vänern. On windy summer days days I'm there with some friends for kayak surfing. We share the beach with some guys doing kite surfing.

This week I have been there two times so far as the weather has been perfect for surfing. On Monday we had the last part of a kayaking course and this time it was how to handle the kayaks in a bit bigger seas. I think all learned a lot and had a lot of fun as well. On Wednesday the seas were higher and we were some friends playing in the seas. Some younger guys were trying some surfing in an open canoe.

The video is from the second day.

Monday

My friend Magnus and co-course leader.

Joakim

My friend Andreas in his Black Pearl

Wednesday

Magnus

Kristina

Surfing with open canoe

My Anas Acuta on the beach (not an X!)

Two Years (or 33 months)

I have now done my second "Harry Year", that is when you have been kayaking every month for a whole year (calendar year). I don't know where that expression comes from but it's something they call call that when you have achieved this. Probably a guy named Harry did it for the first time.
Actually I have been kayaking 33 months straight, all months on the Lake Vänern!
I have also been out kayaking every week since first of March (missed one week 😒when I was a teacher).

I was out today on a beautiful December day on the Lake Vänern. Windy, warm for December (+8°C) and a bit of sea.
Watch the video from today and also my second video from my trip in Alaska.

The winter is here

I have been busy and not had time to update on my blog lately. But here I am with a post from the Swedish winter.

First I was out on a very stormy day for some kayak surfing. This was while waiting at the pilot station for a ship to come. The canal was closed due to strong winds as they could't open the bridges.
A lot of fun! I shared the beach with two surfers. It was 24 m/s winds (about 50 knots) and that was a new record for me. It was very hard to get out to surf back and a bit more then an hour and I was too tired to continue. Watch the short video clip from my surfing session. And I didn't tip over one single time! This surf training is very good.

Then after a few days of snowing I took a trip from Sunnanå to Köpmannebro and back. Snow, ice and very beautiful. It was about -2° centigrade in the air and the only thing I was freezing were my feet. I have to get something better to wear in my kayaking boots. Thicker wool socks? I have new poogies, Snap Dragon "Hyper Hands", the best I've had for protecting my hands against the cold.
There is a video from that trip as well. That was the first time I edited a film with Premiere Elements and on my new computer. I am very pleased with this computer, the programs are not crashing for me now.

A one minute film made on my iPad for Instagram.

Wonderful!

I am not alone in the waves

Snow!

It can hardly be more beautiful

My hot Anas Acuta is cooling off.

October surf

A windy Friday I had some time to go out surfing with my Anas Acuta before going to Karlstad for piloting a ship. Very, very nice! It's getting a bit cold (8°C in the water and a bit colder in the air) but going in and out of the seas makes you warm.
I was at Ursands Camping where I tested the Black Pearl a week before. Almost the same height of the waves. But I feel a lot more comfortable in My Anas Acuta than in the Black Pearl. No wonder as I have about 2000 km in my A.C. That is a kayak I don't step in to,  I wear it!

I think I have decided about what kayak to get next time. It will be a good plastic kayak for rock hopping, surfing and rolling. That is also good for lending to my friends and family. A Black Pearl will be used almost exclusively by me and it's not a practical kayak as its very small and can't take any cargo. Good mostly only for surfing and rolling.
Now it's only to decide what kayak to buy :)

Summer is over

The unusual warm Indian summer is now over. A strong north-easterly wind is bringing cold air down over Sweden. Not much rain but very cold and strong winds.

The day before this cold weather arrived was the first Sunday in October and I was out with Friluftsfrämjandet in Lidköping on a day-trip. We were 14-15 kayaks and had a very nice time.

As it is now October I have been kayaking 30 months straight. And every month on Lake Vänern!

Then I was out a windy day testing a home built kayak. This is a Black Pearl that Fredrik at Kajakguiderna has built and the design is by Björn Thomasson whom I met at Stocken kayak meet. I have plans to maybe build one myself. It is a very narrow and low-stability kayak, ocean cockpit and a lot of fun. Perhaps the weather wasn't the best for testing such a kayak? Or maybe it was?  Anyway I had one and a half hour of fun and was really tired afterwards. Now I have to test rolling this kayak also. More about that in the next post.

Confusion at the start 

Sara, one of our leaders in her beautiful Thae Greenland

Magnus

On our way

Black Pearl build by Fredrik at Kajakguiderna

Tough test!