Valley Nordkapp Experience: Ursand

Sunday, 23 October 2016

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 :)

Sunday, 9 October 2016

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.