Saturday, August 18: Sunny & hot becoming cloudy
Motorway layby, Nyborg
The decision @ 8:00 was to take one of the First Fleet to Celle and buy a flotation device. Was ready to go just on 9:30, found the place, had a look through the rack and chose a model for around €169. Asked the chap at the counter what he thought of the jacket, tried it on and it was a very nice fit. Bought it and set off back home.
Then it was time for packing. Section by section was worked through as the fridge defrosted and everything that wasn’t frozen was consumed. Around 1:00 it was time for a shave and a shower, then the bags were collected and weighed (it was another 24 kg). The flat was put into absence mode. About the only things I forgot were adhesive tape and plastic bag binders. At the last minute I discovered that the concluding screw of the gimbal way not packed away so I packed it in somewhere but have yet to discover it.
Went down to the bus as planned @ 3:00 and was down at the boathouse right on time. We had to wait a little while for Lena & Rouven, but everyone else was there with heaps of stuff. One participant had had to cancel so that would leave us with ten in all. Everything was packed into the trailer or the boot, but when the trailer was attached to the van, the boot could only be partially opened. My pack was accessible though, so I was able to get my sandwiches in the course of the evening.
Then we were on the road. First stop was Hamburg to pick up the three extra kayaks, then at a supermarket for last-minute fresh food. Then it was off in the direction of Denmark. When we were on the bridge over the North Sea-Baltic Sea canal a brightly-lit ship passed under us.
Into Denmark the question of drivers had to be clarified – Simon was getting a bit tired and at a stop at midnight we reached a parking lot, unpacked the tents and we all tried getting some sleep until 6:00, rather than continue the journey into the night.
Sunday, August 19: Overcast with some rainy spells becoming constant rain
Sea Kayaking: 15.5 km
Hönö common, wilderness camping
We were up with the dawn and had a perfunctory breakfast (mine was muesli bars), with people picking up coffees along the way. Two major bridges – the Belt Bridge, but even more impressive the Oresund Tunnel-Bridge, which was quite spectacular.
Just before midday we reached Göteborg, picked up Max & Franzi and continued on to the yacht harbor where we were to start from. Philipp had a longer conversation with the ticket machine, then the van was driven down to the waterfront so the boats could be unloaded from the trailer and loaded up with goodies. After a bit of huffing & puffing we managed to get almost everything into them, and boy, were they heavy! I couldn‘t find the screw for the base of the gimbal so that was left behind. Then we were ready to go.
A bit of wind today and some large boats producing some of the largest waves I have encountered. Philipp wanted to go beyond the first envisaged stop and that involved a longer stretch over open water. My back was not taking well to the backrest and I had had little to eat or drink the whole day, so when we reached a bridge I forced a stop to get at least some sustenance into me. Pretty shortly afterwards this place was reached and Philipp decided it would be good for the night.
Interactive Map
Here at least was a shelter so we could cook, a toilet, and a sauna house that was unlocked for us, so that we could debrief today and do some planning for tomorrow.
Dinner was braised celery stalks, spaghetti & tomato sauce. I found most things that I had packed away, but it was a very demanding day.
