Sunday, August 26: One shower in the night, otherwise quite cold; a couple of clouds remaining in the morning, clearing in the course of the afternoon; fresh sea breeze
Sea Kayaking: 24.4 km
Holiday home for six at Klädesholmen harbor
The cheese had lasted well (the same cannot be said of the crispbread which was rapidly becoming soft) and was now finished. Still a lot of coffee & sugar to go and the milk may well last the length of the trip. Anyway, breakfast was dealt with, the tent packed up and we set out on our hardest day, which was planned to be a lot of paddling into head winds or along the coast with side winds and parallel waves.
The first stretch back to the open sea was mainly into head wind and was broken up into several sections. A larger group of kayakers in surf kayaks passed us by on their way inland. This was followed by a stretch along the coast and was pretty rough. A while later a harbor turned up and just around the corner there was a beach where we landed for lunch. Toilets, water and rubbish dump (sopor) had to be found, which I did, and with all replenished, or disposed of, we set out for a camping ground. Apparently the weather is set to turn bad tomorrow, with winds @ > 40 km/h and rain all day, so that we would be forced to take a day off. The morning’s speed was just over 4 km/h so an ETA of later than 6:00 was calculated.
Slide Show
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The afternoon’s trip was rough varying with smooth, some of the roughest we had encountered, but progress was better so that we were at the camping ground outside of Skärhamn at around 5:00. There was a small creek that continued on about 100 m inland but not far enough to reach the camping ground itself, and there was no path there, so a bit of a crisis meeting had to take place.
The next camping ground was 10 km down the coast and that was deemed too far to reach before dark; Simon found another one that was closer but it was only a motorhome site; at least it had showers, toilets, & a kitchen. The trip there was undertaken; first back into the sea breeze; then along the coast in a rather sheltered section, then into the next harbor which was very rough indeed. The granite boulders took on contours with shadows of the setting sun.
Once here there was some disappointment at the bare bitumen and concrete which was present, although a small meadow was just large enough to hold all six tents.
After consultation with the landlord the tents were packed up again. We were offered a six-bed hut for an acceptable price, so that was taken instead. Now everything had to be transferred from the boats to the hut (around 200 m) and spread around the two storeys available (four bunk beds below, two single beds above with four people sleeping on mats on top or in the lounge, that was at least the initial plan; four regular chairs and one folding chair, a table, a couch to seat four and two bean bags).
Kirsten had suggested all cooking together, but as a number of people wanted to shower first, at least Max and Franzi started cooking before everyone else, so that plan was abandoned.
Interactive Map
Monday, August 27: Overcast in the morning, rain and wind arising during the day
Games went on until just on midnight, then most went upstairs to sleep, although I could hear an episode of Die Drei Fragezeichen at least starting, then I was almost asleep.
Jörn’s snoring starting late at night and was survivable. Around 9:00 some voices could be heard so I got up for some coffee and an egg. In the meantime Kirsten & Philipp went shopping and returned with two very full shopping bags. In the course of the morning everyone else appeared for breakfast and it was clear that today would be complete chaos. I had the first sausage (Mettende – raw salami but durable) with some crispbread for lunch, then went for a lie-down myself.
Phlipp had organised a bag full of washing to which I was able to contribute a shirt, the trousers, a pair of underpants and two pairs of sox. That stuff was washed fairly quickly, only the drying machine seemed to take ages. Anyway, I had been sleeping for a while when Philipp went out to collect the half-dry washing which was then distributed around the hut for final drying.
When I was up again, yet another card game was in progress and I deemed it time for my shower, as the clothes could dry completely on me. Then some diary writing while waiting for the long queue for the evening meal.
We joined up with Jörn (who is a complete vegetarian) and Jan for rice, okra, mushrooms, bell pepper, onions & garlic. The portions were large enough for most of us, but Jörn joined the later group for their 1 kg of spaghetti.
One or two card games still, then most retired upstairs for an episode of Die Drei Fragezeichen and an earlier night in anticipation of taking up the paddle again tomorrow.
