Terrible twosome's terrific trip to LOFOTEN (Part 1)

June 2019

I spent 3 weeks sea kayaking on the Lofoten archipelago (arctic Norway) this summer with a mate. We had a Tiderace Pace 17 and a Taran 18 so pretty well matched boats and just brilliant for multi-day wild-camping trips.  I drove round with the boats & kit the week before whilst Gordon flew/ferried in to Moskenes.  Having the car as a start/stop point for each loop gave us a lot of flexibility and acted as a storage container for re-stocking.  

Cumulative gps track for our 3 loops with each day a different colour.  And with all trips to Lofoten you start by seeing cod fish hanging out to air dry - they catch it in Jan/Feb and it hangs in the salt air for about 5 months.  Fish bodies are exported to Italy in the main and the heads go to Nigeria.

Then there's Lofoten Katedral and the local heritage museum just west of Svolvaer (the main town / commercial centre).

The first loop was done as a figure of eight due to wind direction changes, so clockwise round Vestvagoya and Flakstadoya, then north up the Kakersundet and anticlockwise round Moskensoya.  Loop 1 start point was at Haukland beach (beautiful) after a night camped on the dunes.  Scenery is amazing but you can get a change in the weather conditions every 3 hours – weather is quite localised and the web-based forecasting tools were not of great help on this micro scale.  First night out so watched the midnight sun as we had dinner (23:30hrs) having seen the first seal and sea eagle of the trip. 

Days 2,3,4 were spent cruising along the southern coast of the islands round many skerries and into small harbours as we saw fit.  The severe mountains of mainland Norway were clearly visible across the large Vestfjord off our port side.   Typically saw about 5 sea eagles each day either singly or as a pair.  Seals were a lot scarcer. Interestingly the sheep here carry “cow bells” so generally keep up a clanking noise all night.  Sleeping in the 24hr daylight conditions did not prove to be an issue though as we had thought in advance.  Spent a few hours looking round the Unesco heritage village of Nujsfjord (traditional fishing huts etc).

We did have a couple of weather days mid trip (strong sou’westers/headwind) before commencing the Moskensoya piece.  Generally we spent any days off the water either hill walking or doing a light touch on the tourist sights like the fishing museum.  Overall we suffered very little ocean swell and any waves we had to overcome were wind driven.  We did finish in mist/fog for a few hours one evening but there was nothing navigationally challenging.

Part 2 to come...

Four Seasons every day (Sea kayaking on Skye)

May 2^nd – 6^th 2019

An adventure in two parts but united by a common weather theme; all four seasons put in a presence every single day.

Started with a solo paddle from Plockton across Loch Carron and to the bothy at Uags; most of the time was a nice downwind surf which the Pace 17 took in its stride – the original planned evening tour of the Crowlin Islands being left for day 2 as the wind was picking up from the north.  Met and chatted with some other paddlers enjoying their time in the area.  An evening in the bothy sheltered from the wind and rain.  Views across to Raasay were splendid.

Day 2 was a cold spring one and I hugged the coast till well north (upwind) of the Crowlins before peeling off into the inner sound proper and again a run south.  The fully loaded boat did wallow a bit as I tried to go diagonally across the swell.  Made a mistake with my planning and found the middle channel between Eilean Mor and Eilean Meadhanach was dry at its far end.  Shame really as it was now directly upwind to get out of there!

An easier paddle again up Loch Carron then saw a good few squalls blow hard through from Loch Kishorn.  One caught me right in the middle of the ferry glide across to the southern shore but didn’t last long.  The sun was back out as I got into Plockton bay and the tourists.  Timing again off as I was at least 50 yards of muck away from the landing pontoons – but  what’s a bit of muck to a salty seafarer?  37 kms overall for this solo loop.

Got packed and then went off for a feast in the Sligachen Inn whilst waiting on colleagues from NESKy to arrive.  A few beers later and we had re-planned the Raasay/Rona weekend into something heading down the narrows from Kyleakin towards Sleat.  That night it snowed on the Cuillin Ridge and left white frost outlines around each tent for us to see in the morning.  Sligachen is in some ways a mystical place with a great bowl of sea and mountain vista.  None too warm but the sun came out as we packed boats on Kyleakin front for some wild camp/cruising.

Up to 12 kph as we used the tide through the narrows of Kylerhea and then a loop of Glenelg bay just for fun.  Seven good paddlers in the group so all was well.  Moved on to camp on Sandaig Island which was windswept but very scenic.  A good evenings entertainment was had with  our leader getting the smokers’ prize for his fire raising skills. Day 1 had been nearly 18 kms.  Day 2 was the push further south down the sound, dropping into Isleornsay for a brew (and missing the tide to get out the east side of the bay).  Just 6 paddlers left now and we pulled in to the little beach just short of Point of Sleat (Camas Daraich) after 33 kms.  At one point we’d been making a fair speed on upperbody+paddle windage alone (fresh northerly all day).  There was a good fresh stroll down to the point and its “Flatpack” lighthouse as daylight hours were plentiful.

Final day was a bit shorter at 15 kms as we rounded the Point (swell not too challenging) and headed against the wind up the west coast of the peninsula.  A bit of rock hopping and we finished at Tarskavaig ready to retrieve cars.  Thanks to Alan for helping out.  Wildlife during the short adventure was pretty good with several otters, a porpoise family, a sea eagle plus the usual inquisitive seals and noisy gulls.

Good company and competent paddling made the 5 days a joy.

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