Day 18, June 6. Rollercoaster ride!

From: Gislövs hamnar
To: Kivik
Distance: 29,5 km
Total distance: 684 km
Wind: S-SE 3-8 m/s
Weather: Sunny, 15 C
Todays paddle was short but mentally draining. Waves as big as the ones out there today require 100% focus for me. They were bigger than when I got stuck wanting to cross Laholmsbukten but luckily easier to tackle since they were longer and not the steep aggressive kind. I read somewhere that when in a kayak, if you can't see the horizon when you are at the bottom in between two waves, the wave height is about 80 cm (the distance from the bottom of the kayak to the paddlers eyes). Using that as an estimate of today's waves I would say that they were up to a bit more than one meter in height because the horizon was way out of sight when being in between two waves. It may not sound like a lot but it sure feels like you are being tossed around all over the place or like being on a rollercoaster ride. So becase of this, I only have one photo from today. Is shows Stens Huvud that was the landmark I had in sight and was aiming for during most of the day.

Only a couple of km further on from this head is Kivik, todays destination. And what a great destination that was!
Two nights ago I got an email from the sister of a good friend of my parent's inviting me to come stay with them overnight, wash my clothes, go grocery shopping, sleep in a proper bed... That was an offer to good to say no to! So tonight I'm lying in a real bed writing this text after having had a great meal with nice wine (including a local Swedish wine), getting groceries, all my clothes washed, help with improving the folding mechanism of my rudder and last but not least great company. Karin and Torbjörn, it was fantastic staying with you! Thank you so much for your hospitality and all your help!
Tomorrow I will have to start paddling at the latest 9 am to get passed Ravlunda, the second military practice area to get passed in only three days, before they start shooting with sharp ammunition at 11am! Yikes!
Today's route:

Day 17, June 5. A day at the beach

From: Svarte

To: Gislövs hamnar

Distance: 47,5 km

Total distance: 654,5

Wind E-SE 3-8 m/s

Wheather: Sunny all day but somewhat cooler (17 C)

Got up and off reasonably early, first paddle stroke ten to nine, head wind not too bad. Already from the start I had my mind set on coffee at Ystad Saltsjöbad (a lovely hotel I've been to several times to attend conferences) so after just an hour or so I was out of the kayak again sitting by the hotel pool sipping on my latte. Great start to this morning.

When it was time to leave the wind had picked up and also the waves which made it a tricky task to get back into the kayak since the waves kept breaking over it as soon as I pushed the kayak out in the water. I think I must have had about 10 litres of water in the cockpit before I finally got seated (first time I got to use the bilge pump I'm carrying). The people watching me from the beach must have had a good laugh.

Struggled on in the head wind for another two hours before I decided to take a long break at the beach at Kabusa. If you ever want to have at least a kilometre or so of total privacy at a beautiful beach, this is the place to head to! Completely deserted even though this was a Sunday. Just make sure first that it isn't one of the days the military uses this area to practice with sharp ammunition!

At 6 pm the wind started to settle a bit and I headed out again to go around Sandhammaren and the never ending beach (I was warned about this reading the other HBB paddlers blog) that goes along this entire head and then some (think it must me more than 10 km long). Having strong easterly winds here in southern Sweden for about a week there were big waves rolling in now that I hit the first bit of east coast. This forced me quite far out from the beach not to get them breaking over me in the kayak. Not the most pleasant evening paddle but I'm now passed that beach 😃 and got a nice sunset to look at while rocking up and down in the waves.

Today's route:

Day 16, June 4. Ups and downs

From: Nameless beach a couple of km east of Höllviken
To: Svarte
Distance: 51 km
Total distance: 607 km
Wind: Early morning, no wind 😃. Later E turning SW and back to E late afternoon. 0-6 m/s
Weather: Warm and sunny most of the day, late afternoon cloudy and a shower
Today has been a day of ups and downs. Started great with no wind and the ocean completely calm almost like a mirror.

Now we're talking! More of this please!

To top the morning off I also passed a large group of seals. The first thing I notice is often the sound of their breathing and then start to look for them. Very gracious animals. Today I got really close to a couple when I stopped paddling, just quietly sliding through the water.
My husband was running the Stockholm Marathon as a pacer today so there was a fair bit of getting the phone out of the little dry compartment on the front deck to see how he was doing. (He was a pacer for the 3:15 group and crossed the finish line at 3:15:00 😀, the runners that chose to join him must have been pleased. Good effort darling!).
After an hour or two, passed Trelleborg, boredom struck, just beach after beach, houses all along the coast, no variation, looking at the sand patterns on the bottom of the sea, sometimes there were some seaweed (yihaa!). There was a lot of checking the phone at this point I can admit...

Thinking this will be a long day. That's when you turn to music 😀, started singing tunes to myself and after also stopping in Smygehuk (Sweden's southernmost point) having a cup of coffee it was high life again!

Had a great afternoon, hearing thunder from far inland, sky dark gray, there was some great contrasts in colour with the sunlit shore and dark sea and sky.

When it was time to look for a place to pitch the tent, I started thinking about a couple back in Smygehuk asking me questions about where I was going, how far I would go today, if I was camping aso. Well actually it was only the man asking questions, the woman looking down on the ground. My mind started playing tricks on me thinking this was a rather odd behaviour and I did no longer feel comfortable sleeping in the tent on a beach with the main road along the coast just 30 m or so away. So I ended up asking a man if I could sleep in their garden, trying to explain why, and he said yes! It can't be everyday a wet kayaker shows up in your door step asking if they can camp in your back yard so I'm most grateful! A big thank you to the whole family for a good night's sleep, a shower, pizza and the glass of wine!!!
Today's route:

Day 15, June 3. So long west coast!

From: Habo Ljung
To: Small stony beach just east of Höllviken
Distance: 42,5 km
Total distance: 565,5 km
Wind: NE-S 2-6 m/s
Weather: Sunny all day
Started today with paddling passed Malmö passing the landmarks Turning Torso and Öresundsbron.

Had a light tailwind in the morning but just south of the bridge the wind quickly changed to S and it was back to head wind again. As a kayaker I'm getting slightly obsessed with wind, what direction? How strong? Is there a window with light winds really early in the morning? Checking the forecast over and over again. The way the wind blows during the day is THE most important subject during this trip. It can turn an otherwise gray day into a brilliant day if I get good tail wind and it can make a day where everything else is perfect to a so so day if the head wind is too strong.
It was a long way over Höllviken to Falsterbo channel and since it is so shallow I could not really reach the shore. So lunch today was eaten while I was standing in the knee high water in the middle of this bay next to the kayak. Well, it worked, even if the situation was not ideal.
When finally reaching the channel I was getting tired and only paddled a few more km before putting up camp again.

Today's route:

Day 14, June 2. Just a little bit tired...

From: Hittarp
To: Habo Ljung
Distance: 58,5 km
Total distance: 523,5 km
Wind: E-SE 4-12 m/s
Weather: Sunny all day
When I woke up this morning I had my goal set already, I needed to pick up a new jacket (the one I have is leaking like a strainer) in Lomma that I ordered and there was a camping ground just north of Lomma. Looked at the map the night before and did a rough calculation that it was just a bit more than 40 km and that should be doable even though I was going to have head wind all day. Well that calculation turned out to be very rough, a bit of a joke actually. In the end of the day after 10 hours of paddling, struggling hard in the head wind, I measured todays distance and it was almost 60 km!!! I thought I was just being really slow today because of the wind, no wonder I was tired. So tired that I started counting paddle strokes, if anyone is interested I can inform you that it is 1704 strokes between the Långa Bryggan (the long jetty, named that because it is, as the name gives away, very very long) in Bjärred and the camping ground in Habo Ljung.
Apart from all the paddling and counting I managed to get myself shouted at by a security guard at the now closed down nuclear power plant Barsebäck (number 2 of the 4) for going too close. Apparently there were some yellow buoys far out in the water that I should have passed on the outside because it was a restricted area. Well I had maybe 2 m between me and the shore so I was a tad bit close, so close that I actually had to step out of the kayak to pass over a very shallow part, that is when the security guard showed up 😳. He told me to go straight out to the buoys which meant I would be going backwards and then fight my way back in the waves and wind, no way, I jumped in my kayak and continued forwards just a little bit further from the shore not looking back or hearing anything more... This is a picture taken before the small incident...

It has also been a lot of this stuff,

Passing both Helsingborg and Landskrona and their harbours.
When finally arriving at Habo Ljung late in the evening my husbands best friend Mathias met up with me and handed me the jacket plus taking me to the grocery store! Thank you so much Mathias!!! It was wounderful seeing a familiar face and getting some tasks done.
Today's route:

Day 13, June 1. Great summer day.

From: Burensvik
To: Hittarp
Distance: 46,5 km
Total distance: 465 km
Wind: E -NE 2-6 m/s
Weather: Warm, mostly sunny, one heavy shower late afternoon
Today has been a fantastic summer day, warm and sunny and only light winds. Started my day with crossing Skälderviken, 14 km open sea, in light tail wind so getting over only took 1 h 45 min. I've never been to Kullen previously so it was fantastic to get to see this nature reserve from a kayak. The high cliffs looking very majestic and making a little kayaker feeling rather small.

After passing Kullen and the little community Mölle it was more of what I've seen heaps of the last week, beaches, rocks and long stone piers. Ended up on a beach just north of Helsingborg.
Today's route:

Day 12, May 31. Over on the other side

From: Halmstad
To: Burensvik
Distance: 49 km
Total distance from Svinesundsbron 418,5 km
Wind: NE turning to E, 3-9 m/s
Weather: Sunny in the morning, cloudy during the day, insane thunderstorms starting late afternoon
Woken by the alarm at 4 am, figured starting early was going to be my key to get over this darn bay and also to actually go around instead of straight over. At 04:45 I took my first paddle stroke and was rewarded with a nice sunrise to look at while paddling in the headwind past the not so beautiful port in Halmstad.

When turning south to paddle along the coast, which was practically one long beach, the wind was blowing sideways and I had a really nice morning here before stopping for breakfast at Mellbystrand beach.

From here I chose to head straight for Kattvik on the other side since that would give me tailwind the entire way and I didn't see any breaking waves out there that could cause me trouble. It all turned out well and I was safely over an hour and 50 minutes later.

Continuing along Bjärehalvön there was some stunning rugged coastline on the north side.

Starting so early this morning it was only about half past 1 when I got to Torekov, so I took my time to have a look around, have lunch and also ice cream and a coffee afterwards. This way I won't have to cook dinner tonight, sweet!
The early start turned out to be a very lucky move, after lunch real heavy thunderstorms started rolling in north of me, got in my kayak to complete the last couple of kilometres I had left and was able to pitch the tent just before the rain started falling. Now I'm in my tent listening to the thunder and heavy rainfall, rather cosy I must say😀. Tomorrow it's time for Skäldeviken!
Today's route: