Day 22, June 10. Compass now pointing north!

From:Aspö
To: Äspenäsudde
Distance: 45 km
Total distance: 867,5 km
Wind: NW-N 4-9 m/s
Weather: Crazy, tiny bit of sun in the morning, cloudy, thunder- and hailstorms, rain.
Woke up by the wind shaking the tent canvas this morning, immediately checked the forecast thinking this will be a bad day but the forecast had actually changed since last night and it was now in the morning the wind was bad, it was going to settle late afternoon.
Started paddling really enjoying the tailwind and had a great first hour then I started hearing thunder. Being out on the sea when there are thunderstorms closing in is not a pleasant experience. I know the probability is most certainly tiny but I get a bit worried I will get struck by lightning considering lightning goes for the highest point and even though I'm in a kayak I'm a high point compared to the surface (not by much, but still...). Today I was close to islands all the time so it was not scary in that sense. Well, there I was paddling, feeling pretty pleased, hearing the thunder from afar but after a while there was a new sound coming from behind, a bit like a roar, looked around and just saw this wall of rain closing in on me together with strong winds 😱. Put all gear on that I had, poogies, the hood of the jacket and also my hat on top of that, I was prepared! Let it rain! It did... So much that it hurt on my arms and shoulders where the drops landed, then I looked down on the spray skirt and realised that it was hail, up to a cm in diameter, falling. You can't do anything but laugh when being outside in weather like this, it is so powerful and somewhat comical to be stuck in a kayak when nature demonstrates who's boss. To my unbelievable luck I passed under a bridge just like 500 m after it all started and grabbed one of the poles under it and held on until the worst was over.

Close to two hours later I rounded the head Torhamnsudde which must be considered one of the milestones on this trip - the compass is now pointing north! And will continue to do so until I reach Haparanda! I' m officially on the east coast, hurray!!!

Stopped for lunch in Torhamn and found an open pizza place with this outlet next to the table 👍:

And that's where I'm sitting right now waiting for the rain to stop and some more favourable winds before my journey up along the east coast starts (forecast looks good from 4 pm an onwards 😀).
Later that same day lying in the tent: Well... That weather forecast was correct for the first hour and it was a perfect evening, then the wind picked up from north and I got some really heavy showers, like the ones, when in a car, you'll have to slow down to 20 km/h. My new jacket has now seriously been put to test and I'm loving it, yay!
Here is the lovely start I had after lunch:

And after the showers... "OMG it's a double rainbow!" (If you don't watch YouTube you might not get that reference...)

Today's route: