Day 57, July 15. A surprise bonfire

From: Burevikshällorna
To: Ole-Vipersagrundet
Distance: 56 km
Total distance: 2225 km
Wind: N-NE 3-8 m/s
Weather: Cloudy and foggy, 17 C
Fog today again! Not as bad as the one I had yesterday, could see about a kilometre today, but still... I want to see what this part of the coast look like, it's so far north that I don't think I will bring the kayak up here again (any time soon anyway) and large parts of today I saw nothing but a grey wall surrounding me 😢.
Well, first things first, started by taking a detour into Skelleftehamn for some final grocery shopping. Needed more fruit and bread desperately. Paddled through this little passage when I left:

Met two kayakers just north of Skelleftehamn, there are not many other kayakers out there so I started talking to them and they were finishing a trip the started last summer from Haparanda to what should have been Skelleftehamn but ended in Piteå due to bad weather. Just as I left them to paddle their last few kilometers the fog rolled in so now it was time to let the compass and my watch get to work. Measure distance to next head, recalculate distance to minutes, take out the course and vanish into the grey. My idea is that I keep my direction for as long as I calculated that the crossing will take and if I don't see land at that point I will take out my phone to check my position or head west (that should make me get to land pretty quickly). Today my navigation was spot on so did not have to use any of the safe cards. But still, boring paddling...
In the middle of one of the crossings when the fog temporarily lifted a yacht stopped me and asked me if I was the Blue ribbon-paddler, it was the sister of one of the kayakers I talked to earlier today and they heard I was going to be out here so just stopped by to say hi! Who said people from Norrland are silent and unsociable??? I found it to be pretty much the opposite so far! Everybody up here has been super nice and ready to chat.
Stopped at a beach in Romelsösundet to make dinner and then continued on for a few more hours. Ended up on an island without mosquitos! And also got to inherit a burning bonfire from a family that had taken their boat out to this place to have dinner! Thank you! Stayed up pretty late by the fire since it will be raining up until noon tomorrow.

Today's route:

Day 56, July 14. Fog, thunder and then in the end some sun.

From: Långvikudden

To: Burvikshällorna
Distance: 66,5 km
Total distance: 2169 km
Wind: S-SE 1-8 m/s
Weather: Fog until 4 pm then sunny, 19 C
Had a great morning with breakfast in the sun, the pancakes from yesterday! As soon as I sat down in the kayak fog started rolling in from the sea and I couldn't see more than 50 m in front of me. It made navigating complicated and I had to pick up my phone twice to see exactly where I was, ended up not seeing land until I almost landed on the shore far in in the bays. You can see on today's route image that it is not the usual straight line from one head to the next rather a zig-zag pattern as I worked my way up along the coast.

This morning's view...

Paddling in fog is really very very boring since there is absolutely nothing to look at, you're just surrounded by a grey matter. Luckily I found something to cheer me up this morning! Checking the local weather forecast this is what I saw on my screen:

Had a good laugh before I continued paddling even though I did not see much of that sun that was in the forecast. (For you who don't speak Swedish the name of the place can be translated to Vomit-regret-snot!!! 😂)
When getting close to Bjuröklubb the fog finally lifted and I could see where I was going again.

Rounded the head and had my goal set on a meal at the cafe up by the lighthouse. Started talking to two families just as I got ashore, one of the fathers was a keen kayaker and also interested in doing this trip along the coast. They later invited me to join their table up at the cafe, thanks for a good chat and a great tip about camping at Burvikshällorna, one of the best camp sites I've had so far during this trip!
Ended today by paddling late in very calm weather gave me some stunning sights when looking out over the horizon.

Today's route:

Day 55, July 13. Getting up to speed

From: Hökaren
To: Långvikudden
Distance: 69,5 km
Total distance: 2102,5 km
Wind: S-SE 3-9 m/s
Weather: Sunny, 21 C
Started this day with making pancakes to bring with me for dinner tonight. Got sorted and said good bye to Agneta. Thanks for everything, I had a great stay!

Conditions today were optimal so after rounding the head, leaving Täfteåfjärden, I had tailwind the entire day, high life! That and a long day (9 and a half hours) in the kayak made today's new distance record for this trip possible.
Spent pretty much all day paddling but took a break when reaching Ratan and realizing there was a restaurant there 😀, pancakes saved for tomorrow's breakfast instead, yum!

Passed some great spots during the afternoon but when trying to find a decent place to stay the night there was nothing and I ended up on one of the thousands and thousands of stone beaches there are up here along the coast, just next to a house... It's ok to pitch a tent on these beaches but not more, with today's amazing bed rolls you get away with pretty much any surface and still get a decent sleep. Worst bit was the there was no internet coverage at this spot 😫, just went to sleep after doing the necessary chores and getting photos of a nice sunset...

Today's route:

Day 54, July 12. More than 2000 kilometers

From: Lill-Husskär
To: Hökaren (Täfteåfjärden)
Distance: 48 km
Total distance: 2033 km
Wind: NE-E 3-8 m/s
Weather: Mostly sunny, 22 C
With today's distance I have paddled more than 2000 kilometers since the start 20th of May... That is a very long way and yet it doesn't feel like I gone that far. When thinking about all the days in the kayak they tend to melt together and memories from several days feels like one. Good thing I have this blog to keep my mind and memory straight 😀.
I knew already when I woke up today that this was going to be a tough one, rather strong head wind, a fair distance ahead of me and on top of that a couple of crossings. Got up and out of the tent at a reasonable hour and got to it. First crossing passed like it was nothing and I was surprised to see that I was able to keep my 6 km/h pace in the head wind. Good, calculations of distance paddled super easy this way! Calculation like this and for example number of strokes in a day take up some of my time during the crossings which is good cause it stops me from getting bored out of my mind and I hope also prevents my brain from shrivelling up to a hopeless state before getting back to work in August. The rest of the time I just let my mind wander thinking all sorts of meaningless things and sometimes hopefully also more substantial things.
Had a bit of problem finding a good spot to have lunch, whenever I got close to an island the birds (mostly terns) would just go nuts and make steep dives towards my head, scream and just being plain annoying. Well, finally managed to find this spot and had a quick very austere lunch consisting of boiled eggs, a banana and a capsicum.

Today's destination was the summer house of Agneta's, a work acquaintance of my husband's, lovely place just by the sea. Had been invited to spend the night and also got served a very nice dinner along with good conversations. Thanks Agneta for a great evening!

Today's route:

Day 53, July 11. Yet another day of long crossings.

From: Granön
To: Lill-Husskär
Distance: 46,5 km
Total distance: 1985 km
Wind: S-SE 3-7 m/s
Weather: Morning sunny, afternoon cloudy, 18 C
Today I think I might have completed my last really long crossing, 16 km across Degerfjärden north of Husum, took almost two and a half hours. Compared to when I started, nearly two months ago, I'm much more relaxed about theses big crossings and have actually started to like it just a little bit. I think it is that I have found a strategy for knowing how far I've come and what distance I have left. By now I know that I usually paddle at the speed of at least 6 km/h (including little breaks for a snack or to check the phone), that means that every kilometre takes 10 minutes and it makes it very easy to keep track of the distance. Before I start I measure the distance on the map and then calculate what time I will arrive on the other side, I also always check the forecast so that I know that the weather will be stable. I think being able to track of how far I've come and how far it is left by checking the time has been a key feature for me (and also listening to music to make it less tedious).
When arriving at Järnnäsklubb I decided to check out the cafe they have in this harbor and get today's first and only coffee only to find that it was closed... To the rescue came Sverker Olofsson!! (Swedish TV-host) who was having coffee with his daughter in the harbour. He asked me where I paddled from and was as surprised as anyone else when I told him I started from the Norwegian border. Thanks Sverker for the coffee and the nice chat!
Paddled for a few more hours after that break and ended up here:

That's the only photos I have from today since crossings make very dull pictures...
Today's route:

Day 52, July 10. Essential shopping on today's to do list

From: Ulvön
To: Granön
Distance: 48 km
Total distance: 1938,5 km
Wind: S-SW 3-8 m/s
Weather: Sunny and finally warmer winds, 22 C
Had a sleep in this morning after last nights late arrival at Ulvön, paddled over to Ulvö hamn and had breakfast at a cafe 👍.

Needed to wait for the little shop to open at noon to be able to by this:

I can't believe I left for Norrland without bringing mosquito repellent 😱! It was on my gear list but somehow I missed it.
Some of the nice spots passed during today:

Then continued on to Trysunda and had a look around and also took the opportunity to use the extremely well equipped kitchen that belonged to the guest harbour to fix lunch/dinner.
When I finished my meal it was late afternoon and I had hardly paddled anything today, it was time to get going. Got in the kayak and left Trysunda behind in perfect tail wind. Got to Skagsudde in no time at all and that was the very abrupt end of Höga Kusten. After rounding that head there were nothing left of the steep cliffs and mountains inland, everything is now rather flat. Well it is a heck of a lot easier to find got spots to camp so nothing bad that also brings something good with it 😃.

Today's route:

Day 51, July 9. View from a top x 2

From: Solumshamn
To: Södra Ulvön
Distance: 66,5 km
Total distance: 1890,5 km
Wind: Up until 2 pm every direction possible thereafter S 4-8 m/s
Weather: mostly sunny, high clouds
Started the day with a great breakfast and then a sightseeing tour around Härnösand. I used to live here up until I was 12 so it was it was weird but mostly great to drive around and have a look at my old neighbourhoods. We also drove up to Vårdkasen to the lookout tower and had a fantastic view of the city.

Then it was back out to Solumshamn and the little beach where my kayak was parked. A big thank you to Doris and Lennart for a great stay and the tour around the city! If you do feel like you have time for a 15 minute detour when driving down south you're always welcome to stop by at the summer house outside Nyköping 😀.
Passed right through the city of Härnösand on my way north and headed for Höga Kusten. This is one of the more striking bits of coastline in Sweden with steep cliffs plunging into the sea. A little bit hard though to find places to get ashore with a kayak.

When reaching Högbonden, island and lighthouse (Sweden's highest situated) I decided that this time I would hit the shore and walk up to the lighthouse (I've passed this place once before but didn't stop). The views from up there were fantastic! Not having much rest during the day I also made time for half an hour in the sun on a cliff.

It was already 6 pm by now but this was not really a good spot to stay the night (absolutely crazy birds down on the beach making horrendous amounts of noise) so I decided I would keep going and pitch my tent on the north shore of Norrfällsviken. The only problem was that when I got there, there was a party going on at the beach and camping with drunken teenagers next to me did not sound like such a good idea. So had no choice but to keep going and headed over to Ulvön where I finally pitched the tent while the mosquitos had a feast. This is clearly the drawback of late night paddling, not having time to do all practical chores when you are finally on dry land before the mosquitos come out to play. I got to see a nice sunset anyway.

Today's route: