Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 63km | Time 13hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

As seems to becoming habit now, I did not get to bed until well after 0200 so I could not get up as early as I wanted. I eventually surfaced at 0900 and then after the final seagull egg for breakfast started to pack and carry things down to the kayak. I eventually set off at 1200.

I had missed the tide which was now just turning against me. However I had the wind with me. It was a force three. I would always choose a following wind over a following tide as the wind can be more taxing to paddle against. It was a beautiful day again.

I cruised down the west side of Havoysund with the tide almost stationary and the wind at my back until the open seascape to the south opened up. Far out to sea on my northeast were the islands of Ingoya and Rolvoya. Both were situated in a very rich fishing area and had viable communities on them still. Indeed Ingoya was having a cultural boost at the moment with good tourism and a well known pottery workshop on the island.

Heading south I could see the smaller islands of Store and Lille Latoya some 5 km across the sea. I aimed to pass between them. They were low and grassy and could be a haven for birds. However, when I arrived an hour later I saw very few here. There was a flooding current between the tides which made the small waves I was riding topple over. I kept to the lee of Store Latoya to avoid this stream.

From Latoya the wind was still in my favour for the 7-8 km crossing over to Bustadneset. I was making good time averaging nearly 7 km per hour. It was due to the following force three. Astor on Maasoy told me there was a nice harbour just south of here and I planned to stop for something to eat. Just offshore was the green low lying island of Reinoy which looked like it was grazed.

I paddled into the inlet at Bustad and went through some narrows. The other side of which was a large quiet small fjord completely protected from the sea. There were a number of houses here and the stumps of a ruined jetty. I pulled ashore in front of the houses and ate. Afterwards I explored the area.

Both houses were open and I had a look inside. They were cabins now, which a few groups used judging by the entries in the guestbook. A stoat had ripped a lot of the food packaging open. In one house was a photo from about the 1960’s. It showed both these houses in pristine condition with gardens and a large well kept white wharf and processing plant with some larger boats beside it. It seemed hard to imagine. Initially, I thought Bustad was just for reindeer herding although it was a very good harbour also. It seemed surprising a place could be abandoned and fall into disrepair so quickly.

One of the houses even had a piano in it with an old carpet on top of it to keep off the occasional drip. When I visited the ruined wharf I saw the stumps were all charred and the place must have been destroyed by fire some 20-30 odd years ago. I thought about staying in the red house but I had only done 20 km and the weather was in my favour although it was raining a bit now. I decided to cross the open sea of Revsbotn while I could.

The 10 km down the coast of Bustad peninsula were quite wild but also rather dull with craggy slopes rather than spectacular cliffs which I was starting to take for granted. There were quite a few sea eagles along this stretch. Sea eagles are very wary birds and fly off while I am still half a km away. I seldom see them perched with their vulture like silhouette.

It was pretty much a slow drizzle with no wind across the 10 km of Revsbotn. There were the odd tidal currents but I could not work out a pattern to them as I headed for the road less hamlet of Bekkarbukt with its 10 odd houses. I could see lights in the gloom but don’t know if anybody was living here. I passed offshore from it and paddled into the fjord like slot of Sammelsundet.

I calculated I should be helped down this sound with the ebbing tide and the slight following wind. I was disappointed though and only did 4 km an hour. I could not understand why. I was aiming for the hamlet of Brennsvik to camp at as the other bays looked exposed should the winds veer north and increase.

As I paddled down the sound I noticed a few scrubby birch trees. Soon these became larger and were covering the steep slopes. By the time I approached Brennsvik there were proper copses of 5 metre trees and many of them seem to be turning green. This was a much softer landscape than the incredibly rugged and weather harsh Nordkinn coasts a week ago.

Brennsvik was a bit of a disappointment. There were a couple of very small farms and fishermen’s sheds. The farms were surrounded by very small fields for grazing sheep or a couple of cows which would be fed on fodder brought in for the rest of the year. The beaches were boulder strewn and exposed and if the waves got up I would be stuck. I decided to continue but it was already after midnight.

At the end of this coast was a prominentary called Klubben behind it seem a very sheltered inlet. It was only 4 km away. I paddled along the remote coast with a couple of grey derelict houses from the 1960’s and past more boulder strewn shore to Klubben. I saw a fox foraging along the shore, perhaps looking for eggs, or even chick now, or fish carrion.

After rounding Klubben I paddled into Klubbukta. It had about 5 permanent houses and 20 fishing sheds and cabins. There was a breakwater here with about 5 fishing boats behind it. There was enough grass for me to camp and a pebble beach to land at. It was 0100 and completely windstill.

I put up the tent beside a tent. Despite the time and distance I was not that exhausted. Once I was in the tent and in my bag I opted to sleep at once rather than go through the palaver of cooking supper.

It had been a good long day; my longest day in distance but not in time or effort. I had won the kilometers quite easily with the wind behind me. It was nice to see vegetation again after the desolation of Osthavet and Nordkinn. I was now also in the relative shelter of the sounds compared to the open ocean. My life however was starting to become somewhat nocturnal though.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.