Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

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

It remained very windy in the night with some considerable downpours. It was great to lie in a bed and listen to it. I finally got up at 0900 when the rain had stopped but it was still a force six wind ripping through the trees.

After breakfast I had a long chat with Ingrid for a few hours while she showed me round the cabin and the grounds again. Not much had changed since I was last here some 4 years ago.

I then started some of my tasks. First I had to repair the expensive ‘epic’ paddle. I had to wash it in fresh water, dry it, sand it and abrade it and then glue it. It was the second time I have had to repair this poor paddle.

Secondly I had to repair my tent poles as a few of them were starting to split. Some of the poles were now probably a good 15 cm shorter after I had cut off the broken sections. I also oiled the joints as most were sticking due to salt corroding them. It was pleasant going about these tasks in the sun with all the tools to hand. I then put all my cloths to soak in a large bucket.

Finally I had to start the blog. I managed to write a day up in the afternoon while everybody else had a siesta. It was still sunny outside but the wind did not let up. By the time I finished it was already late afternoon.

I hand washed the clothes in the tub and rinsed them in a dingy full of rain water. Soon they were hung up to dry. I still had another day to write up and photos to process so continued, and by dinner I had the typing finished.

The evening was a great meal of farekal. It is a lamb and cabbage stew and is very popular at this time of the year when the farmers are starting to bring their sheep and lambs in from the summer pastures for the autumn in the grazing nearer the farms. At this some lambs are also sent to market.

The weather forecast for tomorrow does not look to promising with a force five forecast at least. I will see what happens but have also arranged to give Jon westgaard a ring. He lives nearby and might want a paddle tomorrow. I paddled with him for a few days near the start in Varangerfjord some 14 weeks ago in another season. He took the ferry and skipped the Finnmark coast before finishing in Bergen.

I got all the pictures processed in the evening before mentally preparing for the final 8 days paddling which should see me cross Oslofjord to the Swedish border and then north to finish in Oslo.

It had been an OK day. I had done everything I wanted but did not really have a surplus of time to relax with Ingrid and Peter, although there was easily enough to enjoy their company.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 1:30 am 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.