Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 21km | Time 6hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

I woke early after a glourious sleep and already by 0700 I was up and starting to write up the blog. It was the prime reason to stay in this lovely cabin. It was windstill and sunny outside but I was not moving until the blog was done and a few other things written. I had everything done by 1100 and had the boat packed and on the water at 1200. By now however there was a force three blowing and it was directly against me.

The first task was to paddle to the bottom of Hurum where at the town of Tofte there was an enormous paper mill. Barges shuttled back and forth from other parts of the fjord with wood, and ships unloaded with more logs and wood chips. There was a boat from Scotland unloading logs as I paddled past. Like the refinery yesterday this place had an odious smell. It was one of the few industrial complexes really in the otherwise rural and natural Oslofjord.

It took a while to paddle past the mill with the wind against me which was occasionally a force four. My progress was slow again at about 3.5 km per hour. Slowly but surely however I advanced into the narrow Drobaksund which separated the outerfjord from the innerfjord. Across the water from me was the town of Hvitsen and further up the sound I could see Drobak itself.

A sailing ship soon came round the corner. It was the Christian Radich. It was the East Norway’s equivalent of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl. A huge white swan from a bygone era now used as a training and education ship. I thought the Statsraad Lehmkuhl was slightly finer though, although both are magnificent sailing ships.

Once in Drobaksund I started looking for a place to eat without losing ground in this wind. I really needed a beach to land on. I passed a campsite and nearly stopped there but continued to a small beach where a man was in the water repairing his jetty in shorts and a tee shirt. He soon came over once he had finished and we chatted. He was a keen paddler and was amazed I had come from Kirkenes. I got some water of them for the camp this evening and continued.

I turned quickly as I had forgotten my hat. We searched but it was gone. Perhaps it had been washed into the water and sunk. I did not need it now, but it was more for sentimental purposes as it had been with me on the ski leg also.

It was a reasonably quick paddle now up the fjord past Drobak as the wind had diminished to a force three. The old fortification of Oscarsborg slowly got closer. This fort guards the entrance to inner Oslofjord and Oslo used to remain secure behind its defences. Even as Norway was dragged into the Second World War, Oscarsborg held the German navy up sufficiently for the king to escape and sank the Blucher battleship.

I passed Oscarsborg as a large ferry went past heading for Oslo. It went up the Ostfjord while I was going up the Vestfjord. These two fjords were formed by Haoya which is a steep island in the middle of Drobaksund.

I cruised along the coast with many deciduous trees and conifers lining the side of the fjord. I noticed that some of the birch were definitely changing colour. Autumn was on the way. I paddled for about 2 km up Vestfjord to the most remarkable natural harbour of Sandspollen.

Sandspollen was a large basin with a small entrance. It was a very popular place for the yachting fraternity to come and spend the night moored in its sheltered waters. There was also a cabin here managed by Oslofjordens Friluftsraad. It was small with only 4 beds but perfect for my needs. The cabin was 100 years old and was initially a fishing cabin. In earlier times this basin was filled with mackerel on a yearly basis and this cabin played a role in harvesting them. It was the first building in the area to get a telephone, so people could be alerted to come and help with the mackerel.

It was easy to find the cabin and I soon had the kayak safe and everything I needed in the cabin. It was only 1800. I set about the blog immediately to get it out of the way as I wanted a few hours peace and quiet to myself in the evening to reflect on the tour. I had all the office work done by 2030 when the sun had finally set. I was lucky the cabin was available.

Tomorrow I have 20 km to paddle up the reasonably sheltered inner Oslofjord to Konglungbrua. I will get there at 1400 and that will be it. The end of a truly magnificent trip. My chances of getting to Konglungbrua tomorrow are very high as the weather forecast is perhaps the best for a month.

I will probably not write up the final day until the 7th or even 8th.

It had been a relatively easy day despite the wind. The cabin in the morning to write in and then the cabin in the evening to reflect in were a godsend

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 10:44 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.