Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 43km | Time 10hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

I woke early and intended to do the blog but the weather was calm, but overcast with a bit of occasional drizzle. These were good conditions to cross Folda. Folda was an open stretch of water some 10km across which was exposed to the sea. It had something of a reputation as being exposed and potentially dangerous so I was keen to get it behind me.

I set off eventually at 1000 and initially followed the coast to Abelvaer. First I passed a beautiful large Lutheran church at Naeroy just south of my camp place. It must have been of some importance in the area. Then I entered an archipelago of islands before Abelvaer.

I thought I was finished with idyllic islands now I had left Helgelandskyst but these were as sandy and grassy to rival anything Helgelandskyst had. There were numerous channels between them, some very shallow in the low tide but luckily I did not encounter any waterless stretches. I was nearly two hours exploring these enchanting islands in Arnoyfjorden north of Abelvaer.

I stopped on one sandy island which was a tern colony. I went ashore to have a look at the chicks which I felt sure must have hatched now. I could not believe that they still had not hatched. I was beginning to suspect that some fertility disaster had affected the terns up here and they were guarding useless eggs.

As I approached Abelvaer I saw a large raft of Eider ducks. There was about 5 mothers and at least 20 ducklings. They had grown considerably in the last weeks and were now about half the size of the adults. Abelvaer seemed much bigger than it should have been. There were a couple of huge semi derelict fish processing plants or warehouses from days when the village was thriving. Now the main industry seemed to be a medium sized boat yard with a 100 ton fish farm barge in it being overhauled.

From Abelvaer I was straight into Folda. It was calm and gentle on this overcast day so I took a bearing for a peninsula some 10 km over on the south side. The crossing was easy and perhaps even a tad boring watching the land on the other side approach very, very slowly. I could see how it was exposed to the west weather but this coast line has enjoyed north easterly winds for nearly a month now and there was no swell at all.

I bypassed the grey rocky island of Joa and reached Otteroy at its northern tip. I did not stop here but continued right over the relatively narrow Namsfjord to the peninsula on the west of it. There was the odd bit of drizzle. I saw a couple of porpoises again just on their own rather than in a large group. They seemed to be just a metre long if that.

The coast had been quite dull with grey land to the east and open ocean with the odd distant flat island to the west. All that changed as I passed the 60 year old defenses which was German gun emplacements on the end of the peninsula to the west of Namsfjord. I was now into a mass of islands and skerries again. I weaved my way between them as it was impossible to go in a straight line.

It was getting on and I wanted to camp or reach a camping place early to write so started looking for a place to camp at 1600. Nothing grabbed me in this grey landscape and I started to make for a possible guesthouse in 10 km at Einvika where I could get a table and chair.

I paddled to the north of Feoy island and entered a deep basin hemmed in by Feoy to the east and a steep island of red rocks to the west called Havstienen. Havstienen had some great geological features on display with some very clear folding of rocks. As I paddled past it admiring these red and black bands folded I noticed some of the rustic sheep grazing on some of the very steep slopes.

I paddled past the north tip of Lauvoy and looked down its east side to see the white spire of a church and several farms gathered in a hamlet. It must have been an important centre once also. However I soon lost sight of it as I paddled round the north tip and started down the west side.

By now I was heading for the potential guesthouse in 5 km when I passed a gentle bay of sand and flat grazed green grass above that. It looked too good to pass and it was already 2000. I pulled up and it looked perfect so I began to set up camp.

There were about 30 sheep grazing here obviously from the farms on the other side of this relatively small island. These sheep were much more cared for and looked quite dapper compared to the semi feral ones I usually saw on the islands. They were also larger. They stood looking at me for 5 minutes and then suddenly one ran towards me and the whole herd charged at me stopping some 5 metres away. These sheep were cared for all winter in barns and were hand fed salt and snacks from the family. They were used to human contact and were racing to see if I had a snack.

I set up the tent quickly and soon was organized. The drizzle was on again and I felt quite cozy in the tent. I ate first and then I made the mattress into a chair got the laptop on my lap and started to write. After 5 minutes I could not stay awake. My brain rebelled against the thought of writing for a few of hours. It was only 2230 but I packed it all up and crashed out.

It had been good day. The paddling was easy and the islands north of Abelvaer were enchanting. The crossing over Folda was easy to the extent it was dull and then the islands in the evening were interesting again. I had a nice camp but was disappointed I could not bring myself to write. I must do that tomorrow otherwise it will get out of hand.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 10:24 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.