Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 30 km | Time 7.5hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

The forecast said it would be calm in the morning and then the wind would gradually pick up in the morning to a force 5 and this would increase up a force seven in the late afternoon and continue much of tomorrow. Therefore when I reluctantly woke at 0630 I really had to get up and get going at once. The next stretch contained Sletta a 15-18 section of relatively exposed coastline. I had to pass it before reaching Haugesund.

I took down the tent with one hand while the other smeared midges over my face, packed the kayak and was away by 0800 eating the breakfast biscuits as I paddled. It was completely wind still. The weather though was mixed. There was the odd shower but just across the 6 km Bomlofjord the island of Bomlo was almost invisible under a continual heavy downpour.

I made good time initially past the radio masts at Tjernagel and on to the islands in the bay by the hamlet of Buavag. I did not stop as the wind was increasing as forecast predicted and this made me paddle with extra vigour. I soon reached the very sleepy hamlet of Lyngholmen. This hamlet was well protected by a series of wooded islands and its old boatsheds were well maintained.

After I left the small islands protecting Lyngholmen I was into Sletta. In a good westerly wind the Atlantic swell comes right in and breaks on these shores. There were just a few small islands and skerries to take some of the force out of it before it reached the coastline. This was no Osthavet, Nordkinn or Stad though and there were plenty of escape routes if one should be caught out. Still it was probably not the coastline to attempt in a force five upwards. It was a force three when I started out.

In no time I reached the Ryvarden Fyr lighthouse. The keeper’s house was the usual white building with the rounded slates on the roof and the lighthouse itself seemed to be a wooden clad tower. It was an important lighthouse as it marked the entrance to Hardangerfjord and the inner shipping lane to Bergen.

I made a few phone calls from here as the support team of Hartmut and Oyvind were keen to know when I would finish so they could organize both their holidays and my homecoming. I will reach Oslo on Saturday September 5 at 1600 hrs. That gives me about 24 days to do the remaining 700 km which should be about right. I also arranged to forward the spraydeck, now arrived in Bergen, to Sandsnes where Platou also have a shop. Platou Sports had very kindly agreed to be an address to receive this from England and were going out of their way to be helpful, especially Stian.

As I carried on south down the coast I could see that this place did get some impressive weather. The rocky coastline was bare for many tens of metres where the swells had lashed it and prevented any vegetation growing and there were cairns on all the headlands. It was still a force three for me however so it was easy.

Eventually as I approached the northern end of Haugesund sound the small swell disappeared completely. I paddled into a bay at the very north of the town. There was a tall monument here to Harald Harfagre the first king of Norway who united the kingdom and created 12 sub kingdoms under him about 1000 years ago. He was from this region. There was a hidden gravel beach here near two boatsheds and I landed the kayak there.

I went through a field up to the camp site. They had no huts available and wanted 300 kroner to pitch a tent as it was the annual Haugesund Jazz festival. I decided to camp at the gravel beach by the kayak and boatsheds and in the field with sheep. But the very nice young team at the campsite let me use the showers and a small room to write at and charge batteries for a nominal fee.

I went for a small wander to the shop to get dinner and then returned to the campsite to write. Unfortunately the room was the TV room also and the Norway versus Scotland football match was on. There was only one Norwegian in the room but he cheered and clapped so much I had to tell him to shut up. He must have thought I was just pissed off because Scotland got hammered, but the needless noise distracted me. I eventually finished at 2300 and returned in the dark to the tent down by the shore.

It was a good day but not a classic at all. Sletta was not that interesting but Ryvarden Fyr lighthouse was dramatic. It was quite a short day which I probably needed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 11:11 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.