Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

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Unfortunately the weather was slightly worse than the forecast predicted in the morning and the wind was around force four with frequent squalls coming through which were force six and made the flags snap. This was not a prohibitive wind but it was from the north and was still bringing the massive swell from the Barents Sea to the north. In addition it was bringing frequent snow shows in the bitter wind.

The forecast said the day would deteriorate from the afternoon to a force five and increase tomorrow to a force six and remain from the north. So by not continuing today I am committing to stay here until Saturday. Between the delay at Gamvik and now at Mehamn I have lost over a week of paddling and a fair bit of momentum which is frustrating.

I went for a walk through the town to the bay on the north side of Mehamn where it was possible to see the ocean to the north. There were a lot of white horses on top of the large waves in the broad Sorfjorden. It was the right decision to stay.

I then went to the café for a long coffee. While there I saw frequent snow showers sweep in from the north. This didn’t prevent many fishing boats leave the harbour to go out with their baited long lines for another shift at sea.

En route from the café to the library I went via the quiet wharfs. Here I saw a pair of long-tailed ducks swimming in the harbour. I had already seen a pair of red throated divers in the morning. There were quite a few species here if one took the time to look.

In the library I wanted to look at books on Norway’s coast and bird books but met an older family there and started chatting. They were interesting. I arranged to meet some of them tomorrow if I was still here. They were all visiting their childhood homes having moved to other areas in Norway some 20-40 years ago.

There was another snow shower when I left the library and headed back to the youth hostel. I was going to shower and then go to the hotel for a meal but there was a television program on about Helgelands’ coast to the south of Bodo. This is recognized as one of the top 10 paddling destinations in the world and I would be passing through in 6 weeks so I stayed in to get some tips on where to go.

I check the forecast regularly during the day and by the evening I could see that there was at least 4 days of great weather coming from Saturday 6 June afternoon through to Wednesday. This lifted my spirits greatly. Indeed I can barely wait to get started. These 4 days will be enough to see me round Nordkapp and on to Havoysund. Hopefully there will also be enough time to visit the renowned bird colonies at Gjesvaerstappan also.

It was a day where it was difficult to find things to fill the time. However the weather forecast excited me and would make tomorrow easier to pass, knowing good weather is nigh.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 9:20 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.