Welcome, open sea
When the plane flew above the Baltic Sea shortly before I landed in Umeå nine days ago I realised that it might take time, until I can paddle kayak. The whole sea by the coast was covered with ice.
Even yesterday the open sea was round about a kilometre away from shore. Then it got windy.
When I woke up this morning a lot of the sea ice had gone and I spotted the open water right behind the little islet Lillskär. I put on my waterproof survival suit and went there. The ice between the shore and the island was still solid.
Behind the island was a strip of ice with long cracks. I went to the edge to take some photos.
When I turned around I realised that one of the cracks – seen on the second photo above –has become broader, close to a metre. I preferred swimming the metre to jumping because the ice was slippery. Minutes later the ice floes were drifting away from land and then south. Good bye!
As soon as the wind dies down I want to take the first kayak tour of the year. The weather forecast here is not the best so I’ll have to wait and look.