No Kayaking, the ice is too thick
Three days ago I opened the kayak season in the open Baltic Sea. Since then the weather has become colder and the Baltic Sea has started to freeze over. I was in doubt, if I could find open water to paddle kayak or at least thin ice today, but at least I wanted to try.
I drag the kayak to the edge between old and new ice and then along the shore.
The ice between mainland and the islet Lillskär looks solid.
I push the kayak onto the ice and enter it. The ice holds.
I use ice spikes to push myself forward. Soon the ice is thinner and my kayak breaks into the ice. The paddle however is not made for chopping 2 cm of ice so I continue with the spikes.
A small patch of open water, then ice again. It is exhausting to push myself forward, especially when the ice breaks and there is nothing to push against. However there is another type of ice ahead, perhaps it is thinner.
No, it is not. For today I give up and return. Backwards, because in the small groove that I had cut into the ice with my kayak it is next to impossible to turn.
After some backing I reach the small open patch of water again. Now I can turn. It takes some momentum to “jump” onto the stable ice. After some more sliding on the stable ice I arrive home. On the weekend it probably gets warmer and, more important, windier. Maybe the wind will break the ice. Until that the paddle season is paused.