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.

Ice kayaking I

The ice between mainland and the islet Lillskär looks solid.

Ice kayaking II

I push the kayak onto the ice and enter it. The ice holds.

Ice kayaking III

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.

Ice kayaking IV

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.

Ice kayaking V

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.

Ice kayaking VI

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.

 

Back in Obbola – opening the kayak season

Friday

Two days ago Annika and I returned from our Finnmark and Finland journey. Just north of Umeå there was a low layer of strange clouds. Any of you who knows what kind of clouds this is?

Strange clouds

Saturday

We are back home in Obbola in Sweden. The sky is clear and blue. In wintertime this often means that it can be pretty cold outside. Instead we had up to +8 or +9 °C. What a strange winter.

The wind is strong. The waves have already crushed the ice floes. In the afternoon the floating ice has been blown away into the open sea.

Ice floes in our little bayCrushed ice at Vitskärsudden

There is still some snow around but parts of the ground is free of snow. That‘s early for the season. And so is the arrival of the first whooper swans.

Where is the snow?Whooper swan seen from our garden

Sunday

The wind has calmed down and so have the waves. Time to fetch the kayak from the garage and open the kayak season. While there was not much of ice left at the shores of Obbola and the island Bredskär there was another highlight today: A 360°C halo round the sun.

Starting the first kayak tour 2025A field of thin ice covers the seaBredskär beachHalo IThe lighhouse DynanHalo IIBredskär, partly free of snowA small remaining ice floeThe Finland ferryThe islands ObbolstenarnaBack home

Next week?

It looks like we expect colder temperatures, sun and calm weather. I hope, I have more opportunities to do some kayaking.

Finnmark birches

This article is part of the series “2025-02: Finnmark”.

Yesterday Annika and I continued our travel from Alta to Karasjok, part of the Norwegian Finnmark. I connect this landscape with birches and snowy hills. Especially by the rivers it often looks like this:

Finnmark birches IFinnmark birches II

You may think, this looks quite desolate, but I love the simplicity landscape. I find it much less desolate than the wet and ice snow free meadows that we passed the day before. Sign of a winter that has been much too warm (and still is).

The lower parts by the sea are often free of snow – in the end of February!

The rivers however can be quite beautiful, when they are partly frozen and snowy and partly open. This is the river Kárášjohka where the road 92 crosses it.

Kárášjohka

Wretched, wet, windy winter weather

If you are like me and love white winters with a lot of snow and clear sky – stop reading. The weather in Tromsø the last weeks was mostly miserable. We had hardly any frost days and most precipitation came as rain. A lot of rain. And it was windy. Yes, we had winds.

There is still round about 45 cm of snow, but it is wet, icy and has a lot of holes. It’s ugly and hard to walk on.

So it looked like today when I was walking home from the bus stop Prestvannet:

Way home I – Framsenteret – our officeWay home II – Tromsø DomkirkeWay home III – icy pathWay home IVWay home V – wet pathWay home VI – the lake PrestvannetWay home VII – by the lake PrestvannetWay home VIIIWay home IX – under the snowWay home X – dark forestWay home XIWay home XII – TromsøbadetWay home XIII – icy ski trackWay home XIVWay home XV – crossing the E8Way home XVI – almost there

Luckily it looks like that a colder period starts tomorrow and we even may get some fresh snow until the end of the week.

Rain, rain, rain

It was so beautiful in the weekend when Tromsø got half a metre of fresh snow. Already on Monday it got warm and it started raining. Since then it has been above zero with a lot of rain of all kinds. Drizzle, steady rain, downpour. Snow became sleet, the roads and footpaths became very icy and roof avalanches tried to hit my car with wet snow.

Slushy roadsWet snow by the street left by the ploughRoof avalanche in front of my apartmentA very icy footpath

While it continued raining first the larger roads became free of ice and snow and then even many smaller ones. More than half of the snow has melted away. What a shame! Anyhow, if yr is correct we get new snow on Sunday and colder weather next week. That would be much appreciated by a winter lover like me.

Tromsø today – near workTromsø today –near my apartment

Data from the Norwegian weather service yr:

Date Snow depth at 0:00 CET Rain fall
2025-01-13 124.0 cm 26.7 mm
2025-01-14 94.8 cm 23.0 mm
2025-01-15 88.6 cm 0.2 mm
2025-01-16 72.5 cm 34.9 mm
2025-01-17 64.1 cm 13.9 mm
2025-01-18 55.0 cm

(Source: www.yr.no/nb/historikk/graf/5-90450)

Tromsø 2024 – a special end-of-year review

Last December I changed my “work home” in Tromsø from a tiny studio to a flat with bedroom and kitchen. First I was a bit unhappy because the studio was near to the beach Telegrafbukta while the current one lies amidst the island Tromsøya.

But then I realised how beautiful nature nearby is. There are hilly forests, bogs and ponds and a zillion ways and paths leading through.And each season looks different. I walked there the whole year, either walking home after work or just taking a promenade. In winter I used my skis.

Here is a selection of photos from this year:

2024-01-20-A2024-02-18-A2024-02-18-B2024-03-17-A2024-03-17-B2024-04-17-A2024-04-17-B2024-04-26-A2024-04-27-A2024-05-09-A2024-05-09-B2024-05-09-C2024-05-09-D2024-05-14-A2024-05-14-B2024-05-20-A2024-05-20-B2024-06-03-A2024-06-04-A2024-06-04-B2024-06-08-A2024-07-12-A2024-07-12-B2024-07-21-A2024-07-21-B2024-07-29-A2024-08-08-A2024-09-19-A2024-09-24-A2024-09-24-B2024-09-29-A2024-09-29-B2024-10-01-A2024-10-01-B2024-10-04-A2024-10-04-B2024-10-07-A2024-10-07-B2024-10-11-A2024-10-15-A2024-10-23-A2024-10-28-A2024-10-28-B2024-10-28-C2024-10-31-A2024-11-02-A2024-11-02-B2024-11-03-A2024-11-06-A2024-11-08-A2024-11-08-B2024-11-08-C2024-11-10-A2024-11-10-B2024-11-13-A2024-11-14-A2024-11-15-A2024-11-15-B2024-12-01-A2024-12-01-B2024-12-02-A2024-12-02-B2024-12-02-C2024-12-30-A

Short days in Obbola II

Just some photos from Obbola in the last days.

A flock of fieldfares in our rowan tree ❦ an icy morning by the coast ❦ sunlit ice fog hovering above the bay Vitskärsudden ❦ three roe deers eating rowan berries, leftovers of the fieldfares’ meal.

A flock of fieldfares in our rowan treeAn icy morningIce fog at VitskärsuddenRoe deers at sunrise

Translation:

EnglishGermanSwedishNorwegian
FieldfareWacholderdrosselBjörktraskGråtrost

Short days in Obbola

17 December

Clouds are moving eastwards where they block the low hanging sun, but here and there the sun peeks through holes giving the whole thing a dramatic touch.

breaks-in-the-clouds

18 December

It is chilly and ice fog hovers over the sea. I take a promenade by the icy coast.

Ice and fog at the Baltic Sea IIce and fog at the Baltic Sea IIIce and fog at the Baltic Sea III
Ice and fog at the Baltic Sea IV

20 December

It is quite clear and not too windy at temperatures round -12 °C. Yesterday I dug out the kayak from the snow, today it is time to take a tour. It’s a short but a beautiful one.

Winter paddling IWinter paddling IIThe coast of the Baltic sea in early winter IThe coast of the Baltic sea in early winter IIWinter paddling IIIWinter paddling IV

After the tour the line for the kayak rudder was frozen. The kayak is a bit too large for taking it in so I had to improvise a bit. Well, it worked.

Defrosting the Kayak

21 December (a.k.a. today)

Today is the day of winter solstice. We could see the sun rise at 09:25 while having a comfortable Sunday morning breakfast. Today’s motive: the rowan tree under which Annika and I got married in 2020, taken through the windows of our living room.

Winter solstice 2024

Home in Obbola – what to do outside

After quite some travelling in the last weeks I finally arrived in Obbola, Sweden, my “home home” yesterday night. Today it started snowing a bit and I wanted to go outside to take a break from home office.

I went to the coast by our house where parts of the bay were frozen.

The bay Grundviken (the shallow bay)

I haven’t been running for four weeks, so let’s go …

… running!

I put on my running shoes from Icebug. They have so many spikes that you can run on bare ice. I start on the doorstep and turn to take the trail called Spåret. This will give me a lap of round 5 km. But it was not so easy as expected. A lot of trees lay across the trail. A reminder of the storm three weeks ago.

Trees crossing ITrees crossing II

I can go round these obstacles but soon give up running for another reason. Some parts of Spåret are bare ice but the thin layer of fresh snow glues itself to the soles of my running shoes making the spikes useless. After I slid several times I decide to stop running and go home. Total running distance: 0.78 km :-D

The trail is extremely slippery

When running does not work, let’s go …

… kayaking!

This takes a bit more preparation. But finally I have found the paddle and the waterproof bag for the mobile phone and am dressed in my survival suit – Teletubbie style.

I drag the kayak to the shore and then through the shallow water. Slushy ice is swimming on the sea surface. To my surprise another layer of ice is grounded.

Tour start

Then I walk on the ice. Will it hold or break? I don’t know yet, but I do know, the water is shallow here.

Fresh snow on the sea ice

The ice holds. When the icy layer gets thinner and softer I enter the kayak. Sometimes I use my hands to push myself forward, sometimes ice claws, sometimes the paddle. Anyhow it seems to take ages until I finally reach the open sea.

Breaking through IBreaking through IIBreaking through IIIFinally: open water (and some ice slush)

To my surprise I meet two other kayakers. That have never happened to my here before. They found a better place to set in their kayaks. Will winter paddling get popular here?

Anyhow, I haven’t planned a longer kayak tour and so I only round the small islet Lillskär and then head back to shore. First there are soft ice floes that I can paddle through.

Ice floes on my way back

Then I reach some fast ice. It is too thick for paddling and too thin to bear the weight of the kayak with me inside. I exit the kayak and “walk” it while breaking the ice with my knees. The ice gets thicker and I can kneel on it without breaking through. Now I crawl on my knees for a while until I can finally stand up and drag the kayak ashore. On the photo you can see the different stages.

Kayak on the ice

Finally I’m ashore again. Total paddling distance: 0.91 km. :-D :-D

But it was fun!