Low water Jan 14 2016

Today the Bottenviken – the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea – got a level 2 warning because of very low water: circa 110 cm under the normal water level.

This morning I walked to the peninsula Näsgrundet. On the way I could see that parts of the bay Kallholmsfjärden where clear of ice, just as minor parts round Näsgrundet. This shows how fragile the ice layer is: 6 days ago the sea was open, 5 days ago large parts were frozen over. Today it looked like this:

I hope that the sea will freeze over so much, that I can make a ski tour to the island Gåsören as I did in March 2013. Or that the ice will break that I can take my kayak, asI did in March 2012.

Colourful frost and sea ice Jan 10 2016

Some people think that’s it’s just dark in Northern Sweden the whole winter. There’s no sun and – since it’s pitch black – there’re no colours at all. I hope you know better, otherwise have a look at these pictures.

Yesterday Annika and I went over the sea ice the first time this season. Our destination was the offshore island Storgrundet. It’s always special to go onto the Sea. We dared to cross the ice for three reasons:

It has been very cold the last days
Many tracks showed that people have already crossed the ice. By snowmobile, with skis, with ATVs or just by foot
B., who has been living at this coast for ages, knew how thick the ice was and that it’s safe

We went by foot, crossed the sea ice in a diagonal line until we came to the island Storgrundet. We crossed the island – it’s hardly 200 meters broad – and turned right to go round the southeastern part.

What should I say – it was just amazing since the changing light of the setting sun illuminated the whole landscape in wonderful colours – both intense and fragile. Here are some pictures – just a feeble attempt to catch these fantastic impressions.

Packed ice and the island Norrskärsgrundet

I was so enthusiastic that I stood up quite early today to do the same small tour again, this time with skis. Partly the skis were helpful but on the uneven ice at the outer rim of the island it was harder to ski. Anyway, I got wonderful pre-sunrise light and finally a gorgeous sunrise that started to colorise all frost covered trees and ice – first a pale pink fading more and more to a warm orange. Again some pictures, this time taken with more time and a tripod.

Cold morning light on the island Brottören

Dreamlike Gåsören Jan 9 2016

The last kayak tour? Jan 9 2016

The evening I came home from my trip to Pajala I didn’t drive home directly but made a small detour to the pilot station. As expected the ice floes that I saw two days before already froze together and built a solid layer of ice. I took my flashlight and checked a more exposed place. To my surprise I could see open water and tiny waves rolling ashore. The whole water surface was steaming of sea smoke. I was quite keen to make a last kayak tour before even this part of the sea freezes over.

The next day: I was really tired and scrapped the plan of an early morning kayak tour. But at least I wanted to have a look. I took the car to the same place, got out, went to the shore and looked amazed and flabbergasted. Where was the water? That’s what it looked like:

The whole sea was ice covered. Not only near the shore but almost the whole way to the island Gåsören! Did I dream the evening before or is it possible, that such a large area freezes over in a single night? It was still -26 °C so who knows?

The pier of the pilot station Skelleftehamn

I told my story to the sjöfartsverket on Facebook and asked, if such could happen. They answered that it’s possible that larger areas freeze over in a single night. I guess it will take some time until I’ll canoe again on the Baltic Sea.

Winter sea Jan 5 2016

-13 °C, clouds and wind – that was the weather this morning in Skelleftehamn.

I drove to the peninsula Näsgrundet which is quite exposed to the elements. Despite of the cold temperatures of the last days the sea is still open.

Beside of the dam, that connects Näsgrundet to the mainland, the water is smoother. It was still open yesterday, but covered with ice floes today. The floes raise and sag with the incoming waves, there are not frozen together yet.

A bit further, where I took the first image, the waves spray sea foam ashore and the rocky shore is covered with a thick layer of ice. Last year I took photos of the icicles, but this year the ice wall isn’t big enough yet.

You see the fog-like smoke above the sea water? That’s not the drifting snow, it’s sea smoke (a.k.a. frost smoke or steam fog). When it gets colder the vaporising water in the air will directly freeze to ice dust, forming this sea smoke.

I guess, larger parts of the coastal Baltic Sea will be frozen over in some days. You can see already the first thin and transparent ice crystals on the surface.

Being honoured by winter Jan 4 2016

Perhaps the biggest change 2016 is that I quit my job and started my own company. As I wrote yesterday, today is the first day of my “new life”.

The main reason for the change was my increasing interest in photography during the last years. I didn’t make any specific plans yet, but one of the main focuses will be on winter photography. Snow and ice. That’s why I really felt honoured by the winter weather today. It felt like winter congratulating me to my decision:

Temperatures dropped from -8 °C to -13 °C, still dropping, it was quite windy and it snowed quite a lot, still snowing.

That’s how it looked like at the beach in Storgrundet:

Wind and snow fall at the beach of Storgrundet

I hope, a lot of snow will fall the next days, I’m longing for the first ski tour in Skelleftehamn and I guess, the kayak season is over.

South from Umeå I – Norrmjöle Jan 3 2016

Normally I head north, but not today. Annika and I were at the beach near Norrmjöle – 30 km south from Umeå, 150 km south from Skelleftehamn. The sea is still open beside of some pancake ice near the sandy beach.

Pancake ice occurs when a layer of solid ice is broken by wind and waves. The ice floes rotate and the edges are crushed by the other floes. That’s why this ice floes are always round and circular. Parts of the pancake ice on the photo was washed ashore (or left there by the flood).

Many rocks and stones near the shore were covered with a layer of ice – the nearer to the sea the thicker the ice. Sometimes the whole rocky beach was coated with ice and we had to go around to avoid slipping.

When I took the car back to Skelleftehamn it started to snow. First it was hard to drive since the snowless streets are so dark and the falling snow itself so bright. It’s like travelling faster than light through a cloud of stars. Fortunately the streets were covered with a thin fresh layer of snow after a time. That made the driving much easier.

Today we got 5 cm new snow in Skelleftehamn and it became colder. Looks like winter is coming next week with snow and temperatures down to -20 °C. I hope that it’s not too windy, that I can make a last trip by kayak before the sea freezes over.

Christmas Sea Dec 26 2015

Christmas flood Dec 25 2015

Yesterdays Christmas was still a bit white and snowy but then – déjà vu – it got warmer and started to rain. At the same time the sea level was extremely high again: More than 100 cm above normal. I did the beach walk with chest waders and spikes and took the picture of one of the small pine trees with my underwater camera:

The locals that have their summer cottages on the near island Storgrundet came with their cars to check the sea level. They were a bit nervous because just now they cannot reach the island; neither by boat nor by foot. The ice itself is still thick but not at the borders where the warm weather melted it away.

Same day, another place: Skellefteälven – even more water than some weeks ago. The waterside promenade along the river had a layer of ice on the bottom and was flooded with up to 30 cm water.

Interesting weather, but I miss the snow.

Did anyone of you had a white Christmas?

Långhällan – some kind of another world Dec 13 2015

Today it was even a bit colder as yesterday. When I left the house to make some photos, the thermometer showed -10 °C and it hardly became warmer today.

This time I drove to one of my favourite places nearby, Långhällan, where the coast is quite rocky. When I left the car to walk the remaining 250 meters I could already hear the waves breaking ashore. The first view of the rocky coast was like from another world. The higher parts of the rocks were covered with a bit of snow, while the lower rocks were crusted with a layer of ice. This layer will grow with every wave rolling ashore.

The next hour(s) I spend sitting and crawling on the ice covered rocks and tried to make pictures of the incoming waves. I took more than a hundred pictures but I’m not completely content yet. Anyway, it was just fun being outside and experiencing this fine weather.

Finally the sun came out and started to fill nature with light – first of soft pink, then of intense yellow and orange colours.

I made another “photo session” and took even more pictures of the waves, this time illuminated by the low sun, but time was short and the waves were less impressive.

Soon the sun vanished behind some trees and I walked along the coast were I spotted the next motives: Last day high water has surrounded the lower parts of the small bushes with a solid layer of ice, that gleamed and sparkled in the sun.

After a while I had enough of taking pictures and slowly returned to the car. Two photos from the way back through the forest. It got colder – down to -15 °C and the soft-edged snowy landscape made me feel, that I left the world Långhällan and I was back in my home world again. The only thing that lacks for a real winter: A bit more snow.

Appendix 1 – Things that I was glad to have today

Warm cloths: insulated jacket and warm thermal pants, as well as warm gloves. I love winter but I don’t like to freeze.
Warm and waterproof “Muck Boots” rubber boots that kept my feet warm and dry.
A good camera, a good tripod and my favourite lenses.
Spare batteries – a must-have when it’s cold.
Most of all: My crampon-like spikes from Snowline – without them I wouldn’t have any chance to climb on the ice covered rocks.

Appendix 1 – Things that I was glad to have today

Appendix 2 – making of