Paddling round Storgrundet May 3 2015

Two weeks ago the sea between the island Storgrundet and the mainland was still partly ice covered. Today I paddled round Storgrundet and couldn’t discover any ice left. The view of the blue sea almost looked like spring, but it didn’t felt like spring at all, it was very windy and chilly. When I left the protected bay I tried to make some photos but soon gave up since I was blown back ashore faster than I could take my camera out of its pocket. I only made a selfie on which it’s quite visible that – measured by temperature – spring hasn’t come far yet.

At the outside of the island I didn’t had a chance to release the paddle for a photo, too high were the waves. I regretted soon that I paddled without spray deck, because some of the bigger waves made it into my kayak. The next photo I made in a sheltered bay, where the water finally was calm enough and I could empty my kayak with a sponge (it wasn’t so much water, that came in).

Selfie: It’s still quite cold on the sea

Some hours later …

I had a look at “kanotudden” (literally: the canoe bay), a bay of the river Skellefteälven, where the ice is finally gone, too. Almost. There is some leftover ice, mostly crushed to small bits that were jingling and clanging with each arriving wave. But even the small bits were still solid enough to bear a wandering wagtail looking for food.

The canoe club, which is located at kanotudden still seems to be in hibernation, I’ll have to check later …

Asia Zircon I Apr 27 2015

Skelleftehamn tonight: The “Asia Zircon I” landed in Skelleftehamn. That’s one of the bigger ships – 190 meters long. The ship came directly from Taicang, China with 4599 tons of wind turbine parts.

Taicang – China, that’s a long trip. My travel bug awakes. Perhaps I should join the crew and travel back to China. I’ve never been there. But the ship continues to Fredericia in Danmark, so I guess, I’ll stay home.

Deforestation in Skelleftehamn Apr 18 2015

When I moved to Skelleftehamn in July 2010 I directly fell in love with the nature around. The Baltic sea with the stony shores, the islands and the pine and birch forests. One place I really love is Storgrundet, which is name of both an island and the tiny sandy beach at the mainland. It’s my favourite starting point for kayaking, because you’re into nature directly, but I guess I have to wait some more days until I’ll be able to start there, since the sea is still partly ice covered. Two images of yesterday:

Storgrundet – a beautiful place. The way that leads to it however has changed. Last autumn it was framed of dense forest, now many of the trees are cut down and the way is framed by piles of tree logs. It brings to my mind that almost all forests in Sweden are no wild untouched primeval forests but commercial forests. There’re not only used for collecting berries and hunting moose, but for hugging down trees, too.

Now I’m sitting a bit on the fence – on the one hand I like wooden houses and furniture made of wood and I love to fire a cabin or a sauna with birch logs. On the other hand I really loved the forest around and when I walked cross-country today, I felt a bit sad seeing the clear-felled areas. I’m glad that the terrain is not too easy to enter with forestry machines. There are some really big rocks and many shallow ponds and swamps. I guess that’s why there’re a lot of single trees left. But it’s not the same anymore.

Now, that many trees are gone, you can look much farther and I realised, how many swampy areas were hidden in the woods. Now they are quite visible and they look fascinating and desolate at the same time.

I do not have anything against using the forest and cutting down trees, but anyhow I felt sad, when I walked through the destroyed landscape today.

And the snow? Apr 12 2015

Winter may has gone, but still a lot of snow is left.

All streets in Skelleftehamn have been snow free for a while now, but you can still see the big snow piles from the winter. Some of them are still several meters high and they probably won’t be melted down before the end of May.

Yesterday I was invited by friends to join them in their stuga – their summer cottage – in Bygdeträsk. Some images from the way.

When I arrived at the summer cottage, the property looked like this:

In front the barbecue area and the grasslands, behind the birch trees the Sundet, part of the big lake Göksjön, still mostly ice covered, but you can see the first open patch, where a small stream enters the lake.

Perfect laziness Apr 11 2015

About some winter remnants: A patch of snow, ground frost and most of all: Northern Lights. But spring is near.

Sometimes I wake up in the deep of the night. Sometimes I look through the window. Sometimes there’s polar light. For example one hour ago at 2:30. The Northern Lights have been around the whole evening but they were so faint, that there were hardly visible. Now they where much clearer and intensity was increasing.

I wanted to take pictures, but I was lazy. Should I really dress, get my camera equipment and take the car to a nice place? No, I was too lazy! I just put on my down overall over the pyjamas, went into the neoprene boots that I use for paddling, took tripod and camera and went out.

I was lucky, the aurora was a nice one tonight and high up in the sky. It’s these moments, where I’m still filled with joy, that I may live here, even if I’ve been living in Skellefteå and Skelleftehamn for almost five years now.

The Northern Lights, my house and the car

You see, that there is still snow in my front yard. My back yard is even still covered with a layer of 20 cm of hard-packed snow. Standing outside on the snow in a warm overall and looking at the polar light felt almost a bit like winter. The temperature however was hardly below zero and the expedition down overall was much too warm, of course. In the northeast you could see the sky already getting light a bit, even if it was no more than 3 o’clock. Sunrise will already be at 5:15, a sign that spring is near.

30 Minutes Winter Apr 10 2015

After two stormy days we got a bit of snow this morning. But half an hour later it was melted away.

Yes, we can waves Apr 8 2015

Strange weather we had today. Sky was blue and the warm sun warmed up the air, but it was really stormy. Even if the wind came from west, we had a lot of waves on the Baltic Sea, that sprayed sea foam high up into the air, where storm gusts blew it ashore.

Sea foam on the Baltic Sea in Skelleftehamn

The last photo was shot against the sun, which was against the wind as well, so that a lot of foam landed on the lens of my camera. Not so ideal for photos, because each drop of water blurs parts of the image. I have to think about a method how I can avoid this. The camera itself is waterproof and so were my clothes and boots, that I used today, when I sat in the midst of the waves.

Why I called the article “Yes, we can waves”? Well, many people – sometimes including me – smile at the Baltic Sea and say, that it’s more like a big lake and no real sea at all. That it is shallow and never has big waves. Partly they may be right, because the Baltic sea is hardly affected by tides and the northern part – the Bothnian Bay – where I live, has a very low salinity. But at least we got some waves and sea foam today.

A short kajaktour to the island Norrskär Apr 5 2015

What a contrast – two days ago I skied through the snowy winter forest in Äkäslompolo in Finland, today I paddled on the Baltic sea under a blue sky with two friends and it almost felt like spring.

Hans, Stefan and I met at the pilot house, where the Baltic sea is completely free of ice. We paddled to the island Klubben and started to round it, but a thick layer of old ice still lay between Klubben and Bredskär.

So we turned left, and paddled along Bredskär and Norrskär.

Stefan and Hans, Norrskär in the background

On the outer side of Norrskär we went ashore and took a fika, a break with drink and food.

Hans and me taking a break (Foto: Stefan)

On the outer side the waves were a bit higher and sea spray splashed ashore.

The old ice has a fascinating structure, it’s like a mosaic of thin vertical sticks. If you smash it, it splinters into many pieces, but the sticks are quite stable.

After the break we continued our tour and paddled along the southeast peaks of the islands Storgrundet, Brambärsgrundet and Vorrgrundet. Here we had a bit more waves. More than twenty whooper swans rose when we came closer – a spring sign. But on the ice between Storgrundet and Brambärsgrundet people still stood on the ice, perhaps there were ice fishing.

Now we were on the way back and the waves got smaller again. The ice edge is quite fascinating. The ice itself is still quite thick but at the edge the underwater ice got a lot of holes and looks like a frozen sponge.

Three weeks ago I stood on the thick ice between the mainland and the island Bredskär and it was possible to go to the islands by snowmobile. Today we paddled through the open water, but on the remaining ice in the small boat harbour Tjuvkistan you could still see some snowmobile tracks and they were quite fresh.

Soon we arrived again at our starting point, a short but very pleasant tour. Thank you, Stefan and Hans!

They packed their car and I put the boat onto the small cart and started to go home, dragging the kayak behind. (Foto: Stefan)

The air was still cold – round +3 °C – but the sun already got a lot of power and it feels much warmer. On my way home I discovered another spring sign: The first blooming flower, a tussilago. Spring is here!

Sun rise 5:16 Mar 26 2015

If you love to witness the sun rise you have to rise up early. Today I managed to stand up round 4:15 and half an hour later I stood at the sandy beach of Harrbäckssand to see the sun coming up. Well, sandy beach it is in summer, now the shore is covered with snow and ice. And today it was even quite cold with temperatures round -12 °C. This may be the last “real” winter day this season, but you never know, last year it snowed in May.

5:16 the first bright orange beams of the sun appeared behind the island Medgrundet.

Minutes later the sun illuminated ice, snow and pine trees with warm colours between orange and pink.

I loved the swirly ice patterns on the half frozen water of the shallow beach.

After a while I drove home again and took an additional nap. 4:15 is too early, even for me.

Sun down behind the ice encircled old pier Mar 21 2015