[ASKR blog post 3 of 3]
Anticipating swarms
of midges and mosquitoes, we had tentatively booked into the
fishermen's bunkhouses rather than camp again. The old fishermen's
accommodation was rustic and full of charm and provided the luxury of
showers and clean bed linen. As it happened, flies weren't a problem,
and it was lovely to be able to relax sitting outside on the
boardwalks suspended over the harbour that connected the buildings
together.
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| Skipnes |
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| Our bunkhouse |
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| Fishernen's bunkhouse dorm |
Not long after, both
the short and then the long rambles joined up with us and the
previously quiet village was now a vibrant community of paddlers. A
couple of Norwegian kayak shops had set their stalls up on the
boardwalk and with the bar and cafe the hubbub continued late into
the night (again!).
By now it was
Thursday, and a lot of paddlers took the opportunity to explore the
wonderful island of Tindsoya – either on foot or by kayak.
Interconnected by mown paths, the houses and buildings were
interesting to explore. Anywhere without cars always has a relaxed
atmosphere and life has a different pace. We paddled down to the
“waffle shop” in the fishing buildings of Tinden and explored the
rock pools and surrounding area. My eyes wondered up and down the
steep ridges and faces of Tindsinden the hill that lies behind the
fishing huts, trying to work out the line to take for an ascent. With
no obvious line it looked a serious undertaking, and combined with
the fact that the cloud was occasionally engulfing the summit, I
decided to leave it for another day.
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| Approaching Tinden |
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| Tinden shop proprietor |
While we were out,
other activities were being held back in Skipnes harbour. A 200m
sprint competition was well supported, a ramp was set up to enable
the more adventurous to seal launch off of the pier and a qualified
coach was running technical clinics.
In the afternoon I
set about trying to borrow a more competitive boat for the race the
following day. Our rental boats were plastic touring kayaks, while
suitable for the “rambles” they would not be very quick for the
race. One of the ASKR “crew” very kindly lent me a Norwegian
kayak called a “Mentor” – a fast, long, touring boat with a
rudder, so I was much happier as the discussion in the evening
changed from the usual light hearted conversation to something that
had a bit of an edge to it as tactics were explored and opposition
assessed.
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| Card antics in the bar! |
The “half
marathon” race was only entered by the more competitive paddlers –
anyone else could paddle the race route setting off an hour earlier
as a “ramble” and this was done by the majority of paddlers. The
morning of the race was greeted by a thick sea mist. Although it had
started to clear to just patches by time the ramble was due to set
off, it was decided that the original race route on the “outside”
of the islands would not be safe and an “inside” route was used
that weaved its way around a number of the islands around Tindsoya.
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| Awaiting the start for the "ramblers" |
My own race was
going surprisingly well and I was enjoying the speed and downwind
responsiveness of the “Mentor”. At a turn around the bottom of an
island about a third into the race, I was well positioned about 50
metres behind the two leaders. The race then turned into an upwind
leg and the strength of the lead pair started to tell and I was not
able to make up any ground on them. Then disaster struck. Not long
after the turn I felt the rudder peddle on my left foot go limp and I
lost control of the rudder. The rudder control string had broken, and
I had no choice but to raise the rudder and paddle the kayak
rudderless. Like most kayaks, the “Mentor” was trimmed to
weathercock (turn into the wind) and I used a lot of energy trying to
keep it on track. I managed to hold on to third place until the last
couple of kilometres when I was overtaken by a couple of boats.
Luckily the last leg was into the wind and I could mainly concentrate
on just forward paddling and managed to keep within range of the now
fourth placed boat and on the final few hundred metres to the finish
managed to outsprint him to regain one position. A bit frustrating as
I'm sure I would have kept third place if the rudder had not broken.
Our last evening in
Vesteralen started with a lovely meal of baked fish pie called “Fish
Symphony” - four different fish in a sauce. Prize giving and the
usual formalities passed and the room was taken over by a one man
band singing a fun mixture of English/American songs interspersed
with popular Norwegian numbers. Chatting and dancing into the early
hours capped off a wonderful week of paddling and socialising.
Saturday morning
consisted of packing up and long goodbyes (my facebook friends list
has risen significantly) before we paddled our boats back to the "mainland" at Krakberget. Having blagged yet another lift – this time all the way
back to Tromso, we were set up to get back to Tromso at a reasonable
hour. A meal and another stay in the Tromso apartment was followed by
an early morning taxi ride to the airport and an uneventful return
home by lunchtime.
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| En route back to Tromso |
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| Rudolf pizza available in Tromso airport |
The ASKR would not be everyone’s cup of tea. Paddling and camping
in large groups distracts from the wilderness experience, but this is
more than compensated by the opportunity to socialise with the very
friendly Norwegians paddlers to get insight into their lifestyles and
the local history and culture. I can't thank enough the people that helped us out with arranging the trip, providing accommodation and for the friendly taxi services!
