Day 6: Part rest and then onwards

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Paddling past the setting sun. Waters were a bit lumpy.. but getting calmer

The much anticipated high winds storm did finally arrive to our location during the early hours of the day. Although it was more muted in our area it was bad enough to keep us ashore whiling the time away. Past midday the wind was showing signs of abating so we made moves to prepare for a night paddle. We had a larger body of water to cross , east of Emäsalo and wanted to cross that in near calm conditions.

We set off a little after 19:15. Winds were under 4 m/s but from the N /NW , it was pretty cold paddling! Actually it was Really really cold paddling after the sun went down!

Crossing the bay in setting sun conditions was a bit tense as paddling in the dark always has risks! We had our night lights so we could be seen and the only boating lane we crossed while the sun was still technically up. All went pretty well all things considered. We made it to a small isle located east off Haxalo called Norrholmen. There we had a midnight brew of tea and decided that rounding the southern point of Emäsalo, in the dark was too risky. So we pitched camp @ 23:55 and soon were making some zzzzz’s.

Day 5: Batten down the hatches

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The weather forecast for the indefinite future ( 1-3 days) guesstimated a horrendous summer storm of epic proportions, approaching Finland from the NW..

So after 3 days of muscle grinding toil, we opted for the easier solution. Have a rest day! Besides R n R, we needed to have another look at Markos kayak, maybe do something about it, update blogs, prepare our camp for the impending storm and just lolly gag about.

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Updating blogs with nothing but a smartphone is a pain! Slow, mistake ridden process! Cannot imagine why anyone would do it. Editing pictures is another nuisance, so I wont even bother! Try to cope with askew horizons and over or under-exposed images.. I miss my PC with Adobe Lightroom…

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Marko’s kayak. After removing several layers of clear Gorilla tape, we first washed and rinsed (with fresh water)the  affected areas. Then fortunately the sun came out to help the wind dry it out… this took over several hours.

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I had a small batch of 5-minute epoxy which I thought best suited for the job. The problem with  epoxy is that it generally needs 15-20 degrees centigrade air temperature to work.

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This problem we think we might have solved by heating small stones, putting them in two cotton tennis socks and placing these stone warmers over the affected areas after the epoxy was filled into the gouges. Before applying the heat do to speak we put clear packing tape tightly,over the epoxy filled holes to act as an temporary mold. To protect the hull from excessive heat we used a 3 mm Polyethylene cutting board,  which also nicely bent into shape by the heat…

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It was not pretty! But under the given circumstances we think we didn’t make things worse! 😁

After the epoxy cured the rest of the evening, we slapped on several layers of Gorilla tape.. time will tell…

As I write this blog @22:56 hrs.. we are still waiting for the storm to arrive….

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Day 4: Lilla Hudö – Kabböle – Byön

It would seem that since the previous day we nade reasonable progress despite the northwind and actually the wind direction was favourable for our progress, the powers that be deemed it necessary for a change in wind direction.
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When woke up the wind had turned SW… another day of stiff 8 m/s
headwinds awaited us – again!

Despite this physical and mental challeeeeenge,  we set off. Trying to find a short cut I won the first ice cream bet of the trip. I hsppened to guess cirrectly whether we could cross through a very narrow reed infested strait. We could and I won! 😊

We were approaching Keipsalo from the east with intent of rounding the northern tip and continuing SW to Kabböle marina for water refills, coffee and that ice cream. All the way in an annoying headwind! Gusts probably oeaked to oerhsps 12 m/s wave height was around 60 cm. Energy sapping headway we made.

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At Kabböle we decided that continuing SW with this headwind wasn’t very smart on the long run so we planned on paddling another 9 km to the next recreational campsite  on Byon isle known as Bockholm.
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9 km’s of intensifying headwind later we made it to Bockholm. A natural cove harbour, A nice place for boaters, sailers for sure, but not so ideal for kayakers. Landing space for kayaks is limited to maybe 5-6, otherwise the shore is steep. Suitable tentspaces are far from shore.. but since thete was enougj room for two paddlers and we were a bot tired we decided to stay.

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Day 3: Kuutsalo – Långön – Lilla Hudö

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The wind, waves and cold of the previous day had taken their toll on us. We didn’t feel too energetic as we headed once again into a chilly headwind up the passage between Kuutsalo and Lehmäsaari isle’s. Yet we trudged onwards. Past Lehmäsaari we turned SW and followed paralel to the shipping lanes, past Mussalo harbour. At this stage headwind was no more and the rest of the day we paddled in a southwesterly course in the windless side of islands or we had a rear quartering tailwind while in the open areas.

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We had two rest breaks during the day, the longer on the southern rocky shore of Långön, a very photogenic location.

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I had been used the sail starting on kilometer 16 and had it up the rest of the day (some26 kms). It was quite fun and relaxing at that stage. However the wind was still pretty cold.

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Some 6 km out from Lilla Hudö the wind began to die and the setting for the approaching sunset was begining to look nice!

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We made it ashore sometime at 2130 hrs – Totally exhausted! It had been a VERY taxing day!

A nifty website

Due to technical constraints.. ie. I do not know how? Iam unable to post detailed maps of the routes taken during the trip. These will come later. However I will try to describe the campsites and definitive turning points so that one can try to follow the progress of our trip roughly.

A handy tool is the excursion map.

Its not much but the map detail us high and it gives something for the reader, if maps are interesting? 😉

Day 2: Suuri Pisi – Majasaari – Kuutsalo

2nd day if the coastal paddle trip

The paddling and route taken was affected by the strong north winds. The day stated out sunny but was chilly from the get go. Temperatures didn’t get much better once it got cloudy and random rainshowers

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crossed our paths! Winds were roughly 6-8 m/s but during the rain showers I suspect gust peaks were 12-14 m/s.

The 3 hours we paddled in above described headwinds. After reaching the northern tip of Kuorsalo we turned westward and had a sidewind. In a couple crossings the waveheights were in the 40-60 cm range. Quite manageable but tiring and tense paddling as the waves coming in came from two different directions.

I had a chance to use my SeaDog Commander sail for about 8 Kms.I had it reefed the whole time due to the sudden gusts that kept bombarding us at rabdom moments. The sail worked nicely even when reefed and especially in the above mentioned conditions! On one occasion when we were passing thru a narrow straight between two Islands, with a gusting tailwind the kayak was cruising along @ 7 km/h with no aid of paddle! ( kayak fully loaded + sailed reefed!) . However in the afternoon I took down the sail due to the strengthing of the gusts + waves from the side that were approx 60cm high.

At one point Marko’s kayak hit some underwater obstacle with a LOUD bang! Inspection, revealed a two fair sized gouges in the forward area of the hull about the size of a 50 eurocent coins. One gouge was center keel on the kevlar and the second one was approx 12 cm next to the first one. Both exactly where the forward bulkhead is located!!! Guessing on how the gelcoat was gone and the laminates had turned white, I would wager that the hull would have been holed, had the impact hit anywhere else than where the forward bulkhead was located.
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Quick assesment was made and due to the cold weather we decided to wash, dry and patch up the dings with gorillatape and continue onwards. It was too cold to mess about with epoxy anyways.. some 13 C.

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The day passed by quickly and passing thru the straights between Kuutsalo and Kirkkomaa we realized the cold the wind and the waves had tired us considerably. It was time to call it a day. We found a decent campsite on the southern shore of Kuutsalo.

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Day 1: Virojoki-Hurppu-Suuri Pisi

First day of the Finnish coastal paddle

First day on the water. First time in medium wind and waves with a fully loaded Beaufort! Not bad. After some getting used to the whims of the Beaufort the going was easy and fast.

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The wind was blowing from the north around 6 m/s with gusts maybe upto 10+m/s. Fortunately for us thus meant an easygoing tail wind with some opportunities for short surfs! According to my gps top speed in a surf todaywas 11.2 km/h( no sail!!) ! With a fully loaded kayak as well!

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Camp @ Suuri Pisi. A wonderful isle with nice views on the westely beach. Only minus was the ten trillion mozzies that were blood frenzy thirsty… It hasnt been this bad in a long while.

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The weather forecast for the next two days is a strengthening North wind, so we will probably first head north to hug the coast as we start a trudge towards the west.