Kayak symposium at Orust

August 30, 2009

In the end of August the Kayak symposium, Stockenträffen, is held annually. The promotors for the symposium is Orust Kajak. This is the biggest kayak event in Sweden with about 200 – 250 kayakers every year. There is different courses, trips, work-shops and lectures to participate in.

Some of all the kayaks at the Stockentraffen.

Björn Thomasson an excellent kayaker, designer (Black Pearl) and instructor is supervising rolling practice

The water around the Island of Orust is excellent for levels of seakayaking. You can always paddle in protected water but it can be really rough whitewater even in moderate winds on the outside of Hermanö.

Ulf Johansson is also an excellent kayak designer and he has built a new kayak, a real beauty.

Last year was Freya Hoffmeister and Dubside some of the instructors. This year was Nigel Foster and his wife Krisitin here. They have been here several times before and their paddling courses are always appreciated.

Nigel Foster is giving instructions to a group of kayakers

More blogs about Stockenträffen

Kajak.nu (in swedish)

Ulf Johansson (in swedish)

Ecoguiden (in swedish)

Sea kayaking to Tornö

August 6, 2009

Tornö is located outside the third biggest island in Sweden, Orust. Orust is a great place for all levels of seakayaking. I wanted to visit the local kayak shop, Orust Kajak, and when the weather forcast predicted really nice hot weather it was not a hard decision. Some friends joined and we had a really good weekend. The water was really warm and hardly no wind so we had perfect conditions for just playing around.

Marie had her new kayak from Point 65 and it was a pleasant experience.

Patric and Karin in the labyrinth inside Hermanö

Åsa is getting through a small passage.

With this really hot and calm weather it was possible to camp on the normally exposed seaside of Tornö.

Patric is testing the balance in the Whisky 16 from Point 65.

Marie in her new Kayak

Marie, why dont you smack him?

Whisky 16 is easy to roll.

Cool kayaking with Hurricane Riders

August 4, 2009

Hurricane riders are a group of long boat paddlers based in Deep Cove, BC, Canada. They do some really cool kayaking in the Skookumchuck Narrows in BC. Current speeds can exceed 16 knots (30 km/h). We do not have those tidal currents in Sweden. In Norway is an even stronger tidal current located, Saltstraumen, with water speeds reaching 20 knots (about 37 km/h). I haven’n seen any video clip from Saltstraumen. So for some inspiriation here is a great clip from the HCR.

Hurricane Riders in Skookumchuck

Visa Skookumchuck Narrows på en större karta

Kayaking in Stockholm Archipelago

August 3, 2009

I came home last night after a 7 day kayak trip to Stockholm archipelago together with two good friends, Patric and Carl Johan. Stockholm Archipelago is a great destination for seakayaking. We have had a really good trip with good weather conditions (tailwind and mostly sunny), a huge archipelago to discover, great paddling, lots of sea eagles and just great fun. This was my first trip to Stockholm archipelago and I must admit that it was a great experience. We went through the archipelago from the south to the north. We could easily spend another week discovering more fantastic spots. I’m organising a destination report and will publish it in the next coming days. Meanwhile here is a few pictures.

Carl Johan outside the island of Öja and the light house “Landsort”

The view from Stora Björn “Ursa Major”

Carl Johan getting close to the rocks

Patric outside the island of Svartlöga

Sunset from the tent at Stora Alskär

There are already some more pics and text at my other site in swedish, petersvensson.com