Some of the kayak photos I’ve taken from this year. There are more to come from different kayak destinations.

Maria in Lofoten

A bride in a kayak!

Nice speed when kayaking

Gordon Brown is giving instructions

Arrow kayaks in Vesterålen

Gabbi is taking a swim with the Qanik

Janne Bengtsson is paddling fast

Jens Webster outside Varbergs fortress in a surfski from Fenn

Jonas is paddling Clapotis

Patrick in Lofoten

Maria is paddling in Gothenburg Archipelago

City paddling in Göteborg

Patric in a Griffin

The spring has arrived and it’s a very nice period in Sweden at the moment. My friends and I traveled to Fjällbacka archipelago for a few days of paddling over Easter. Fjällbacka located on the west coast, halfway (150 km) between Gothenburg, Sweden and Oslo, Norway. The archipelago is absolutely fantastic here. An absolute favorite kayaking destination in Sweden.

Fredrik is heading west from the starting point, close to the small picturesque city of Fjällbacka.

It was very calm days and hardly any motor or sailing boats. This part of the season is great!

Malin has built a Black Pearl during the winter but she chose her second kayak today.

And so did Jonas.

There are many pretty fishing villages in the archipelago.

Väderöarna (Weather islands) just visible in the mist

The water was calm and looked like a mirror

Some of the islands are pretty high. The View from Norra Dyngön is impressive.

Erik and Pia dropped by for a nice evening at St Måkholmen. They have an excellent kayak site, kajak.nu.

There is a fun story about the labyrinths at Måkholmen. A few years ago revealed the secret of the labyrinth. Scientists believed that the labyrinth was from the eleventh century. But it was some youngsters who had build them during the fifties.

Slackers at Stora Måkholmen!

We were not the only paddlers in Fjällbacka archipelago this weekend. This was a group of leaders from the outdoor organisation Norrviken (really nice pictures) from Stockholm.

The famous Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (staring in Casablanca) used to live in Fjällbacka archipelago. She lived on a small island called Dannholmen. There is a statue of a pigeon that is clearly visible when approaching Dannholmen.

Last week my friends and I paddled from the city of Härnösand to the city Örnsköldsvik. We passed the coastline called the High Coast (Höga Kusten in Swedish). It is a really nice paddling trip. The High Coast offers an amazing variety of natural surroundings. Since 2000 the High Coast has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage. What makes The High Coast Unique is its post – glacial rebound. It is still rizing at a rate of eight mm per year. The area has one National Park and heaps of Nature Reserves.

The kayak trip along the High Coast maybe is not the easiest choice for beginners because some parts are really exposed and it can be hard to find easy landing in strong winds. We had great conditions almost everyday with a slight tail wind. One day we had a headwind (near gale). We then decided to have a bonus day at Högbonden.

We started downtown in the City of Härnösand. Our plan was to paddle about 20 km every day and do some longer stops at some islands along the trip. We paddled for seven days. The coastline is pretty rough due to the post glacial rebound. We had excellent support from Höga Kusten Kajak in Härnösand who helped us with transport back from Örnsköldvik to Härnösand.

We started in Härnösand in cloudy weather

We are used to camp straight on the cliffs but at the High Coast we sometimes camped in the forests.

Åsa, Fredrik and Patric.

The red Rapakivi granite has been a geolocial symbol for the area.

The lighthouse of Högbonden. The old lighthouse keeper’s house is now a youth hostel, Högbondens vandrarhem. We spent an extra night there due to headwind. A really nice and cool place.

We also had calm weather! Fredrik is paddling his Legend

Crossing between some islands.

I will post a full trip description. But it may take some days before it is finished. Here is two different video clips from the trip.

Here is the first videoclip edited in my Iphone

Here is the second videoclip edited at home

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

I have updated kayakr.net with one kayaking destination in Denmark and one in Norway. Denmark offers good kayaking and you can choose from really good surfing to calm and relaxed paddling in protected water. Norway is so beautiful and offers kayaking in fjords and archipelagos along an amazing coastline with dramatic mountains. Tomorrow I’m going for a longer trip in Stockholm Archipelago and I will update kayakar.net with new kayaking destinations when I get back home. Keep on paddling!

Kayaking in Bergen, Norway

Kayaking in Klitmoller, Denmark.