A tough 300 KM unsupported trip from turku to stockholm through open sea and the remote, starkly beautiful, baltic archipelago
Read on for my blog on our epic kayaking trip from Finland to Sweden across the baltic, or click on the video below for the trip highlights.
“Remote kayaking in the Swedish archipelago in late autumn allows you to experience the natural beauty of the islands and wildlife, but also teaches you the dangers of open sea paddling late in the year, this far north”
When my kayaking partner in crime, Neil moved from the UK to Sweden, 70km south of Stockholm, it was a great opportunity to plan in some wilderness trips to explore the Swedish archipelago.
Over 1400 islands stretching out into the Baltic with stunning scenery and wildlife – perfect for remote wilderness camping. For the next few years we managed five one week trips, usually late season in September and October and explored many sections of the stunning island chain.
On one trip we were paddling late at night across a sea crossing between islands and heard splashing in the darkness next to us. A family of moose were swimming next to us in the twilight, easily keeping up with our sea kayak cruising speed for a good half a mile before landing on the beach and trotting off into the pine trees. I was so impressed with their speed that I did some research and found that they have been known to swim up to 10 miles and have a top speed of 6mph (9kph).
On the next trip during a rough 3 mile crossing to a remote island at the end of October, one of our party capsized and got caught up in their rudder lines. After 10 minutes trying to assist them back into their boat in 7 degree centrigade water, even with a thick wetsuit, they were showing signs of hypothermia and we ended up having to pull them onto a double kayak, paddling them quickly to shore to wrap them in a thermal blanket and light a fire. This left me alone in rough seas to pump out their kayak, recover all their floating equipment and tow their kayak over a mile to the landing point. It was a salutary lesson that although the stronger members of the trip can be proficient in self rescue, it is more important to plan in the worst case for the least competent members of the trip.
“Planning our unsupported 300km, 6 day kayaking expedition from Turku in Finland across the baltic to Stockholm”
We were huddled around the camp fire on a tiny island in the outer archipelago near the Huvudskärs nature reserve, when the idea surfaced to kayak across the Baltic. Over the next few months we put together a rough plan for a 6 day unsupported trip, carrying all our supplies and staying on remote islands, essentially island hopping from Finland across to Sweden.
For logistics the best option was to carry our kayaks and supplies onto the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Turku and then, well – paddle 300km back !
Turku is the oldest city in Finland and was built at the mouth of the river Aura. A perfect starting point for our trip. We could carry our kayaks out of the ferry and drop them straight into the water, paddling back along the ferry route before cutting due west into the quieter part of the baltic dotted with Finnish islands.
Our plan was to paddle 7-9 hour days, camping on remote islands en route for the Åland islands, which was our last stopping off point before a final 60km open sea crossing back to a beach near Stockholm. That was the toughest part of the trip - a final 12 hour open sea crossing cutting across multiple shipping lanes where the weather and visibility would have to be perfect.
Although the Baltic does not have significant tides or currents, it can have very unpredictable weather and wind conditions including thunderstorms, so we chose July to attempt the trip as the air and water temperature were better from a safety perspective and the prevailing winds should be lighter with the main challenge being a head on wind in the afternoon as the typical westerly sea breeze kicked in.
“DAY 1 - Ryanair to Skavsta and overnight ferry from Stockholm to Turku”
So after a few final weeks of frantic organisation, in mid July, James and I boarded a Ryanair flight from Stansted to Skavsta airport, meeting our two other paddlers, Neil and
Sacke at Neil's house to complete the final checks on the kayaks, equipment and supplies for the trip. That evening we were dropped off at the Stockholm ferry terminal and carried the packed kayaks past the articulated lorries and dropped them on to a free space in the transport hold.
After dinner and a few beers at the "Fun Club" bar, we retired to the tiny cabin for the last night's sleep in a bed for a while.
QUICK KIT LIST
For the trip we had two Mega Diamante Sovereign Sea Kayaks, a Tahe Wind 535 and a swedish Trapper sea kayak - with an average of between 130-250 litres of storage in each boat for equipment, supplies, tents, water and of course beer. We also took GPS navigation equipment, a laptop and mobile phones. James managed to negotiate two large marine grade flexible solar panels which we tied to the back of the boats to keep us charged.
Finally PeakUK were brilliant as sponsors, providing us with expedition dry suits at cost for the trip.
For food and provisions we stocked up at the local Swedish supermarket - lots of flat breads, cheese spread tubes, tins of pickled herrings (in multiple flavours) and a tin of surströmming herring for a mid trip celebration. Never again !
Finally Sacke brought his "traditional mobile Swedish sauna kit"which we tried out on day 3 in what turned out to be a hilarious "steam and skinny dip" experience on a remote island.
“DAY 2 - The paddle from Turku to an island near Iso-Kuusinen ”
We were the first off the ferry at Turku the next morning with the lorry drivers looking on impatiently
as we carried the heavy kayaks away from the ferry terminal and dropped them down onto a small wooden platform from which we could start the trip. Finally we were off, paddling back towards Sweden with significantly more effort than the ferry trip that had brought us here.
The first couple of days were pretty tough - we had a strong westerly wind against us, creating a very choppy sea. We managed six hours in the strong headwind and just over 25km, before heading into shelter and our first camp on a small island near Iso-Kuusinen.
“DAY 3 - The paddle to Houtskär ”
The next day we were up early. Well behind on our 50km per day schedule we pushed hard to make up the distance. We had the same strong headwinds and chop which limited our speed to 4-5 knots. It was back breaking work paddling across strong cross winds en route to Houtskär and our second camping stop.
That evening, with aching backs and backsides, we dragged the kayaks onto a small remote island, built a fire and set up the tents on the least rocky parts, away from the nesting sea birds. Sacke busied himself building a tarpaulin dome for his makeshift sauna and tying together some birch branches and, after a mixed dinner of pickled herring, pasta and flat bread, we were ushered, naked, into the makeshift sauna to sweat out the day's exertions. Once we could bear it no longer, in procession, we ran across the rocks and jumped into the cold Baltic. After repeating this a few times, we politely declined the swedish tradition of hitting each other on the back with birch twigs and turned in for the night.
“DAY 4 - Mariehamn, Åland Islands ”
What a difference ! We emerged from the tents to the sun shining onto the flat surface of the sea, making it look oily smooth for what turned out to be a fantastic day. With the sea relatively calm, we decided to push on to reach Mariehamn, arriving past midnight after an epic day's paddle.
We passed two tiny fishing settlements, paddling past the fishing pens and stopped for lunch at one, enjoying a fish soup and some welcome time out of the kayak, much to the amusement and interest of the locals.
Finally after a late evening open sea crossing, we arrived at the eastern tip of the Åland Islands and, as the beautiful pink sunset gave way to darkness, paddled through the inner lagoons across to Mariehamn town. Finding a nice patch of beach and grassland, we pitched our tents on what turned out the next day to be the town park.
“DAY 5 - Island near Kobba Klintar, Åland Islands ”
The next day we treated ourselves to a rest morning in Mariehamn and went to a cafe for lunch. It was a strange experience to see civilisation again, made stranger by the local sweet shop with had some very odd sweets in their shop front !
That afternoon we rendezvoused with a Swedish friend of Neils who had agreed to follow us in his motor boat for the next day's final 60km paddle across open sea back to Stockholm. It is a busy stretch of the baltic with container ships, ferries, military ships and fishing boats travelling across multiple channels and difficult to judge their direction. Having a large motorboat ahead of us for the final crossing was a sensible precaution.
Our plan was to paddle to one of the most westerly islands near Kobba Klintar to bivvy for the night, leaving at 3am the next morning for the final 12 hour paddle back to Sweden.
After a final camp fire dinner, we finished a bottle of red wine and turned in for a few hours sleep.
“DAY 6 - final 60km paddle to Kappellskär, Sweden ”
I heard the alarm go off and quickly pulled on my dry suit before leaving the tent. We had been plagued by mosquitos on the island and they were on the offensive even at 3am in the morning so we quickly packed and paddled off. It was an incredible sunrise, with blue and red hues of dawn reflecting off the sea like an oil painting.
We set a steady pace for the final day, not sure how our bodies would cope with 12 hours of non stop paddling. Over the years we had learnt through our expeditions that the trick was to periodically change your paddling style to rest different muscle groups, but this was a significantly longer distance than we had ever travelled before. The hardest part was the pressure on your backside and lower back from the the kayak seat which could not be alleviated.
The rhythm of our paddling across the flat expanse of sea was broken from time to time by the large ships passing us as they travelled into the distance and towards their destination. We stopped for a few minutes every hour for a rest and a drink, and to stretch an aching back and arms.
Finally we saw the Swedish coastline in the distance and redoubled efforts to reach our destination, Kappellskär, by mid afternoon. The swedish friends and family had descended on the beach there with a barbecue, beers and a welcoming committee and we didn't want to miss out on the party. Equally importantly, James and I had to fly back to the UK that evening and were a day late on our itinerary.
The last few hours were tough and we had to dig deep to keep up the pace, but finally as we rounded the last headland we heard a cheer and saw a beach full of partying people and kids - our welcome committee. We grounded the boats and popped the spray decks, everyone rushing into the water as we struggled to lift our bodies out of the cockpits of our boats. A can of Swedish beer was thrust into my hand as our epic journey was finally over !
It is always a bittersweet feeling when you pack up all of your equipment and head home, but Neil's parting comment as we headed for the airport was "Next time lets try the north baltic and paddle from Sweden to Finland".
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