Beneath an Arctic sun

 It is rounding up to be an amazing Trip with Jeff, not quite what we had originally planed though still awesome. Here is what Jeff has written so far on the trip as we head off. you can read more of his posts on our trip here I will try and write some myself if I can soon.

Jeff writes

 

" So we left from Someroya, the weather is perfect, in fact you would not believe we are well above the Arctic Circle, 069 degrees 27.98' N to be precise. We are wearing dry suits and boy are we regretting it, it has to be 18 degrees + and we are sweating buckets. The skies are clear, the seas are calm and at last we are making our way south towards Vesteralen and the Lofotens......

Paddling south towards the Lofotens, Jaime in his Trak

Our first nights camp is in a small hamlet, five or six cabins, dotted above a small beach, the map says Breidvika, but the houses don't seem to warrant a name, it must be the bay that is named, I wonder what it means. We pull our kayaks high above the tideline and set up camp - tent up, stove on, fire lit, on the way across the bay I managed to catch a couple of Sei, they will enter the pot tonight and supplement our Lofoten Fish soup and broccoli. We wander down the beach, Jaime has found the skull of an Orca, or that is what we believe it to be, the jaw has large recesses for the teeth, there are numerous vertebrae laying around and other cetacean body parts.

                                                                           Orca Skull

We retire about midnight and as soon as I'm horizontal I'm pushing out the 'Z'ds' it seems only minutes before I am hearing Jaime packing away his sleeping bag, morning already? did I really sleep?

We have a lazy start to the day, I spend an hour or so, meditating on the beach, feeling the wind on the back of my neck, serving to cool down the early effects of the sun.  Jaime is doing his yoga routine, I join him and stretch out myself a little on the patio of one of the cabins.

We set off, gentle paddling beneath a strong Arctic sun, we see a seal, a Porpoise and the Devils Mouth mountain ridge, just before we arrive in Bergsfjord, we are back at Krakesslot, this time arriving as we should, from the sea................"

                                                                    Sun protection essential

Posted 17th May 2013 by Expedition Paddler