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Louisa fastest woman around Sweden

Publicerad: 2010.01.01 Uppdaterad: 2013.03.08 Av: Caroline Nilsson
Louisa and John paddled 2392km in 56 days, a record for a woman paddling from the Norway to Finland along the Swedish coast.
John and Louisa paddled along the Swedish Coast to capture the "Blå Bandet" (Blue Ribbon) which is one of the longest kayak-"races" in the world. The fastest woman before their expedition paddled the race in over 60 days. Louisa became the fastest woman, only to be beaten a week later by 3 hours! They both paddled in "off the rack" Point65 XP's with minor modifications added to them. All images by John Paul Bichard. Here's their story:
 
Stockholm
We arrived in Stockholm on 5th May, one month and a day before our2220 6th June departure. First task after the unpacking was to get our boats from Resarö to the Point 65 shop at Pampas Marina, their temporary home.

The 32km journey started with thunder and torrential rain but as the afternoon wore on and evening set in, a beautiful sunset accompanied us through the heart of the city. The journey down the main shipping lane was busy with the local ferries and a whole battalion of Finland ferries setting off for their Saturday night cruises, but once we got through the lock at Slussen, a calm quiet ride up a dark canal saw us to the Marina.

With the marina only a 20 minute walk away, we get out for a spin round the block most days: a 10km paddle around Kungsholmen which takes us right into the heart of the city, spectacular at night. It' a hard life...

Bright sun and fresh winds from the north west made for a great days paddling on our second Saturday. We really put the kayaks (and ourselves) through their paces. If we were looking for experience with water traffic then we sure got it: motor boats, yachts, a very rapid speed boat, cruisers, ribs, steam ferries, you name it, they were all out for the day. The kayaks handled really well, reaching a top speed of 11.2km/h (6 knots) with the wind from behind, the rest of the kit is performing well and we're not doing bad either!
 
Underway
When we write this there are 24 hours to go until start, the next time you read something here we will have finished our expedition. We are aiming to complete the 2220km in 60 days. As always we have far too much equipment but the final packing will sort out the most essential from 'what seems like a good idea'. We will of course be bringing along a bottle of our wedding champagne that will accompany us to the finish and there may be room for the kitchen sink (well a collapsable bowl at least).

See you in August - or somewhere along the Swedish coastline...
 
Halfway
After an 80km paddle yesterday (not recommended !!!) we finally arrived at Resaro at 3.30 in the morning. A couple of days re-stocking, washing very smelly clothes and minor repairs to the kayaks at Pernilla and Christian's kayakers retreat and repair home :). It's been a stunning 32 days so far, with some pretty demanding conditions (up to 11m/s and 3 m waves), a very scary 5km roller coaster ride through Helsingborg harbour and a rough night paddle (the forecasters got it wrong!). We have also stayed in some wild places - a family's back garden after wind forced us to land; a marina Jetty after failing to find anwhere suitable at 1.30 in the morning and a rocky island(?!?) we shared with a snake and a toad. Then there have been the beaches that could have been in the West Indies, the heavenly smoked fish from the Fiskhusset in Torekov, the numerous people we have met along the way. So in a day we will be off on the next 1000km
 
Haparanda
We did it!!! On the evening of Sunday 31st July, we pulled into Haparanda on the Swedish-Finnish border to complete our journey around the coast of Sweden. After 56 days of paddling, nearly 1.5 million paddle strokes and dozens of mosquito bites, we are lean, tanned and in surprisingly good condition. 2220 was an amazing adventure, surprising, grueling, thrilling and very demanding.

We encountered winds over 12m/s, seas of over 3m, people who were kind and generous to us and all sorts of wildlife: harbour and grey seals, a snake and a toad, horseflies the size of bumble bees… we were surrounded by a flock of sheep, invaded by a herd of wooly cows and came across the jumping pike of Haparanda!

We have paddled in all kind of conditions: thick fog, strong winds with and against us, long rolling swells and high fast chop. We’ve been chilled, baked, wind dried, tumbled about in confusing roller-coaster seas and enjoyed hours speeding down surf waves. At times, after days of paddling into the wind, it seemed it would never end, then a strong following wind, a breathtaking sunset or waking up on a beautiful sun-drenched sandy beach would make it all worth it.
 
There were a few close calls: a night paddle when the skies darkened, the wind picked up and we had to head out around a breakwater; the longest 5km ever paddling along the sea wall in Helsingborg harbour amidst ferries, currents, a strong side wind and big refracting waves; there have been a few near misses with dozy speed boat drivers and two flash gales when the paddles felt like they would be ripped out of our hands.

When it was good it was very very good and when it was bad we wondered why we weren’t in the tropics sipping margaritas. Over the next few weeks we will be going through our logs, sorting through the 5700 photos and posting up our story to the site in a new Expedition area.

Finally, a big thank you to our sponsors, all the people who supported us throughout 2220 and the wonderful people we encountered on our journey.
 
Point 65 Sweden
Headquarter:
Karlbergs Strand 4
SE-171 73 Solna, Sweden
Ph: +46 8 663 01 06
mail@point65.se