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Point Summer Paddle by John Paul Bichard

Publicerad: 2010.01.01 Uppdaterad: 2013.03.08 Av: Caroline Nilsson
During the last week of august 2006 we closed the shop and office to go out for a paddle tour in the Stockholm archipelago. John Paul Bichard, who paddled around Swedens 2220km Coast in 2005 with his wife Louisa (read more about this trip below), came along as well. On his page you will find the pictures and an entertaining and inspiring account of the trip.
After a summer of back injury and 3 weeks of summer flu, finally a chance to get some decent paddling - and what an opportunity. We got an invite from Point's Richard to join them on a 2 day paddle with Nigel Foster and his wife Kristin Nelson. Louisa had to work for the 2 days and was much missed.


The weather, true to form, fooled everyone into believing it would be solid rain, then broke to give us our first day of sun and strong south westerly winds: perfect for the run down the exposed west coast of Öja, an island at the very southern tip of Stockholm's archipelago. The seemingly leisurely paddle from Torö harbour to the southern point of Öja was an ideal setting for the 26 paddlers of wildly varied abilities: from Nigel 'paddling-for-a-lifetime' Foster through the more experienced paddlers, family members to Margaux who was to encounter her first ever paddle in a kayak - in 8-10 m/s winds (force 5) and big waves. The days paddle was superb, the core group moving at a steady pace led by Nigel and Kirstin and accompanied by Tomas, Malte the photographer and Johan, Point's kajak design guru, in a speed boat. The pace left plenty of time for the more adventurous to get in close and very personal with the rocks: some great moves by Pelle, Emily, Paul (is there anything he can't paddle with style?), the other Pelle, Carin, Carina and the completely bonkers Justin who found out what it's like 2 metres under water with a rock one side and wave breaking directly overhead... Both Justin and Pelle then went on to show us what it's like to be slid up onto the gently sloping rocks by big surf: polythene boats of course!
 
Superstars of the days paddle were 'the 3 girls': Richard's daughter Axeline. Tomas' daughter Zoë and Margaux their cousin from France: In a triple kayak, they battled their way through headwinds and seas that would have challenged most intermediate paddlers: the sound of "1..2..1..2.. SHRIEK" as they plunged over another big wave was hilarious: all respect to the three of them. On reaching port, Nigel went off with the motor launch and Malte the photographer for a photo shoot while a group of us set off to the southern tip and some excellent surf conditions.
The sea was great: big sharp swells powering into a chunky refracting playground by the rocks. The perfect run was catching a wave straight into the cliffs, then pulling a sharp left to follow it around a small point, or running a narrow channel that was aligned with the swell (I missed that one, but Paul and Justin were blasted through it!). Some admirable capsizes from Lina who elegantly caught her first surf waves and Roger who had only ever been in a single kayak twice previously: that didn't make any difference to his ambition and determination to attempt self rescue.
 
An evening walk to the lighthouse and along the stunning granite point followed by drinks overlooking the bay and a typically stunning sunset. There followed an unusual 'rustic' dinner in the canteen: the whole island is a former military base, the hostels we stayed in former barracks flanked by a brutalist concrete look-out tower and the beautiful fiery red and white Landsort lighthouse. Before bed, calvados & marshmallows accompanied a talk by Kristin and Nigel on their 2004 Labrador expedition: tales of bleak dreamlike seascapes, crazy weather conditions and numerous polar bear encounters: Kristin's ability to reprimand a polar bear about to break into her back hatch "Bear begone!" probably shouldn't be emulated.


Next day was a scorcher: not a cloud in the sky and (unfortunately) the faintest of breezes meant a leisurely sun drenched paddle along the west coast before returning to Torö. Less demanding paddling meant an opportunity to catch up with Louise  about her recent (9 days ago) solo row around the Swedish coastline: swapping experiences and finding out what it is like to experience the world backwards! An attempt to save a cormorant stuck in a fishing net ended with the bird sadly drowning which was, fortunately (for us not the bird of course) the only casualty of the 2 days.
Lunch in a small bay was a great opportunity for a game of water polo: Paul versus Louise, Lina and the highly skilled Roger (not entirely fair but highly entertaining). As if the '3 girls in a boat' hadn't had enough excitement the day before, the sight of Richard suddenly appearing from the depths, in true Richard style, sounding like a blood crazed polar bear, was met with shrieks of delight and surprise, not unlike the previous day's waterbourne thrills. The last stretch was given a boost as we tucked in close behind the speedboat and caught the wash to get a continuous surf wave albeit a little more sedate than the previous days encounters. Back to harbour, packed up and a leisurely drive to Pampas, followed by a well deserved pile of ice cream at one of Stockholm's finest ice cream parlours.

What a wonderful 2 days paddling: great conditions, excellent company and thrills to go round for everyone.

Big thanks to Tomas and Richard (the Point 65 founders) for putting on the event, Lina for organising the trip so well and Paul, Justin, Emelie, Roger, Pelle and Louise for getting everything there and back again.

Last but not least, thanks to Nigel and Kirstin for bringing their understated professionalism, wild paddling tales, encouragement and confidence to the trip.
Point 65 Sweden
Headquarter:
Karlbergs Strand 4
SE-171 73 Solna, Sweden
Ph: +46 8 663 01 06
mail@point65.se