Day 43. 13th of April (Friday). Stensö to Fågeludden. 33.2 km, 5.5 km/hr average speed.
Another day with headwind. And we made it a short one to go easy on the muscles and sinews.
Nevertheless, some interesting paddling. Shortly after we left the campsite we spotted category three of Stein’s simplified bird categorization scheme: An Eagle being chased by some sea-gulls. (In case any of you wonder about the two other categories, they are: “Pip-pip” and “gack-gack”.)
After two kilometers, we passed through the channel at the northern end of Stensö and then past Kalmar castle and through Kalmar centre. Looks like a nice and active city.
The rest of the day, we spent criss-crossing in order to hide from the wind behind small islands in the “skjærgård” north of Kalmar. So even though we paddled 33.2 km, it was not a straight line toward Stockholm.
About halfway we came to Drag, where all our maps showed a channel. It was there, and just deep enough for us to pull (dra) our kayaks through, but too little to paddle in. Anyway, 100 m of wading saved us several km paddling in 5 to 6 m/s headwind. (For a brief moment “back-office” questioned our navigation….)
A good day for us. Nice sunny weather, nice “seascape”, warm, at least when we were paddling.
As for signs of spring, Stein quashed a mosquito this morning… And we have seen flowers, bumblebees, and even a butterfly some days ago. But still cold water and chilly nights.
The Russian - Scandinavian Kayak Expedition 2018 -2022 
Very interesting and entertaining report. Friday the 13th did not turm out to be too bad at all. Finally, it looks as if the expedition gets rid of the headwind. Have a nice day!
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