Day 66 – then one guy shouted “Ah! The Norwegians!” – 6 May

Day 66. 6th of May. Drumsö to Löparö. 35.3 km, 7.1 km/hr average speed.

We started from Drumsö paddling club shortly before 1100, with Esikko waving us off. A late start, partly because the hotel breakfast didn’t open before 0800, and partly because we took the opportunity to repack the boats and squeeze in some more stuff from Bear and Water. Now if anything more goes in something must go out.

Not all we bought got to go with us though. A crow literally stole food out of the kayak. Not much, mostly some cheese. But it is annoying to be outsmarted by such a creature.

Paddling was smooth and fast in about 5 m/s tailwind and following waves. It was a nice day. First Sunday with spring qualities round here. A lot of pleasure craft were out, both under sail and motor. The motorboats slow down to minimize waves for kayaks almost without exception. The most considerate motorboats we’ve met so far is definitely the Finnish.

We also spotted a fleet of kayaks and paddled over. It was a local club out to train instructors. With our new caps from Bear and Water they first took us for fellow Finns, but then one guy shouted “Ah! The Norwegians!” He had checked the tracker in the morning and was thinking we might cross paths. We will not deny it: It felt OK to be recognized…

Also it shows one aspect of keeping a blog: Word can run a bit ahead of us and that helps break the ice. We hope this may work also in Russia, in spite of language challenges.

After about 35 km we faced a choice, an acceptable tenting spot to our right or an hours crossing in rising winds in front of us. We called it a day. We have ample time and good weather forecasts to our pick up point in Hamina.

We think and talk a lot about how things will turn out in Russia. Soon we’ll know a little more.