Lundøya to Manshausen 33 km, 5.5 km/hr average speed. Start 1030 arrive 1700.
It was a very wet night and morning, the tents felt like 1 kg heavier than usual as we packed them. Nothing but the tents got truly wet, but everything is a bit damp. It will be good to dry things up, particularly the down sleeping bags. Anyway, it was the first time in the three years that we broke camp in pouring rain, so no complaints.
As we paddled out of the cove we were very eager to feel the wind, the wind would shape our day. Fortunately the wind was a lot weaker than forecast. Maybe 4 m/s against 7 m/s, that means only a third of the wind force. Again the forecast had missed on the high side. No complaints about that either.
We paddled through the islets and skerries west of Engeløya in light winds and light rain. Best to be in the kayaks, but lunch is also necessary so we stopped at the remains of Batterie Dietl, one of the largest forts built by the Germans during WW2. Or not built by them, but rather by 2000 Russian POWs and three thousand more forced laborers from across Europe. It was built to control Vestfjorden and protect the sea lane to Narvik an important source of (Swedish) iron ore.
We paddled on to Manshausen with just one more short break and arrived at 1700. Two hours before dinner. Time to empty the boats and hang the first batch of wet stuff out to dry.
We live in the quarters called the “Expedition loft”. When we spread out with all our stuff it looks the part.
The restaurant was full (!) for the evening, but an excellent plan B was the “cabin dinner”. Monkfish with potatoes and cabbage. A very tasty meal, if not exepdition size.
Tomorrow we will rest and dry our stuff, weather be damned.
The Russian - Scandinavian Kayak Expedition 2018 -2021 