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Gone cayaking...

 
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anthony
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Joined: 12 Nov 2001
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Location: Norway

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:52 pm    Post subject: Gone cayaking... Reply with quote

Greetings!

To see where I've gone, check www.telemarkskanalen.com

More to come later...

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anthony
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Location: Norway

PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 3:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Gone cayaking... Reply with quote

Well, for those who want to know, I'm still alive...

I started out from Båen Camping(I think that was the name) In Dalen at about 10:30 today.
By 12:00 I understood why nobody wanted to come along...
Bandak, the uppermost lake on the route, is nothing but a looong wavemachine. At times I was 'crawling' along at less than 2Km/H instead of the expected 6 - 8 Km/H(The route is slightly over 100 Km, so should be doable in a day if you get favorable conditions)

At about 18:00 I managed to get a photo of a rainbow(It's big, so will have to wait with uploading it), but a few minutes later I got caught in the rain that created it...

!9:30 I called it a day, and can write that I paddled about 8Hours(had a couple of rest stops), have done about 40Km, the water is COLD, the tent is shit! and I'm running out of Propane for my stove. (Hope I have enough to make some tea tomorrow.

Some history...
I started planning this trip last fall, and then envisioned that it might take me about 4 or 5 days. Then I started asking around for companions, but no one was interested.
In May I bought all the maps for the area (6 in the 1:50.000 scale) at www.statkart.no
Then I scanned and printed those parts that were of interest for me and laminated them. That way I ended up with 14 map sections in roughly A5 size(didn't have larger laminate pouches, but they seems to fit OK on the foredeck )
Early on I realised that I needed some sort of wheels for my cayak since it weighs in at about 20Kg empty, and therefore is bl**dy awkward to transport for any distances over land. I ended up buying a mini skateboard and cut it to pieces, keeping just one wheel-set and attached straps to that. When I strap it to the cayak it is possible to move it on hard surfaces, but not gravel. On grass I don't need the wheels since it slides just fine there.
I arrived in Skien, the other end of the canal, on Saturday morning, after having had only two or three hours sleep that night, and took the boat M/S Victoria from there to the other end. This is a trip of about 11Hours, and well worth the trip as the scenery is beautiful. (At the end and several other stops there are busses to take you back to Skien if you want to)
I had originally planned to spend the trip looking for good campsites and the easiest ways past the locks, but because it was raining on the first part of the journey and I was dead-tired, I spent a lot of the trip belowdecks, drinking tea and trying not to fall asleep.
It is incredible what you can get into a small(4m38) cayak...
I'll have to take a snapshot of my gear strewn around, and also when it's all stowed away.

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anthony
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Location: Norway

PostPosted: Tue Jul 01, 2003 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Didn't update yesterday because it was slower going than expected so I didn't finish the trip and I didn't dare unpack the PDA in the damp tent.
The day started out good enough, and I was off at 09:15.
At 12:00 one of the tourist boats passed me. For a few moments I were able to ride the waves it produced and gained some speed...
Then the waves reflected back from the shore...
(The shores are steep, and some parts of the lakes are 350meters deep, so there's not much of a beach to absorb the energy)
Lucky that I never met any big boats in the narrow sections of the canal...
The first locks were easy...
On the first I just carried the cayak past it, with the aid of a tourist,
on the second the crew on the lock offered to cycle me through...
That's right, they cycle cayaks and canoes through the locks!
(I doubt they do that in the Panama canal Smile
Of course I don't recommend doing it if you're going up, because the currents are... a wee bit stronger...
The last locks that day I had to carry the cayak past because the crew went home at 19:00, and well... Lets say I'm glad I made a support wheel for the cayak...
That leaves one lock...
Lunde. I stopped there to get dinner.
I'm appaled!
I have nothing against Germans, but when the person behind the desk doesn't speak Norwegian I feel the right to be irritated. I ordered a small pizza...
It took 45minutes for them to make it. And when it came the bottom was thick and hard, and the filling... The minced meat was in large(almost golfball) sized clumps and the onion almost raw(made my eyes water)
I really wonder why they had a 'tip jar' on the counter.

I paddled until about 22:00 that evening, then set up camp.
That led to that days last surprise...
When I took the tent out of the rear 'watertight' compartment I poured half a liter of water from it.

Today I started paddling at about 10:00 and well...
Nothing much happened. I passed some more locks. The crew offered to cycle me through, but since it was a multiple chamber(5 I think) and they were busy with loads of timber I becided to be nice and not upset their schedule(Besides, it was faster to mount the wheels and walk around than it would have been riding the locks)
Ended up in skien at about 14:00 totally exhausted...
My shoulders, elbows and now my wrists are hurting, I'm sore in unmentionable places(try sitting in wet shorts for three days in a row) and I found that the 'water resistant' sun-block isn't...
The tent has been binned. (Literally)
I need to fix the leak in the rear compartment, rub on some ointment and get my jeans out of the dryer. (They were in a bag in the same compartment as the tent)
Then I need to hire someone to hit me over the head with a hammer the next time i get such a crazy idea...

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anthony
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a couple of notes that I should have mentioned earlier...

On the second day I saw a beaver. It surfaced about 20meters in front of my cayak and I immediately stopped paddling, to drift slowly closer. When I stopped the bow of my cayak was no more than 5meters away from it and it showed no sign of being frightened.
It didn't react when I dropped the oar, or when I picked up my digital camera, but when I turned it on and it beeped...
A quick slap on the water with its tail, a splash and away it went.

Yes, there are beavers in the canal. Several of them in fact. Luckily, they don't build dams, so doesn't do much damage to the local woods. Not that they need to; the water level never changes more than about .5meters.

It also seems that I left my brothers house a day or two early (on friday)since on saturday I became uncle to a boy.
I guess that means another trip to Oslo this fall, to witness the baptism.

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anthony
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Location: Norway

PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd pass that message on, but...

Neither my brother nor his wife knows what I'm doing on the net, and I'm not ready to explain, yet.
(I expect a fair amount of teasing from my brother.)

Anyone know the story 'Beauty and the Beast'?
Did they ever get a child?

Just wondering, because they kind of remind me of that story...

:-) Smile Smile

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A propane stove?
why not a...er whats the english word...
I can try it in swedish insted.
Varför inte ett sprit kök?
Du vet ensåndär som använder lite röd sprit i en liten eh...
ser ut som en capsyl eller ett lock...
och rödsprit kan man ju hitta nästan över allt...
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anthony
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2003 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Greetings!

Why a propane stove instead of a 'T-max'/alcohol stove?

The burner on my Trangia stove alone is almost as large as the smallest (227gram) propane cartridges, and with the bottle of fuel, it becomes too big...
(The Trangia stove is about 1Kg, and takes up a lot of room)

The propane stove is just a burner screwed on top of the propane cartridge, and can fit in your pocket.
The cartridge fits inside the 1Liter kettle I bought, so takes almost no space. (I wish I could have afforded the Primus Technotrail burner for that one would have fitted inside the kettle together with the cartridge, but.... )

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Embarassed
Whel sorry then.
I thought the propane thingie were alrger and thath a alcohol burning thingie were smaller. Embarassed
Sorry, its been somewhat like 10 years since i were on a -true- camping trip.
(my only one realy. Sad )
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thath were me by the way.
forgot to add my username. Embarassed
It is not my day today...
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anthony
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well...

You can get smaller alcohol stoves, I've seen some that are almost as small as the propane stove, but you still need a bottle for the fuel.

And you can of course get larger propane stoves. You know, with legs to stand on, a wind-shield and which can take large pots and pans.

It's just a question of what your requirements are.

I still prefer the alcohol stove on day-trips or when weight/space isn't at a premium.
(For one thing I got a large teflon-coated frying-pan for it Smile

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