2. aug. 20194 min lesing

Part 17, The trips biggest surprise! A shark checking me out for 10 minutes! and so many beaches!

Oppdatert: 6. mar. 2020

Day81 is another windy and sunny day, winds are expected to reach 11 m/s from the north east the same way I am going so I make my way between Mannshausen and Naustholmen both islands are adventures islands. Mannshausen is where Børge Ousland lives and he has established himself as the leading polar explorer of our time. And on the other side you have Naustholmen where Randi Skaug lives, she is the first Norwegian woman on Everest, a Seven summits holder. I was planning to stop by here but I can’t find a good place to go in with the winds so I just keep going. I make my way to the end of Frammundøya, here I have my lunch and decide to take a short day and wait for the winds to calm down

Distance for the day 4,7 nautical miles, trash in water x0 and on land x33

Day82 the wind is not slowing down but it’s nice and warm, I want to make my way into Skutvik on the inside of the islands for some cower from the winds but the winds are too strong to make it in so I just push myself over to Engleøya and find a local Joker for some food shopping, they have a nice space where I can eat and do some editing so I just relax knowing that the wind still are high. Just after 12am is when I make a new attempt but instead of going in the fjord I make my way on the outside, it’s a little calmer now and I make my way between beautiful coral beaches, make some pit stop to rest every now and then. I keep going until I find a nice beach on the small island of Flatøya on the north tip of Engleøya and after cleaning the beach I get in my tent for some sleep zzzzzzzz.

Distance for the day 16,7 nautical miles, trash in water x2 and on land x 30Liter+

Day83 still strong winds but I get going north east but after an hour it gets a little more than I am ready for this morning. Strong winds and waves double my high are braking over me so I find a really nice bay with a nice sandy beach between two islands, I don’t even bother to set up the tent, just sleeping bag and lie down next to the kayak for cover and dowse off into dreamland.

It’s not much other to do than relax and eat….. at 11pm I can’t wait any longer so I get going, I almost turn back due to high winds but I want to make it to the next safe spot so I just fight my way to Hopøya where I get full shelter from the winds so I take a short brake here but where there is no winds there are mosquitos and lots of them so I don’t stay long, good energy here and the softest sand I have felt!

I make my way out from the shelter and the wind is finally slowing down. I make my way to Selsøya at 2.10am where I make the decision to cross over to Lofoten, it’s blowing at 5 m/s atm and it will slow down during the morning hours. The first hour I am afraid I have made a bad decision but then the winds slows down and I start going more west so I get the waves in my back. And after around 2 hours of kayaking I spot a fin in the water, we follow each other for around 10 minutes before he gets tired of me and move on! At first I believe it to be and whale at some sort but when I see the back fin popping up I get euphoric, it’s a SHARK!

You will see the shark under water at the end of the video!

Did you know that we have 9 sharks living in Norway and another 9 that visit from time to time? I believe this is a Porbeagle shark. In Norway we have one registered shark attack but that was in self-defense when a diver grabbed a sleeping shark and it gave the dive computer a bite

I now make my way to the small port of Risvær where I eat some food and hide out around a corner of the building where I get in my sleeping bag until they open the restaurant.

Distance for the day 27,2 nautical miles, trash in water x0 and on land x0

Day84 I wake up after some hours and they have opened the restaurant, I start by checking the tape and get confirmed for different sources that it is a Porbeagle shark! Super cool, my fifth shark species! I stay here for a while eat, relax and edit this post.

As the sun starts going down behind the tall mountains I start kayaking my way closer to Svolvær and as I pass between Stormolla and Litlmolla I spot a nice beach on the on the north side of Litlmolla where I set up my camp for the night zzzzzzzzzzzz