Paddle Posts

What a fantastic day! We headed out at nine AM for a short motoring to the next fjord. Beautiful scenery no mater which way you look.

We were told we could tie up at the little pier in the village of Bour on the island of Vagar.

It looked pretty dicey so we went in very slow and the keel touched bottom about 30 feet from the pier. We backed off and anchored off of the village and launched the kayaks right after lunch.

We paddled in some caves and arches and around the most beautiful island. On the outside of the island we came across hundreds of puffins. They are the neatest little birds and I’ve never seen so many in one place. Writing about todays paddle does not do it justice. Here are pictures to tell the story.

What a fantastic day! We headed out at nine AM for a short motoring to the next fjord. Beautiful scenery no mater which way you look.

We were told we could tie up at the little pier in the village of Bour on the island of Vagar.

It looked pretty dicey so we went in very slow and the keel touched bottom about 30 feet from the pier. We backed off and anchored off of the village and launched the kayaks right after lunch.

We paddled in some caves and arches and around the most beautiful island. On the outside of the island we came across hundreds of puffins. They are the neatest little birds and I’ve never seen so many in one place. Writing about todays paddle does not do it justice. Here are pictures to tell the story.

Still in the bunk at the start of the day and our boat is still rock and rolling. We finally made calm waters in the Faroe Islands and I slowly got myself going. It was around two o’clock so I’d spent about 34 hours in the bunk. I’m pretty beat as I was not really sleeping but rolling around.

We docked at the commercial docks in Vestmanna on the island of Streymoy.

As soon as we got the boat all tied up we all went for a walk around town. I was still pretty beat but the walk did great things for me. On top of that, we found the local grocery store. My shopping list included an ice cream bar and fresh strawberries. That’s what I really needed. I’m feeling much better now.

We started discussions on the plan for tomorrow. Looks like we’ll relocate the boat to the next fjord over and launch the kayaks for a great paddle.

Here are a few pics from our journey coming into the Faroe Islands.

We finished putting the Feather Craft together including a couple home made parts. After that we all packed a lunch and headed out in the kayaks towards the end of the fjord. We found lots of whales broaching and we were able to get pretty close to them. Really neat. We also found a World War Two landing craft on the beach. The rusting hulk has quite a history. Here are some pics for the day.

After getting back to the boat we loaded all the kayaks onboard had dinner and then headed out to sea. We were underway at eleven and this far north it’s still light out.

I took the first mid-watch with Siggi until four AM and then hit the sack.

Day three was spent at sea sailing towards the Faroe Islands. It got very rough out and our boat was bouncing all over the place. I spent the entire day in my bunk fighting sea sickness. Yuck 🤢.

We all slept in a little and then went for breakfast. After that, Matt and I grabbed our gear for the mile walk down to the dock where our boat, the BYR was waiting for us. She is a 60’ steel hulled traditional ketch.

Load and stow gear was the plan for the morning. Siggi, our captain was onboard with his first mate and wife Anuka. They also have two young children that will be sailing with us. They are fantastic folks and will be great to sail with.

The plan is to have a safety brief and then head south for about four hours to the next fjord with an evening paddle to follow.

We had a bit of a problem getting out of the harbor. The engine water temperature alarm kept going off, but the temp gauge showed normal temperatures. We did not want to head out into the North Atlantic with a problem so we turned around and started heading in slowly changing speed to see if the water temp responded accordingly. It did so we thought it was an electrical connection issue. Siggi and I went down into the engine room and I reconnected some of the water temp connectors, making sure they were clean and tight. Back topside and in the pilot house, all looked good so another U-turn and we headed out.

Ok, here we go again. I spent both days working my way up to the east coast of Iceland. I was pretty beat by the time I got into the little town of Seydisfjordur.

The flight was first going to Boston with a four hour layover. Then switching airlines and flying to Reykjavik. After landing there, I had to take a bus to the domestic airport and then hang out for another four hours before I caught the flight to a little town near the final destination. Matt our kayak guide showed up as well as Matt and Alice, two of the other paddlers on this adventure.

We all got on the smaller plane for the 55 minute flight which went well. Then we had to find transport into the town where our boat is waiting for us. They have a bus service that takes you to Seydisfjordur and it runs twice a day based on the two flights per day that arrive from Reykjavik. What no one told us is that the bus would not be running that afternoon due to some sort of holiday. Go figure. So we looked into renting a car but the rental guy was not keen on driving all the way in to pick up the car so, he offered to drive us there instead. Of course there was a big fee involved and it had to be cash. So, that’s what we did. Not much other choice.

On the drive, we had to go over a small mountain pass and the down to town. An interesting point was the road we were on. If you have ever seen the movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, you might remember the high speed skateboard seen where Walter is flying down this long, swooping road at high speed. That’s the road we were on and I could almost visualize doing it on a skateboard. But, you’d have to be really really good and a bit crazy.

We did stop along the way to to check out a nice waterfall. Then it was into town and the hostel I stayed at for the night. It was a very long couple of days.

This will be quite the adventure. A little paddling on the east coast of Iceland, then sail to the Faroe Islands for more paddling, then sail to the Shetland Islands to paddle more and then sail to Norway to close out the adventure. Here we go!

The plan of attack – All paddlers met up in San Diego. After introductions and our own “at home”covid tests, we headed out to dinner and then got some rest for the long drive starting early in the morning.

Up before sunrise, we loaded all our gear into the van and then walked around the corner for a quick breakfast. After that it was a long twelve hour day to get to camp. We crossed the boarder in Tijuana with no issues.

Nice to not have any COVID test requirements at all. After immigration we headed south through Ensenada and then a boring part of the drive. About halfway we followed the road inland for some amazing scenery.

We made it to camp in good order. The last three miles were pretty close to a four wheel drive path but passable in the van. We set up camp in the palapas and had dinner followed by introductions and general plan for the next few days. With the long drive behind us and full bellies everyone called it a night pretty early. My tent was set up outside between two palapas and it proved very cozy. Since the plan for the next five days was to paddle and play in the surf I won’t have daily posts. What follows are some good pics of our location with captions so you get an idea.

So that’s it for this Surf Camp post. I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting to build more skills surfing kayaks.

Darrel, JF and I got up early to cast off and get underway. No issues getting out of the harbor and back into the Beagle Channel. We are now working our way back to Ushuaia.

It was a long slog back to Ushuaia. We had lots of waves and head wind to deal with. It did get quite rough as we got close to the harbor.

All’s well in Ushuaia. We tied up next the the big aluminum sailboat and some of their crew were on deck to give us a hand which made it very quick and easy. Next up was to remove all the kayaks from the boat, wash them down and stow them on the racks at the yacht club. All done with that we gathered up all our personal gear and got that stuff off the boat. Then it was sitting around waiting for all the immigration stuff to be completed. We did get a special exemption for COVID tests to enter Argentina so that was good.

We all went our separate ways back to hotels or AirBnB accommodations. Later on we met up for dinner with the entire team at a local Argentine barbecue. Some really good stuff.

So that’s it. A really fantastic paddle adventure that I’ll never forget. Great location, great paddle team, exceptional sailboat and now good paddling friends. Tomorrow I’ll hang out, get another COVID test for getting back home, pack my gear and start thinking about the next adventure.

With that said, I’m finally finishing these Chilean Fjord posts as I’m sitting in a hotel in San Diego. Tomorrow, a bunch of us will jump in a van and travel ten to twelve hours through the Baja to a spot on the pacific side for some great surf paddling with Sea Kayak Baja Mexico. I’ll be out of cell coverage so will have to pick up the posts for this one after I get back. You will be able to follow along in the paddle tracks as they will be live and just about real time.

Happy Paddling, Scott

The plan for today is to make our way back to Port Williams to check out of Chili. Not sure why we do that other than the Chilean rules are a bit weird. To get in we had to have a PCR test before arrival and an antigen test once we arrived.

It will be a pretty long run to the port but if we make good time we may be able to launch the kayaks and paddle the last few miles. Some pictures along the way towards Puerto Williams.

We are making pretty good time so it looks like we’ll have a couple hours to paddle the last few miles to Port Williams. The weather has gotten really nice for a paddle. Lots of blue sky for the first time in many days. This morning it was cold, rain and sleet and socked right in so it was good for transiting via sale boat.

We got to within eight to nine miles of Port Williams and most of us launched kayaks. We had a really interesting paddle. It started out calm with lots of sun then turned into sleet and a moderate wind. About half way the wind dropped and rain stopped so it was nice again for a while. Then it came barreling in. We had seen it to the west of us and also got a heads up on the radio form the boat. A big squall landed on top of us and it was quite gnarly.

We made it around the point, into the harbor and found our boat tied up next to a beautiful $10 million yacht. Quite nice. We raced to gat all kayaks onboard and the did the march around town to all the immigration offices and the harbor master office to get our clearance stuff done.

After a great Argentine dinner by Anita and some brownies by Justine it was time to hit the sack. I took a look outside and found a lot of big wet snowflakes coming down. Really pretty in the harbor with a heavy snowfall.

Our last paddle day was quite adventurous and a great time.