Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Kjeholmen (left of center)
(Click for larger image)

As the observant westcoastpeaks reader may have noticed; I went out and bought myself an inflatable boat the other day. The only reason for this investment in naval equipment is that I enjoy seeing new places and spots. And without a boat, there's a number of small islands in my local region that I'm cut off from. But no more.

Awaiting a kayak investment in 2010, I was eager to test the Seahawk. It would be fair to say that my experience (as a grown up - pretending I am one) with the sea is quite limited. I've never sailed, kayaked or ever put my feet in an inflatable boat (alone). I did go on a canoe trip on Lake Femunden a couple of decades ago, and that's pretty much it. I did grow up with the sea and fjords, but 20 years of soccer put me back to scratch.

About to head out from Kjeldsund
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I had to get acquainted with my chunk of rubber and had (eventually) been able to inflate it in my living room. Fortunately, it didn't take too long (or too much effort) to inflate it. I then partially deflated it and stuffed it into the trunk of my car. With optimal deflation, I can store it on the passenger seat, and still drive with the roof down. The future looks bright..

I had been under the impression that I had bought a Seahawk 300, but while unwrapping it, I noticed that it was a Seahawk 3. I had no clue about what I had lost with the two zeroes, but it felt wrong. And I'm not even sure if there is a 300 model...

I then drove to Kjeldsund, inflated it and headed out. Within a minute, it was p o u r i n g down. I didn't have a clear destination, but at least I wanted to get to the top of one of the nearby islands. Everything went smooth in the beginning, but due to a strong current, it was very difficult to take pictures. Without using the oars, I kept spinning around.

Looking back on Kjeldsund
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After a little while, I was below the high point of Kjeholmen - rising a mighty 25m(!) above sea level. I looked for a place to get onshore when I heard a weird sound. It turned out to be the valve in the main chamber that was (seriously) leaking air. I suspected I had put too much air into chamber #2, which in turn put pressure on this valve. Once on the island, I tried to put more air into the main chamber, but this only resulted in more air going out. This was a bit disconcerting. It was tempting to try some more, but the floor was already soft, and I didn't want to get stuck on Kjeholmen island!

I decided to turn around, but first, the Kjeholmen high point was to be visited! Once on top, someone at Kjeldsund kept shouting "Come here! come here!" in a megaphone. This was very annoying. Who was this person shouting at? Me? What have I done wrong? Was this a privately owned island, and did the owner own a megaphone? Well, I was turning back anyway, and I was now curious about two things; a) would I have enough air in the boat, and b) would I encounter a very mad person at Kjeldsund?

The answer to a) was yes, and the answer to b) was (unfortunately) no. In any case, me and the hawk have been seaborne, and more small islands are about to be visited...