Ice in July
The unboxing
Unpacking a well-packed kayak still feels like opening a Christmas present, even if the gift might belong to someone else.
I sliced the wrapping carefully, aiming for clean cuts so the material could be reused. Meanwhile, people were already pulling on their gear and lining up to try it. A very good sign, but stressful. With the amount of hoops I had to jump through to get the kayak here, at least I wanted to make the first scratches myself!
I jumped into the drysuit and tuilik, launched in record time, and slipped into the clear, salty water. No surprises: the Naja Raz rolls like a dream, with or without the extra padding I brought along. Thanks Ulrich!
Small icebergs drifted nearby as we paddled. Most photos we all took turned out to be the usual tourist shots: someone either rolling or smiling in front of something impressively sea-worthy. But you gots to has them :)
A quick session confirmed the "winter kayaking" floating: you float noticeably better in salt water with a drysuit than in our lakes or the brackish waters back around Stockholm. At least compared to just a pair of shorts and a tuilik. Since our days are packed with places to be, things to see, (soon) competitions to participate in, socializing etc. I am thankful for my new German Dry Fashion drysuit, which has not let in one drop of the ocean yet. And yeah, it is white/red to honor The Flag and this particular kayak.
The next couple of days I mostly stayed on land, taking photos and coaching from the shore. Karin A. nailed her first hand roll and elbow roll on day two. That takes real willingness to take risks here, because the icebergs can suddenly split, explode, or lazily roll over with tens of tons of ice. You really don’t want to be close when that happens. It did happen yesterday, luckily with no one nearby, though the screams from shore were loud enough. Today I paddled past some bus-sized ones. Nothing dramatic, but the strong ocean current pushing into the fjord kept things lively. I could paddle out a few kilometres, roll for a while, and the current would carry me right back.
Someone told me this is the largest fjord in the world. I’ll take their word for it.
After a few days I still don’t have one decent photo of myself in the kayak. Not that the world needs another bearded guy on the water, rolling, trying to look koool, but it would have been nice for my own memory. At least I shot hundreds of pictures and gave everyone else a chance to try the Naja-Raz and play model.
Stopped by a gift shop today. Looks like I’ll have to settle for the classic tourist t-shirt after all. One with a kayaker and Greenland on it. I might have to add the beard on the t-shirt...