LEO gathering at Rovaniemi

It was already two years since we had previous LEO (Nature Experience Guides) gathering at Santa-Sport at Rovaniemi, which have been selected as one of the Olympic training centers in Finland.

Santa-Sport is Olympic Training Center

The weekend 19.-21.8 was booked for this year gathering event. We started on Friday by updating Finnish Climbing Association's Rope Work Supervisor - license by climbing and practicing at Hiidenkirnut - cliffs just south of Rovaniemi.

Updating Rope work supervisor license

The license needs to be updated every 5 years, so the next update will happen in 2021...

On Saturday we headed to Vikaköngäs rapids and started rafting. Couple of runs before the competition round, where altogether 5 teams were competing. The first start was the sprint and our team got the second best time. After the sprint there were head-to-head rounds and we managed to go onto finals, but again one team was faster than us.

Rafting marathon race at Vikaköngäs

At the end the competition was ended by marathon race, where our result was second again. Therefore our final ranking was second.

At adventure park Huima

On Sunday morning we familiarized ourselves with Adventure park Huima, which is located next to Santa-Sport.

Vuoksennauhamelonta-paddling, day 4 Jakokoski - Joensuu (39 km)

It was the fourth and last day of this first part of Vuoksennauha - paddling. The goal was to reach Joensuu and continue from Joensuu on 23rd of August after two weeks.

The start of the day was rainy, there were a heavy rain shower when we started our paddling from Jakokoski. Most of the day we had strong headwind, up to 8 m/s and for some parts of the river we were struggling slowly but steadily towards Joensuu.

At Kuurna - channel

Roughly after 4 hours paddling we reached the second dam and channel, Kuurna. The drop at Kuurna is nearly as high as in Kaltimo, only 1 meter lower, being 8 meters. As well as in Kaltimo, it took approximately half an hour to get through the locks and the channel.

Cruise ship Vinkeri at Pielisjoki

We had lunch break at Utransaari - island near Joensuu, which was familiar from the earlier visits. I have been born and raised in Joensuu and thus knowing pretty well this part of Finland. Paddling through the city center and through the Joensuu - channel was memorable moment for me.

At lunch break at Utransaari - island

We landed on a dock of local paddling club, Joensuun kauhojat, and left our kayaks there to wait us for the continuation within two weeks. Thank you for Joensuun kauhojat!

Approaching Joensuu - channel

Family Kärkkäinen provided us accommodation and facilities at Joensuu. It felt extremely good to have the possibility to have sauna and wash ourselves after 4 days paddling. Thank you Timo, Anita and Nuutti for this luxury.

Back to Tampere and after two weeks we'll continue paddling...

The paddling route of the fourth day can be seen here.

Vuoksennauhamelonta-paddling, day 3 Koli - Jakokoski (47 km)

The morning was foggy, but soon sun was shining and warming causing fog to disappear in minutes. It was totally calm and extremely beautiful morning. I decided to paddle on a light shirt instead of paddling anorak.

On a calm Pielinen

The first stretch to Ahveninen was roughly 10 km. We stopped for a coffee break at the kiosk at Ahveninen and enjoyed the hot summer weather. After Ahveninen there were the last 10 km crossing in Pielinen to Uimaharju city after which Pielisjoki - river section would start.

At coffee break at Ahveninen

Enocell - pulp mill loomed in a horizon and we headed towards it. Just after the bridge we landed on the small harbor at Uimaharju and had the quick lunch at sunshine.

Enocell pulp mill at Uimaharju

The narrower stretch along Pielisjoki - river started and it was nice to paddle nearer the shore for a while. The headwind of 4 m/s greeted us when paddling towards Jakokoski. We passed Eno and saw Harpatinvaara - hill, where Jukola orienteering relay will be organized next summer.

Pielisjoki has been harnessed to generate electricity and there are 2 dams and power stations on the way. The highest drop of 9 meters is located at Kaltimo and we passed Kaltimo power station via Kaltimo - channel. It took roughly half an hour to get through the locks.

Between locks at Kaltimo - channel

At Jakokoski we found a nice tenting place at historic museum channel of Jakokoski.

At historic museum channel in Jakokoski

The paddling route of the third day can be seen here.

Vuoksennauhamelonta-paddling, day 2 Paalasmaa - Koli (44 km)

After good sleep due to late arrival the next morning showed up sunny and beautiful. We didn't had hurry at all and therefore the preparation for the today's paddling took time. Porridge and yogurt with rye bread tasted heavenly and gave enough energy for the morning paddle.

Crossing at Pielinen

The plan was to do a little bit longer stretch at first to Loma-Koli, which is area of holiday apartments next to Koli national park. There were couple of longer crossings, but the weather was good and there were no sign of thunderstorms, which were forecast for Sunday.

When having lunch at the beach at Loma-Koli, dark thunder clouds were moving on a close proximity and just passed us hardly. We didn't get any rain at all.

At camp

It was 7 PM, when landing on the Rykiniemi - beach and tenting area at Koli national park. There were couple of tents, but it was easy to find a place for our tent. Beautiful place for camping.

Morning at Rykiniemi beach

The paddling route of the second day can be seen here.

Morning dew at kayak deck

Vuoksennauhamelonta-paddling, day 1 Nurmes - Paalasmaa (39 km)

At last I was able to start Vuoksennauhamelonta paddling from Nurmes to Lappeenranta.

Laamila beach

The starting location of the paddling was the beach at Laamila at Nurmes. It was already at 3 PM when the packing of the kayaks were done and finally after 3:30 PM we headed towards south. It was mild headwind, not too bad to paddle and wind was calming even more during the evening.

At sunset on Pielinen - lake

Pielinen is the fourth largest lake in Finland and we had over 100 km paddling ahead of us to cross the lake from north to south.

Paalasmaa

The plan was to reach Paalasmaa camping, roughly 40 km to the south and because sun was setting already at 10 PM we had to paddle without breaks to reach camping area before darkness. It was about that time when we get ashore at Paalasmaa camping and pitched the tent. Paalasmaa is the highest island in Finland having three over 200 m peaks.

At Paalasmaa camping

The paddling route of the first day can be seen here.

10-year paddling project completed !!!!

Finally at Bogskär!

The 64 km route to Bogskär lighthouse can be found from here. The next day 50 km open sea crossing back to Kökar archipelago can be found here and the last 18 km stretch back to Sandviken camping from here.

On 28th of June 2016 after 2 years planning and waiting suitable weather conditions I finally managed to paddle to the southernmost point of Finland, Bogskär lighthouse islet in the middle of Baltic Sea. Bogskär is surrounded by 40 km open sea and that makes it very hard to paddle safely. There are no shelter at all and constant wind makes the paddling demanding.

It was roughly 3 years ago, when I spoke to one of my paddling friend, Jarkko, and ask him to join me in order to paddle to Bogskär island and complete my lighthouse paddling project (altogether 74 lighthouses). We started planning two years back and recruited third man, Pertti, to join our expedition.

During the summer 2015 we were ready to paddle, but due to extremely windy weather conditions we were not able to find a decent period of time, when paddling could be safely done.

Quite suddenly after midsummer this year the weather forecast was showing a possible weather - window to accomplish 4 day and 130 km paddling trip.

We started to drive 3 kayaks on top of the car from Tampere on Monday morning 27th of June towards Korppoo and Galtby harbor, from where the ferry took us to Kökar archipelago. It was 6 PM, when we drove to Sandviken camping and started to pack our kayaks for the evening paddle towards outer small islets on the sea. The headwind was stronger than we expected and instead of planned 25 km paddling we managed to paddle only 7 km just to the next island, Ändör,  to the west from Kökar.

View towards Kökar archipelago from Ändör

The terns kept me awake whole night and I was already up at wake-up time 5:30. The wind was calmed during the night and after breakfast we headed towards south-west in a beautiful sunny weather. After three hours paddling we reached outermost islets with huge seal colony. There were hundreds of seals following our kayaks and looking our lunch break at Bredkläpp - islet.

Terns flying on a sunset on Ändör

The long 40 km crossing started at 11:20 and wind increased to 5 m/s and further gradually up to 8,5 m/s when we finally after 8 hours crossing reached Bogskär lighthouse island. The landing was demanding, but we managed to get ashore and I was extremely happy and tired. During the long evening we did some filming, had a dinner and pitched our tents next to lighthouse. There were not too many spots where to pitch a tent! We got a possibility to look at the couple of seals, who were sleeping on the rocks of Bogskär.

Coming to Bogskär lighthouse

The wind was calming again during the night and morning showed sunny and calm. Today we headed to North-East and we had a mild tailwind behind us. After 4 km paddling passed Bogskär - daymark island and started a long and exhausting crossing. Finally after 11 hours and 50 km paddling the crossing was over and we reached the southernmost archipelago of Kökar. I was relieved when crossings were  over and we had only 18 km paddling tomorrow to Sandviken camping through the archipelago.

Bogskär - daymark

On Thursday morning 30th of June at 7:30 we started our last leg and paddled on moderate tailwind to camping where we ended our 4 day trip.

Seals on the rocks of Bogskär

Bogskär lighthouse island is now conquered by paddlers and at the same time all lighthouse islands have been visited by paddling!!!!!  I'm extremely happy it is over now and I can concentrate on other things from now on...

Back at Sandviken camping, trip is safely over!

Paddling through Archipelago National Park

Finland were cherished by warm weather and mild winds due to the strong and long lasting high pressure in Scandinavia. I had couple of objectives this year, which I hadn't succeeded to complete yet.

Therefore I decided to head to the Baltic Sea with my sea kayak and within two days paddle to Utö lighthouse island and back to mainland. It was going to be roughly 80-90 km paddling, but fortunately weather should be fine for such a tedious paddling trip.

Cause I had only two days off the work, I started driving from Tampere early on the Friday morning at 5:45 towards Korpoström guest harbor, from where I would be starting the paddling trip. I arrived to Korpoström well on a schedule after 9 AM and did quick packing of my kayak. Just after 10 AM I was ready to start to paddle through Archipelago National Park to Utö.

180 degrees at start and heading south

The wind was blowing 3-4 m/s from southwest and therefore I had headwind all the day. Because it was a early Friday morning there were not many boats on the waters. I saw only one sailing boat on my way to Ingolskär small islet, which were my first goal today. After 2,5 hours paddling I was on Ingolskär and found a decent landing spot for my kayak to get ashore. Ingolskär - daymark, which had been built on 1873, was standing on the highest spot on the islet. I decided to have lunch as well and stayed for awhile on the warm rocks enjoying the sunshine and the views.

Ingolskär - daymark

The next goal today was to visit on Lill Gråharu daymark islet just next to Utö lighthouse island. There were couple of long 10 km crossings before and after Vidskär - island. They went pretty well and I just needed to be cautious because there were lots of waterways crossing this area. I didn't see any cargo vessels though and felt quite safe.

Lunch at Ingolskär

At 6 PM I arrived to Lill Gråharu daymark islet and got ashore. Lill Gråharu daymark is even older than Ingolskär, it was built on 1856. On a slippery rocks I felt down, but fortunately got only couple of scratches to my arms and legs.

Lill Gråharu - daymark

There were only 3-4 km paddling to Utö and found a narrow ledge of flat rocks, where I pitched my tent. I was hungry after 8 hours paddling and had good supper watching lighthouse on a sunset.

Utö - lighthouse and sunset

The paddling route of Friday can be found from here.

The Saturday morning was beautiful and I had a good breakfast before starting paddling back to mainland. I was on the water at 8 AM and during the first crossing to Vidskär saw one big cargo vessel passing me by. The wind was pretty much non-existent or slight tailwind. There were more boats today than yesterday on the waters. Sun was shining and I was sweating and drinking lots of water during the paddling. Finally after 4 hours paddling I arrived to Brunskär and had a lunch on a warm rocks.

At Brunskär

On the way back to Korpoström I checked Stora Hästö landing spot and anchoring harbor. It seemed to be really nice place. Have to keep in mind for the next visits to this area.

Just before 4 PM I got back to Korpoström and had 4 hours drive back to Tampere. The trip was successful, I managed to visit two daymarks, which were on my list for this summer. I have only 1 lighthouse and 1 daymark to be visited by paddling, hopefully can complete my 10 year paddling project next year!

The paddling route of Saturday can be found from here.