Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Canoe articles - Sweden 2003 - June 20th
Friday 20th June
There was rain in the morning and a NW breeze, which would be a headwind. I had
a chat with a young couple, who owned one of the summerhouses overlooking the beach
and they said they would keep an eye on my van. I had a brief chilly swim in a brief
improvement in the weather then set off into the headwind. Initially there were some
big waves as I crossed the section where the wind had the longest reach across the
water. I headed straight into wind and waves as this is pretty safe, but it is obviously
hard work. It is much more dangerous to try and paddle at an angle to the wind and
waves. When I reached the western side of the lake, the waves became much smaller,
but there was still a significant and gusting breeze. I carried on for 4 hours without a
stop, covering 10 km. This was slow progress, but in these conditions I was pleased it
didn’t take much longer. I would have preferred to stop, but I was concerned that I
would then get stranded if the wind increased in the afternoon, as it often does. I landed
at Laxberg at the top of Sommen. I attempted to chat in German with a couple of East
Germans. Because my German is so poor I usually speak to Germans in English, but
older East Germans often don’t speak any English. I sheltered in a firewood store from
a torrential downpour, which hit as I was having lunch.
I now had a 7 km portage to Boxholm. Where I could see the Svartan it looked as if
it was navigable, so I am not sure why there was such a long portage.
Near the end of the portage I stopped for a brief swim at the deserted Boxholm Bad.
This would be busy in better weather as it was right in the town and there was also a
campsite, which would be opening at the beginning of July.
I got lost in Boxholm when a sign showed the “Kanotleden” as going through an 8ft
chain I eventually found my way to the dam at Renningswerk where I camped. This
didn’t look like the right launching point for the canoe, so I went to ask for help. The
only house with anyone in was occupied with a group of pensioners whose only language
was Swedish. They suggested a possible launch point on the western bank, but I am glad
that I ignored their advice as I passed this point later and it looked totally impractical. I
explored along the road on the eastern bank and found the official launch point.
However the route down to the river was totally overgrown and it didn’t look very
practical. I decided that it would be easiest to launch by the dam in the morning.
There was rain in the morning and a NW breeze, which would be a headwind. I had
a chat with a young couple, who owned one of the summerhouses overlooking the beach
and they said they would keep an eye on my van. I had a brief chilly swim in a brief
improvement in the weather then set off into the headwind. Initially there were some
big waves as I crossed the section where the wind had the longest reach across the
water. I headed straight into wind and waves as this is pretty safe, but it is obviously
hard work. It is much more dangerous to try and paddle at an angle to the wind and
waves. When I reached the western side of the lake, the waves became much smaller,
but there was still a significant and gusting breeze. I carried on for 4 hours without a
stop, covering 10 km. This was slow progress, but in these conditions I was pleased it
didn’t take much longer. I would have preferred to stop, but I was concerned that I
would then get stranded if the wind increased in the afternoon, as it often does. I landed
at Laxberg at the top of Sommen. I attempted to chat in German with a couple of East
Germans. Because my German is so poor I usually speak to Germans in English, but
older East Germans often don’t speak any English. I sheltered in a firewood store from
a torrential downpour, which hit as I was having lunch.
I now had a 7 km portage to Boxholm. Where I could see the Svartan it looked as if
it was navigable, so I am not sure why there was such a long portage.
Near the end of the portage I stopped for a brief swim at the deserted Boxholm Bad.
This would be busy in better weather as it was right in the town and there was also a
campsite, which would be opening at the beginning of July.
I got lost in Boxholm when a sign showed the “Kanotleden” as going through an 8ft
chain I eventually found my way to the dam at Renningswerk where I camped. This
didn’t look like the right launching point for the canoe, so I went to ask for help. The
only house with anyone in was occupied with a group of pensioners whose only language
was Swedish. They suggested a possible launch point on the western bank, but I am glad
that I ignored their advice as I passed this point later and it looked totally impractical. I
explored along the road on the eastern bank and found the official launch point.
However the route down to the river was totally overgrown and it didn’t look very
practical. I decided that it would be easiest to launch by the dam in the morning.
Portage at Laxberg
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