There's just one week to go until we head off on our first extended sea kayak trip. It's not a major expedition to some remote corner of the world. That will come later. The main objective of this trip is to discover what we don't know about living out of a boat for more than ten days. Oh, and to have a great time.There is a physical objective too. I've always fancied a trip to the Arctic, and this is a chance to paddle across the Arctic Circle. Will there be a big line on the water? A rope we have to lift and slip underneath? Or just a special moment as the GPS registers latitude 66 degrees 32 minutes North.
Click the map above (or here) to see an interactive zoom-able map. The blue line is just one possible route, but take a look at all those tiny islands along the way. Some friendly Norwegian sea-kayakers recommended we visit this area, Helgeland. Several commercial organisations run trips along this route and I'll list them later.
I'll try blogging as we paddle, with occasional photos, but limited battery power might be a problem. I have a solar charger, but it'll just sort the GPS, not the phone, camera, VHF or Palm.
We're treating this seriously and taking all our food, even though this is not strictly necessary. Liz is something of an expert at dehydrating food and we're also taking some shop bought stuff I had left over in a cupboard. It's called "Real Exepedition Food" and ironically is made in Norway. Like taking coals to Newcastle...
We'll probably spend this weekend sorting kit and if it's not bucketing with rain, attempting to pack the boats on the back lawn. I imagine most of the coming blog entries will be about this trip as it's starting to dominate our thoughts.