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WORDS:
SARAH THORNELY

PHOTOS: 
Photos: Supjunkie and
Caz Dawson (SUP Lass)

Bio

Sarah’s love of SUP brought her to running SUPJunkie, covering UK and worldwide races through live feeds and interviews.

Sarah is a qualified instructor with the ASI and British Canoeing and still gets great pleasure in getting complete beginners on the water. Sarah writes for SUP Mag UK and the Paddler magazine, and does a lot work to support the GBSUP race series as well as paddlers who are participating in adventures and challenges for charity. https://www.supjunkie.co.uk

Swedish archipelagos

Falling in love with anything can be very speedy and unexpected, and Sweden certainly took me by surprise on a recent paddling trip hosted by the Water Skills Academy.

As many of you will know, I am a proud Ambassador for the WSA, but this was a paid trip by me (call it a birthday present to myself!). It was worth every penny, from the beautiful small fishing town we stayed in at the beginning and end of our trip, all the high-quality kit provided by WSA, to the evening of seaweed cuisine, which was a pure delight – let alone the paddling.

I had been eyeing up a Scandinavian trip for a few years, with Norway seeming to be most paddlers’ country of choice when the WSA came up with something new – paddling around the West Coast archipelagos of Sweden. I knew nothing of Sweden and realised this would be a little different, so I booked myself onto the trip.

I was slightly nervous about the logistics, partly due to having not flown in over four years, but I should not have worried as my muscle memory kicked in. Of course, it went smoothly, and I soon arrived in the squeaky clean and beautifully petite airport of Gothenburg. It’s then a couple of hours on a bus to a small town where your guides and hosts meet you for the next six days. All the information you need to book flights and buses, i.e. dates/timings, is given to you when you book your trip.

I was collected by Caz Dawson, who I had met briefly a couple of times, and I was looking forward to getting to know her more – within 15 minutes, we arrived at the motel in Grebbestaad, one the cleanest, most picturesque fishing villages, with a very cool vibe and some fabulous places to eat. I then met Mark Williams, our other WSA guide, who showed me to my room which I would share with the other two ladies on the trip. Anna and Flick soon arrived, and we set about getting to know each other and having a pre-sort of our kit, having been given dry bags, kit and rations by the guides. I am slowly getting used to this kind of packing, and because the weather forecast was very favourable, I could be a little more relaxed about what to pack. No dry suit this time!

Fresh shrimp and Swedish beer
Once we had freshened up, we all went out for dinner – I had some of the freshest shrimp ever with local Grebbestaad beer, and plans for the following day were discussed. After watching the beautiful Eider ducks in the harbour, we went to bed whilst still light at 22:30, full of excitement for the next day’s plans.

A relaxed morning started with a beautiful breakfast at the motel, a real continental affair with so much choice, good coffee and apple cake – the ‘fika’ vibe is alive and well in Sweden! Last-minute fresh groceries were collected whilst we sorted our bags for the final time before heading to our launch point. The roads are so quiet and run through beautiful forests, and we had already spotted our first wildlife; deer and storks in the fields.

It’s great when you go away on a trip and do not have to take much kit with you. We were blessed to have the latest Starboard touring boards, Blackfish Paddles, Palm buoyancy aids, cags and 75-litre dry bags, and a tent and sleeping mat. Another great addition was the small Palm dry bag filled with various foodie bits, snacks, porridge for breakfast, a lovely fruit and nut mix and two cans of gin and tonic – that caused much excitement in the camp, I can tell you. Also included were a couple of dry food pouches from Real Turmat; I had tried these recently on another expedition, and they are something, so, so tasty.

e launched safely into the shallow clear waters and played follow my leader with Mark – immediately taking photos as the water was so clean and the landscape simple, yet stunning. The archipelagos are low-lying islands, ranging in size from tiny dots to much larger ones. Mark and Caz had a plan for our whole trip with all the islands we would be camping on; it just depended on the wind as to which way we might head to find them!

Followed by cuckoos
Day one was a little breezy once we had left the shelter of the cove, and it was all about paddling on the left – Anna, Flick and I were pretty similar in paddling ability, so we could certainly stay in a group and not hold each other up. Cuckoos seem to have followed me from Scotland to Sweden, and they did not disappoint us with their distinctive call. We saw over 50 herons flying above tall trees on one island, quite an unusual sight. We also spotted more Eider ducks, Oystercatchers and a beautiful Stonechat.

We paddled past many Swedish houses perched on the rocks, mostly made from wood and painted red or grey – it is a stunning coastline with interesting features.

We stopped for lunch at a pristine beach and compared our food pouches for tastiness, followed by coffee and a toilet break. Let’s talk toilet breaks whilst we are here; the archipelagos are primarily used in July and August by many kayakers and camping is allowed and encouraged. To maintain the beautiful nature and cleanliness of their islands and being a central part of Swedish outdoor life, dry composting toilets are sustainable, environmentally-friendly alternatives to flush toilets, requiring no power or chemicals for their operation and using no water. It certainly beats digging a hole and keeps these islands supremely clean. It’s also good to know that all WSA guides are trained in leave-no-trace principles.

A tasty experience
We paddled on and arrived at our first night’s campsite, a remote, flat beach between two islands. Tent spots were chosen, and we changed and enjoyed an excellent Swedish-style supper of cheeses, locally smoked Salmon, rye crispbreads, fresh salad and meat. Caz has a lot of experience and knowledge of locally produced quality food, making our meals a tasty experience. It’s not easy carrying 3 ½ days of food for five people, but Caz did a sterling job, ensuring we had as much fresh food as possible at the start of our trip.

After exploring the island and climbing to view the Viking burial ground at the top, Anna and I returned to the beach fire to enjoy our Gin and Tonic and incredible ‘s’mores’ filled with Nutella and Biscoff spread and toasted marshmallows.

Many of the islands are formed from granite and, until recently, were quarried for local building works – the wooden waterside huts and houses are often perched on granite blocks. This island, in particular, was covered in old cut blocks of granite, some of them huge, whilst the burial grounds were massive piles of weather-worn rounded stones – quite a contrast.

We all slept well that night, in the lightness of the night with a huge yellow moon rising over us and the comforting toilet nearby!

Copious amounts of tea and coffee
We decided on a sea dip before breakfast the following day, but it was so shallow we splashed about and dipped in the cool, clear waters. After our dip, we sat in the sunshine in the calm of the bay eating porridge – another lovely touch to trips like this is the care and attention to you as clients; we were supplied with copious amounts of tea and coffee and all offers of help to clear up were politely refused. We were looked after wonderfully well.

This was another day of beautiful paddling, with silky calm waters turning into lapping waves and swell, and after 14km, having spotted just one lone seal, we arrived at our next beachside break – a stunning cove. Another few minutes and a group of kayakers would have had it – we felt their disappointment, but they managed to find another small cove. I pitched my tent right on the beach – it was truly magical.

Caz and I explored the island; we were trying to get to an unusually shaped rock on one end of the island – we climbed higher and then lower over the island but could not manage to achieve our goal – it was great fun, though, and we had been surprised to find a small flock of sheep on one of the beaches – they were not bothered by us so we returned to our huge fire on the beach and supper was on the go. The fires are usually contained within rocks, and odd bits of wood get washed up or left by others for you to use. Gnocchi was on the menu, with cake and hot custard to finish. We rounded off the evening with chocolate and gin and tonic.

Another beautiful night sleeping out in the fresh air right next to the lapping waters and another morning dip before breakfast.

The plan for this day was to gather more fresh water, and even though we felt like we were very remote, we were, in fact, pretty close to small villages along the water’s edge. The other promise for today was ice cream, and after a pretty tough paddle into a fierce headwind, we certainly deserved it. A large hotel dominated the small village, and we were welcomed in for ice cream, albeit with our wet feet and probably quite stinky bodies. Water was found on the jetty, and we were then back on the water to our final destination.

Challenging waters
12km was achieved that day with a cautious paddle across a busy ‘shipping lane’ – the only ships that day were leisure cruisers, but Caz and Mark guided us safely as the waters were quite challenging in that channel. It was not somewhere you wanted to fall off.

Our beach on this tiny island was perfect, with a ready-made stone firepit and enough space to camp. Perched on top of the rocks was a lovely wooden built composting toilet with information about the locals who volunteer to build and maintain them, one of whom we were going to meet on this very evening.

Catxalot Seaweed
The WSA had arranged for Linnea from Catxalot Seaweed to visit us on our last island to talk about locally foraged seaweed and plants and incorporate those into a three-course meal. Linnea has a wealth of experience and a passion for all things seaweed and arrived by boat with pots and pans and fresh and partly cooked ingredients. The tide, such that it is, was out, so we paddled out to help bring everything in, including wood for the fire.

We immediately set off under her guidance to explore the island’s offerings of wild chives, angelica plants and small edible flowers. We were told about all the different types of seaweed, and we found ourselves knee-deep in the waters of the cove to find our specimens.

The food was beautiful, tasty, and healthy, and we all returned for seconds. If ever you are in this part of the world, do look Linnea up as she holds retreats and masterclasses locally on beach plants, seaweed, food and health, and coastal foraging. She was also incredibly entertaining with her stories and a lovely person to come and visit us – one of the trip’s highlights for us all.

It was so light after Linnea left, so we explored. The sun was going down on the other side of the island, so we planned our escape with Caz and went for a beautiful sunset paddle around the island – Mark stayed at camp and took photographs – it was an hour very well spent – I’m not sure I ever truly saw darkness at night on this trip, regardless of what time it was.

Back to Grebbestaad
We all slept well with full bellies, and for once, when we woke in the morning, the sun was not shining. It was slightly cooler, and the beach was not appropriate for us to have a proper dip, so we packed up camp and slowly paddled our way back to Grebbestaad, making a detour to paddle into the marina to see the town from a different perspective. A good paddle back into the headwind led us to our final beach stop – I don’t think any of us were ready to get off our boards and know that this part of the trip was over – a truly wonderful experience on the water for those last four days.

Mark wandered a few hundred feet back to collect the van, and with some good teamwork bonding, the van was loaded quickly. We walked back to our motel, and after sorting and washing the kit, we appreciated that hot shower!

It was early enough for us to pop into town to find the recommended local bakery where we had lunch, and then we split into two groups to explore – I found the local kayak centre that knew our guides and had a good amount of kit to check out. I bought a local map of the islands – a beautiful keepsake.

The last evening
Our last evening was good food, wine and company – reliving the trip and making future ones! Caz and Mark had been incredibly knowledgeable and fun guides, ensuring we had the best time possible. Everybody should have a ‘Caz’ on their trip; her food was thoughtfully prepared and delicious.

A late night meant a relaxed start to our last day, with final goodbyes at the motel as we had different buses to take – it felt strange to be back at Gothenburg airport, waiting for my flight – I had a backpack full of memories. I felt like I had experienced the most relaxing of trips.

Exceeded all my expectations
The trip to Sweden is not about how many miles you can paddle; it’s about the islands, the experiences, the food, the company and the memories you will forever hold. Sweden undoubtedly exceeded all my expectations – I think on the first day, I messaged my husband to tell him we needed to come back!

The WSA know about adventure and makes these trips incredibly well; their guides have years of experience under their belts and bring excellent knowledge and fun to any trip. All you have to do is bring your adventurous spirit.

“Paddling in crystal clear water surrounded by the beauty of nature and in great company was a memorable adventure. From making new friendships, eating gourmet meals on a campfire, and being challenged on the water, I feel immensely grateful for all of it, and I hope to return.”
Anna