Group log · west coast granite · opened 2018
A handful of us, four seasons of the year, and a log written the same evening while the salt is still on the boats.
The trip log of a small sea kayaking group on the Swedish west coast: launch spots, wind and swell judgement, cold-water clothing, and Tuesday rescue evenings in the harbour.
Conditions on the leg we corrected last, 17 Aug 2026
- 8 m/sWind, mean
- Force 3On the scale
- Short chopSea state
- 13 °CWater
- 18.2 kmDistance paddled
The log, newest at the top
- Sheet 04Launches
Three launches on this coast we keep returning to, and why
Notes on three ordinary slipways within an hour of the city: which wind direction ruins each one, where the parking actually is, and the landings we use when the plan falls apart.
Wind 8 m/sShort chopWater 13 °C7 min of reading
- Sheet 03Practice
What eleven Tuesday rescue evenings in the harbour taught us
A winter of practising capsizes and recoveries in a sheltered harbour corner: which rescues held up when we were cold and tired, and the one we quietly stopped relying on.
Wind 8 m/sLight chopWater 6 °C9 min of reading
- Sheet 02Clothing
The cold-water layers that earned their place in the March bag
Five winters of working out what to wear over four degree water on the Swedish west coast, including the two expensive things we stopped using and the cheap one we will not paddle without.
Wind 6 m/sRippledWater 3 °C7 min of reading
- Sheet 01Judgement
Reading the gap between two islands before we commit to crossing
How this group judges an open crossing on the rock coast: wind against current in the sounds, fetch that nobody mentions at the car park, the turn-back rule, and an October crossing we got wrong.
Wind 7 m/sRippledWater 11 °C8 min of reading
Taped inside the lid of the paddle box
We paddle a granite coast that is beautiful in June and unforgiving in March, and we write each trip down the same evening so that the next decision is argued against a record instead of against somebody's good mood.
- Write the wind down before the trip, not afterwards.
- Whoever is least happy about a crossing decides it.
- Practise rescues in the month you would actually need them.
- Dress for the water temperature, never for the car park.