Arendal

Grimstad local paddle

Starfish and reflections

After a long night's sleep from about 8:30pm to 6:30am, I got up at dawn:I tidied up my camping spot so that there was no trace of my presence. That's not quite true - there was a bit less litter when I left than when I arrived, with some stuff having been burned and the rest in my boat for disposal in Grimstad.
The site of my tent:My fire was in a pit on the beach:As I left Lillesand, I liked the way that someone was making good use of a gap in the rock:Starfish seem to be plentiful around this area. This one was easy to pick up on my paddle while he carried on eating a small crab:I soon let him go again:Bright sunshine early in the day and little breeze gave good conditions for attempting to capture some of the reflections with my camera:Most of the ice had gone, so I was able to get into Kaldvellfjorden. A bit of ice remained in the NW corner:At Kaldvell itself, the river comes down into the fjord:The road alongside the fjord is my bus route from Grimstad to the airport:

Lillesand

Lovely little afternoon paddle of about 25km, pleasant spot to pitch a tent and driftwood for a small fire. What more could one ask for?

How about poles and pegs for the tent? Perhaps keeping them in a separate bag isn't such a great idea after all, even if it does avoid damage to the tent when stowing it in the boat. Fortunately, I was able to improvise with rocks, trees and a length of rope that I brought for hanging up my tarp:
The fire was very useful for drying out my socks:

Back to Grimstad

In the morning, I remembered why I haven't used the bivi for a long while. It is rather constricting and the insulation provided by a sleeping bag is ruined when it is squeezed against the side of the bivi bag. I slept well despite the bivi bag, the rain and the snow. An early night meant that I woke up just as it started to get light:An ideal campsite was just a couple of kilometres down the coast - I'll remember it for next time:There was a particularly fine example of the devices that seem to be used for bringing boats into their moorings:My attempts to get further inland, with the target of getting to Lillesand, were thwarted by ice:I tried another channel. More ice:I decided to head back to Grimstad, not realising that the correct channel for Lillesand was actually a bit further on. I didn't have a map or chart with me, so I was doing my best from memory.
One of the great things about going out without any map or chart is that everything feels like exploration. Some islands turn out to be groups of islands, with small channels running through. At other times, two islands turn out to be connected and there is no way through:The lighthouse in the main channel to Grimstad meant that I was nearly back:Eventually, the finishing point loomed out of the murk: