Rowing among the Skerries

WOW! July has the best weather for sculling along the coast of southern Norway. There are heaps of places to launch and loads of water to roam. This particular evening I set off on my bike — with boat in tow…

The plan was to explore a sheltered bay off the island of Tjøme. I had noticed that it sported tens, if not hundreds of skerries (or ‘skjær’ as we tend to say). These smoothly shaped rocks makes for perfect exploring, with wildlife all around. I was aiming for an inlet very close to where I had launched the skiff, but managed to miss it completely and ended up making a bigger loop than I had planned to in the first place.

An hour-long(or so) loop among skerries

The launch was very easy as there was a path all the way down to the water. Where I set off the water was about a foot deep, which made it easy to get in and out. The only problem really was that it was a little too shallow to row easily until I got in four strokes or so. I was surprised to find that most of the bay was shallow and that the seabed was covered in sea-grass. It didn’t make much difference as far as sculling is concerned, but swimming close to shore wasn’t very tempting.

https://360fly.com/videos/rdfsBVFA3buCZBdGLAHsZT/

I have added a link to a five minute 360 video of the first part of the trip. You can get to it by clicking the link above. Feel free to take a look around :-)

Rowing here was quite comfortable, as there was few motorized boats around and none really that was making much of a wake. It is also very secure, as you are always close to shore and for the most part you are only a few feet off the seabed. I saw a pair of swans laying on their nest, as well as lots of other seabirds. I probably would not go down here in the midst of nesting season (officially ending July 15th), but it seamed that the birds didn’t mind me much anyway. Rowing really gives you a different angle. Inches off the water.

waitingonweather

Thriving on flats with the sun on our backs — a blog on Coastal Rowing

Costal Rower in Training

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Thriving on flats with the sun on our backs

waitingonweather

Thriving on flats with the sun on our backs — a blog on Coastal Rowing

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