[Paddlewise] Re Sweden and Norway

Norway

I would recommend taking part to Arctic Sea Kayak Race (or Ramble) 
north of Lofoe Islands, if you wish to visit Norway. The race, ramble and short 
ramble as well as base camp are interesting as they gather paddlers 
(around 170 in 2005) from 
all over the world.
The long ramble is 4 days of paddling between 25 and 47 km 
per day (24 km = 24/1,852 nautical miles) plus a day off in the middle of 
the week. I have attended twice and it has been great. The organisers do 
well also in English language. There is a possibility to rent kayaks. 
Norway can be demanding, as the weather and water can be coldish even in 
the middle of the summer. That is why I would recommend something more 
organised for Norway. If you do something by yourselves, then get really 
good 1:50 000 topographical maps, as especially in the north the landings 
etc.should be planned well.
http://www.askr.no/index.lasso?cat=Home&site=askr.no_en

Sweden

If you want to do a more easy and relaxing trip, then I would recommend 
Stockholm archipelago in Sweden. There are plenty of places to rent from, 
and it is possible to do longer and shorter trips.

We have rented from http://www.svima.se
in the middle of Stockholm. I guess it might be possible to rent from 
there and organise to be picked up from somewhere else. There are 
plenty of other rental places as well and a list of (some of) them (in 
Swedish) is here
http://www.utsidan.se/paddling/lankar.htm#Kajakuthyrare

To learn about the Stockholm archipelago you might want to visit 
http://www.skargardsstiftelsen.se/?sid=1019 and 
http://www.stockholmtown.com/templates/substartpage.aspx?id=2409&epslanguage=EN

There is a really good boatline network, so if the weather is bad it is 
always possible to get back by boat.
But if you have limited time, Sweden ois more sure to have good paddling 
days

If you enjoy getting wet and cold Norway is a good bet.

Anna Leena Lind
alli  iki.fi
www.iki.fi/alli
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