Norway Post 22

Day 19

I paddled north under a tiny bridge and then weaved in and out around around extended seaweed rocky areas that were probably completely underwater at high tide.

In the distance I saw a black buoy. Black is a strange color to choose for a buoy since they're usually designed to be visible. The buoy vanished.

Twenty minutes later I saw it again. It was closer, but farther north and to the west of where I saw it the first time. It vanished and reappeared again about thirty feet from me. The seal tried to figure me out.

There's something about almost every dog's face that says, "kiss me I love you." Seals seem to have that going on for them also, maybe because they look like sea dogs. In reality, seals should neither be kissed nor clubbed, respect wild animals. They're wild.

I passed the Kjeungskj light house, which is a big red light house in the middle of the sea.

I entered a marina in Nes to investigate. It was much too early for me to stop, but maybe I'd meet the great sailors from Kristiansund. I found a sailboat that had two sea kayaks on deck! I complimented the sailor, but she wasn't really interested so I moved on.

A couple of hours before I intended to stop I saw a scary storm on the horizon.  I needed to get off the water before it hit. As the waves picked up I used the distance between my fingers held at arms length to estimate the storm’s progress in my direction.

I passed an older heavyset Norwegian woman in a bikini about to go for a swim as her kids watched from the rocks above. The waves jostled me up and down and crashing into the shore. She was strong! And extremely helpful. There was a marina just around the corner and the boathouse next to it had a couple beds. I could walk to the nearby farm and probably get permission to sleep in the boathouse.

The beds were being use by a Lithuanian couple working in the area, but a man offered to let me sleep in his clean comfortable motorboat.

I walked up a narrow gravel road through meadows and hills towards the village. I met a dog and his walker. The walker told me the supermarket was too far to walk, but I could borrow his bike.

I biked the length of the island and over a bridge onto the mainland to the market. After my shopping I returned past the farms and very old small homes. When I brought the bike back the fellow insisted that I stay for dinner. His wife made an enormous amount of salad for me that was wonderful.

My hosts told me that if I worried I wasn't getting enough salad, then I could and should eat seaweed. Two of the three kinds I regularly paddle through were edible and highly nutritious. I shouldn't eat too much at once however since it might upset my stomach.