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I mostly use a GoPro Hero 12 and a 9.

Unfortunate George, good you gave them some advice at least. This was one of those clear examples of weather shifting. An hour earlier (maybe 30 minutes) it was almost way too warm with a t-shirt and PFD as long as the sun was shining through. Here, my paddle jacket was key - even had the hood on. Thankfully, the water had warmed up notably, otherwise I would have still been in a drysuit.

@@AirOnTheWater Yes as you said in one of your videos Dress for the water and always have more gear with you just encase.

@@THE-RIVER-RAT It makes good sense! This day was a good example of how that extra gear seemed like overkill at first, warm as it was, and then half an hour later how it was key.

Oh man! Hadn't thought of this. No more night paddles for me...

@@AirOnTheWater lol

How large would you say the X500 two seater bag is compared to the one seater?

Glad you liked the video! Interesting that you should say that. I actually had a small leak on the front thwart / air bag, e.g. the foot rest, on this paddle, slowing me down somewhat as I could press less on it with my feet as it became lower in pressure over time. I'll take a look and see if it's possible to repair. It could be a leak on the bag or it could be the valve. No issue with the outer/main air tubes. Yes, replacing it seems like a good idea. The rear onss mainly keeps the deck up but also separates the air tubes structurally a bit after all. I've been thinking about replacing that with a drybag with gear for more packing space.

It's the Kokopelli Moki Lite (no longer in the official lineup - it's been replaced by the Platte). It's a quite lightweight kayak - so easy to carry, and very stable, but nowhere near as fast as the X500 and with an open deck.

Nice! Finally 😎 Just woke up after a long, crazy day on Sweden's second largest lake yesterday - travelled for hours further southwest and it was eventful with a castle, a canal boat, and major waves coming in shifting the scene completely. Also dodged 14 competing fast sail boats..

@@AirOnTheWater Sounds like you had a hell of a time. Not me just a relaxing paddle, then a rest to watch your video. I even mentioned in mine that Patrik's in the reeves again Hehe.

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Nice! 🙂 I'll have a look when I get some spare time.

True, we can all help remind when necessary. Now, some weeks later, it's finally warm enough here with warm water, and as such, finally t-shirt conditions 😎 Yes, it was a nice trip, and I think that's the first time I ever had a ferry to myself. I appreciated that the staff actually suggested that I should use whatever part of the first floor to sort my stuff and repack my kayak, and whatever. Felt quite unique to be doing that in that environment.

@@AirOnTheWater I'm happy to hear you are now getting some good weather and a little jealous lol As it happens it was a nice day here today, but no paddling for me as I took the opportunity to get some stuff done and get my gear sprayed to keep the Ticks away when I'm in Scotland. But I may get out tomorrow if the wind drops so fingers crossed again 🤞

Hope you do, and in all cases exciting with the upcoming Scotland trip! I'll be heading out soon for a quick one day trip, on the shore of Sweden's second largest lake and one of the famous canals, if all goes well. Always something new to discover!

We should have an exchange program between our coasts that each include features the other one doesn't! 😎 You need to tell us more about your X500 exploits and recent Scotland adventure! 🙂

True story! It's fun seeing you guys paddling and joking around together in videos 😎

Yes, those were some nice forest hikes. Did three in a day, then went kayaking for 20 km!

Haha! I cut it down and counted the year rings! 🙂 Or rather, the official info on it claims that it's around 600 years old, but now that I research a bit more, it might be closer to 550, so you're on point there. 🙂

@@AirOnTheWater I thought as much going by it's graceful figure lol I think I've been off the water for too long and I'm starting to get cabin fever. 25 mph gusts of wind last night crazy. But next week looks a little bit better so fingers crossed.

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Ouch! Hopefully better soon! Over here, 26 degrees today - we had kayak maintenance outdoors. Appreciated getting back in the shade later!

Danke! Schönen Tag noch :)

@@AirOnTheWater Wünsche ein schönes Wochenende. Gruß Lars

@@prignitz-outdoor Gleichfalls! /Patrik

I very much agree! Even the same location/paddle route, as you say, can remain fresh by new light conditions, weather, people, things happening, or wildlife encounters. Never had a paddle trip to date where there wasn't something new!

Well, you have access to some really nice paddle waters right where you live, so that makes sense 😎 Great to have the combo!

I've heard rumors that there were no less than three Itiwit X500 paddlers seen on your local river waters at some point 😎 Two of them were also seen near Vaxholm among other things! And interacting with police boats. Yes, I hope to get back to more solo paddling as well in combination with group paddles, but whether on the water or in communities online, there are a lot of people that are helpful to connect with! As you say, community!

@@AirOnTheWater So many rumors, sometimes rumors are true but hard to know when😊

@@danerik.westerlind Indeed! Difficult to know really as you say 😎

Thanks! You're one of them! Even if you don't always go as a paddler, sometimes you turn into an island on the water 🏝️😂

@@AirOnTheWater lol At the moment I feel more like a Penguin... Bloody chilly hear with heavy rain and 18/20 Mph winds. However, looks like next week may be ok, so I may finally get on the water again after 3 weeks.

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Yikes! Yes, hopefully better weather soon!

Indeed! Each trip has its own unique feel, regardless of whether it's a solo paddle or among 115 kayakers. Stockholm being a capital, it has a few major kayaking events each year, but there are much larger events in other capitals, of course.

@@AirOnTheWater For sure, no paddles are the same. Stockholm sounds a great place to go paddling. I did go there once about 10 years ago, lovely city.

@@TheKayakCrew True story. The city is nice, but the archipelago outside is where the real beauty lies! We don't have the impressive cliffsides along the coastline as you do though.. but plenty of islands of all shapes and sizes.

😎🛶

😎

Danke! Alles gute aus Stockholm!

True! That was a hidden little gem, isolated from everything.

I guess! And I suppose no two ice creams are alike either 😂 🍦

Haha! I suppose that wouldn't be impossible to arrange 😂

Gleichweise von Air On The Water 😎

Indeed! There's something for everyone, as long as you're lucky enough to live reasonably close to decent paddle waters. Always good to have something to look forward to on the water. Happy paddles and greetings from Sweden! 😎

Grüße aus Schweden!

Yes! It's more than 600 years old!

Oh man! It must be confusion from the heat (which in turn means I haven't had enough ice cream). Last trip, this Saturday, I did have an ice cream before the paddle though! Thanks 😎

@@AirOnTheWater you won't believe me but I have literally just turned my ice cream maker on. Now I can't wait until I finish my dinner and I can have some strawberry ice cream lol

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Good choice. Always!

We're supposed to get some rain soon so I guess the sunny weather might be coming back your way!

Haha. That's an interesting analysis! 😂

Thanks for showing me around Gävle! It was a really nice city to paddle 😎

Right? The party boat was a fun feature. The evening ambience was amazing with the bird sounds etc, and I've never seen so many beavers during the same trip. You are privileged to have access to nature, the sounds, and beavers right in your backyard for paddles or walks!

Right? This was a small hidden section among the reeds. Quite special.

I should steal music from your video on that theme!

@@AirOnTheWater let me guess George of the jungle lol

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Maybe more Welcome to the jungle as my name isn't George 😂

@@AirOnTheWater Good point lol 😂

Yes, they were waving, so I waved back, and then decided a paddle spin was appropriate. A few also shouted greetings and waved. Friendly ferry partygoers. 🙂That was, indeed, a paddle trip full of things to see and meet, even if most of it on the lake was just moving forward. Light and air was awesome though. Yes, those were goats - well spotted! That party boat also came back later in the dark and I could hear the warning bells for traffic further behind me as the bridges opened one by one to let it through. Just before the city of Uppsala I waited and let it pass me. That music was LOUD on the river 🙂

Thank you my friend! Yes, I was just mildly bruised, didn't even remember this, but thought I'd put a note in. The cases where paddlers have been airlifted by helicopter that I hear of (rare, but happens) has usually been because of paddlers slipping on land and hitting their head, or hurting their back. Interesting note with how the wooden path followed the natural shape - hadn't thought of that! This place is a bit special indeed, because on the way there and on the way away from there there aren't houses like this, whereas in other parts of the archipelago you often gradually see less and less houses, until it's only rocks and nature. Here, it's just an outpost on the outer edge of the archipelago. It's hard to capture the feel of it in a video, but it feels really awesome when you're standing there. Also, no people were walking around for the most part - I was shocked when suddenly we saw one person further away on the island. We mostly didn't see anyone during three of the days 🙂

@@AirOnTheWater Wouldn't have expected to see a lot of people on there however I thought their would have been more as people live there. Funny you mentioned hurting their backs, made think when I hurt mine a few weeks ago, that I had better remember not to twist when pulling the kayak when I'm in Scotland That would be bad. Just posted a video and mentioned our conversation about me having Dyslexia

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Yes, they only have summer houses there, so many may not be present, which is why the island seemed mainly deserted. Hope your back is ok now - and that you stay ok for the upcoming trip. I just noticed the video come up in my TH-cam feed - I'll check it out in a while!

@@AirOnTheWater Summer houses well that explains it. Yes my back is 100% again thanks and I wont make that mistake again.

@@THE-RIVER-RAT Glad to hear it! Stay well.

It was quite impressive!

Makes me think of the old Rednex song "old pop in an oak"

Thanks! Yes, I was better off the next day than I would have imagined, but I could certainly feel it, not least in those shoulders 😎

Thank you! Yes, this location was surprisingly nice and quaint as a "real" archipelago location far away from everything else. The next part, Myggskären, is another location that really stands out from this trip - I'm looking forward to taking a look at that footage again for the next video.

@@AirOnTheWater Yes I saw that in the video, look forward to next episode.

@@danerik.westerlind I can tell you already, it was an awesome place to be, especially with panorama views from higher up at sunset. I will also admit I cheated - there are actually cabins there on that small island that can be used for free on a first come, first serve basis! I thought that was so unexpected and a cool feature that I actually slept in one that night, while my friends camped as usual in their tents.

This is on a small island called Biskops-Arnö, about 50 km northwest of central Stockholm, Sweden. There will be more clips from here and nearby areas coming on the channel so stay tuned 🙂