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“Luckily the weather was much better on our second day at sea, and I was able to shut up and focus on the paddling.” KL

“The sea has always been my sanctuary. Whenever I feel weighed down by worries or need to clear my mind, I have made its shores my place of pilgrimage.” CL

“We decided to strike camp a bit earlier than we had initially planned for. It was a good enough spot, and I guess we were all feeling somewhat weary. I know I was.” JS

“The island itself differed from the rest, looking in the words of Christoffer like it would be more at home in the Greek archipelago.” MP

“It was a warm day, and we had just enjoyed a hearty lunch of lentil stew. It was by all accounts the perfect day to be outdoors – warm and sunny with just a slight wind to keep the air feeling fresh.” JS

“After a sunny morning and an enjoyable snack break, the wind suddenly picked up to the extent that I was struggling to keep my kayak from being pulled backwards. This was bad news.” KL

“What is the difference between being courageous and being foolhardy? Is the distinction merely one of outcome, meaning the venture is deemed courageous if successful and foolhardy if it ends in failure?” CL

“We made it to the coolest site so far – The Pike’s Intestine. So called, as the location is defined by a very narrow and winding straight in-between two small islands. Making it resemble a… well, pike’s intestine I guess.” JS

“I got myself a nice hot pink cap to cover my sunburnt forehead from the nice folks at the Hangö harbor’s lost and found office.” MP

“The sun was shining and the rocks were nice and warm. We were in no hurry; it was all good.” JS

“A number of small islets lied ahead of us, and one of them would serve as our camp site. But in the moment I let myself be immersed by the great silence surrounding us, broken only by the light splashes of the paddles as they broke the sea’s surface.” MP

“On the first day of our journey one of my knock-off Crocs broke. I repaired it with some piece of string, but it never really turned out to be a good fix.” JS

“As we crossed the vast open waters west of Hangö, at times several kilometers away from land with nearly a hundred meters of water below us, I somehow managed to convince myself it was just a shallow puddle of murky water, and I could in fact reach the bottom with my feet any time I wanted.” KL

“With the chart in my lap I see the world through a different lens than the others. Through the chart’s eyes I can see what my fellow paddlers cannot see. I see past islands and masses of land and I see what lies beneath the sea’s surface.” CL

“While much good could be said about Christoffer’s cooking, his aversion to garlic is somewhat of a letdown.” MP

“Studying the weather forecast we realized that we would have only one window of opportunity to get to Utö. One that would entail paddling to Jurmo in a single day.” KL

“We set out at ten thirty p.m. The sun was still up, but already making its way toward the horizon. The reddish hue of the sky was turning into a more solemn blue by each stroke of the paddle.” MP

“The lighthouse’s power to illuminate the darkness filled us with hope. This was our guiding star. The light would guide us to where we were going.” CL