This week we would be taught in shallow and deep water biology, manoeuvring motor boats, useful knots, rowing, island survival situations, fishing, and improve our sea navigation, kayak and veileding skills together with the Norwegian students. Originally sailing was supposed to be another discipline, but sadly enough there was hardly any wind and getting the sailing boats (catamarans) to the island we were staying on seemed not worth the effort. We stayed in barracks on Østre Randøya equipped with sanitary facilities and a big common kitchen. Each day would consist of a morning session from 9:30 to 12:30 and an afternoon session from 14:00 to 16:30.
Day One
Shortly after arriving at Kongshavn, 13 kilometres south-east of Kristiansand, each one of us grabbed a life vest and started loading the gear into the two boats that would take us to Østre Randøya. Kjetil dropped us off with a short introduction of where to go. After having moved in, we were devided into 4 groups of 9 to 10 in which we would stay for all activities of the week.
The first afternoon with my group was kayaking with Len so we went on a small tour around the islands to get to know the area a little better and practice our sea navigation skills. When we came back we decided to go out and fish without realising that the tour of the island in the evening would mean that we were left with about 20 minutes to catch something when we had finally gotten everybody into canoes and to a deep spot where we assumed to find plenty of fish. Joey actually caught a big cod but was hesitant to kill it. It was our first catch of the trip and tasted great nonetheless.
In his tour of the island Kjetil explained the history of the island to us. During World War II Germans occupied the island as a part of their Atlantic Wall. When the war was over the Norwegian military kept the base during the Cold War. Finally the military base was abandoned and the island was declared to be an area for recreation while keeping the military buildings as accommodations for educational trips. Kjetil took us up on some of the bunker roofs and artillery fixtures and later he led us through the control rooms and hallways in the bunker which was very interesting to see.
Day Two
The day started with kayaking again but this time we would be doing a bigger tour all the way to the old Kråkerøy lighthouse. Landing in the on the bulky slippery rocks wasn’t too easy but with a little help everybody made it without capsizing. On the island we had a lunch break and actually got to walk through the entire building thanks to the kind restauration workers. Hard to believe that whole families used to live on this isolated island in the 19th century all year around. The buildings are now all renovated as holiday accommodations and can be rented for little money. The wind had picked up on the way and the waves had thus gotten bigger. By going straight into the wind we minimised the chances of capsizing and everybody stayed dry. It is important to stay close enough to be able to react quickly if someone capsizes but not so close that you interfere with each other’s paddling.
This afternoon we met up with Svine to take a closer look at the lifeforms in shallow water. Equipped with almost waterproof fisherman pants, shallow water goggles, hand nets and boxes to collect our findings in.
The diversity of the flora and fauna in even the smallest calmest bay surprised most of us as everybody got excited about catching the rarest species they could find. We identified every finding one by one using two big Norwegian diagram posters. Would my pair of fisherman trousers not have been leaking so badly, I would have probably enjoyed it even more.
Day Three
Following the shallow water biology practice of Tuesday, this morning it was time to analyse the local deep water biology by snorkelling around the deeper parts of the southern bay by the bridge on Østre Randøya. The seaweeds and mussels we found were pretty much the same ones we had found in the shallow water. Then again most of the really beautiful fishes and shoals of fish we saw under water we didn’t manage to catch and some of them were simply bigger versions of last days find. The surprise of the day was a plaice Karoline had caught with her hands.
After the lunch break it was time for a short introduction to rowing before we discussed where to go to for the overnight due to strong winds and big waves out on the open sea. We unanimously decided to aim for the southern tip of Buholmen to avoid being blown out onto the open sea by the strong winds from north-east. The fishing nets were supposed to go perpendicular to the land to have the highest chance of having a good catch for tomorrow’s lunch. When the plan was set we grabbed our daypacks for the survival night and were off to the island.
Once we arrived on the island, we stayed on the west side to stay out of the wind and started looking for suitable places for a shelter. Sædis and Paige found a natural shelter in a small valley on top of the island which guaranteed good protection from the weather, the ground was flat and soft and there was enough space for all of us. Then we divided the group up in teams of two to take on different tasks, some started to fish, some started collecting driftwood for a fire and rocks for a fire pit and one group worked hard to perfect the shelter.
Everything worked flawlessly. Max and I had the grandiose idea of taking all the driftwood in one of the boats from a small bay to our camp by the water in the south. Therefore we had enough firewood to keep the fire burning all-night and in the morning.
In total we ended up catching about 11 fish for all of us using two fishing rods that day. The Norwegian students gave us advice on how to fish and how to kill and gut the fish. By the end of the day everybody that was interested had gotten some practice. We went for a short swim in the sea and had an incredibly good meal for all of us afterwards with fish and vegetables, all prepared in the fire.
We continued to sit by the fire long past the sun went down and went to sleep. With a life vest pillow and warm underwear it was cosy and warm when I fell asleep but I was surrounded by whirring mosquitoes and couldn’t go back to sleep after I woke up around 4:30.
Day Three
Firstly we had to take the nets out and inspect our catch and row back to Østre Randøya. We started to disentangle the 14 fish out of the nets at around 9:30 and cleaned seaweed off the net right after. Not every type of fish we caught was easy to identify but surely most of them were cods or plaice both left and right turned ones. When it was time to prepare the fish, half of us went to the kitchen to prepare the vegetables and the other half stayed by the sea to kill, gut and fillet the fish. Kjetil showed us different ways of filleting a fish so we could try them out. Our two dishes were traditional fish and chips with vinegar and salt and a classic Norwegian fish soup. The heads and bones were boiled to create a stew for the soup for a while and later taken out.
When the feast was done we met up with Kjetil at the motor boat and he repeated a lot of things about sea maps and sea navigation before we set off on a small tour with alternating leading teams through Skippergata and the islands and out on the west to the southern tip of Grønningen where we unsuccessfully tried to catch some more fish. The People that were not in charge of maneuvering the boat was practicing knots – clove hitch, bowline, square knot, figure of 8 knot.
In the evening we walked to the southern tip of Østre Randøya with a mixed group of internationals and Norwegians and we figured, the two classes should have a mandatory trip with overnight stays in the very beginning of the semester to break the ice between the two classes as early and as effective as possible. We just figured the last week of the semester shouldn’t be one in which you finally find out the people in the other class are nice as well.
Lessons:
The main shipping direction in Norway is towards Oslo everywhere east of the southern tip and following the coastline north everywhere west. If a big ship is going the opposite direction, green is no longer on the right but on the left side. Smaller boats do not have to obey to these guidelines if they can find another safe way around.
In boats more than 8 meters long you have to wear life vests in Norway. In shorter boats you only need them when you are moving.
Day Four
The last day on the island was very relaxed. The weather was beautiful and we went on a short tour with the rowboats so that we would be back in time for cleaning the barracks and common rooms. We went ashore in the middle of the trip to stop and practice knots a bit more and that was basically it. In the end we realised that our rows were much better in sync than they were only one day ago. Also, listening to the same music together can help to keep a steady rhythm.
All that was left to do now was tidy up, pick up our gear and garbage and say goodbye to this island that has spoiled us with four fantastic days. Thanks to the team of organisers, this week was great fun and educational at the same time.