Entries about sailing

Only showing entries about sailing from MurkTravels. View entries about sailing from all Travellerspoint blogs.

2019

continuation

01/01/2019 - 31/12/2019 77 °F
View NorthEast 2019 & 14ers 2017+ & Scandinavia 2019 & Japan 2019 on MurkTravels's travel map.

Looking Back

2019: It's been another fun year, what else can I say. I continue to travel the world and experience awesome unique cultures. I also travel a bit around the US for work, family, camping, or other adventures. I continue to push myself with physical and mental challenges, as well as trying new potential hobbies and building up my skills.

This year was marked by a lot of newness. I have a new lady in my life, the lovely Sharon and her 9 year old Lucien (and Felix the cat). I got to witness a cousin get married and bring in a new family member. I met my brand new niece Cara, a newborn life from Renee and Matt Klein. I took dancing lessons, handgun safety classes, passed work certification tests, and had a first sailing based vacation. There was new tattoo work, new camping and hiking adventures, new add-ons to the 4Runner, a new home, a new pet, and new entertainment. I completed my first ski trip and successfully went down a mountain (a short green run, but didn't fall on one of the attempts, so I'll consider that a victory). Also met new co-workers, friends, and neighbors. Played some new board games, card games, and Xbox games.

I look forward to more of the same in 2020. Already have a trip planned to Israel. Hoping for others to either France, Morocco, Philippines, and around the US. I hope to continue to enjoy work, family, and life in general.

Activities

Things that happened in 2019:

Big Travels

Japan : Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka - Nagoya - Hakone
Norway : Oslo and the Lofoten region (sailing)
Sweden : Stockholm & Malmo
Denmark : Copenhagen

Quick Trips

Austin Texas - for a wedding
Boston Massachusetts - for work training
Chicago Illinois - for a concert weekend
Colorado Sand Dunes National Park camping
Des Moines Iowa - for family
LA California - for Sharon's work training
New Mexico - end of road trip to start the year

Challenges

Leadville Trail marathon
14er hike - Gray's & Torrey's
14er hike - Blanca peak
Intro to pistol and handgun safety classes
Intro to Salsa, Bachata, and Zook dancing

Events & other activities

Breckenridge retreat weekend
Chicago Open festival : concert of Tool, System of a Down, Prodigy, Meshuggah, Gojira, and 9 other hard rock / heavy metal bands
Denver concerts: Gojira, the Roots, Slipknot
Denver RAW artists - support Gabby
Denver Travel and Adventure show
Elitch Gardens amusement parks
Jury duty
Movie on the Rocks (Red Rocks)
new family: Cara and Chelsie
volleyball leagues
Ski trip to Eldora
Universal Studios Hollywood amusement park
Water World water parks
work certification : Agile Product Owner

previous year reviews:

Pictures

see more on Facebook Murk Travels albums

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Youtube - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempt at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

Posted by MurkTravels 15:28 Archived in USA Tagged hiking japan sailing sweden concert run usa rockies camping norway denmark nationalparks 14er murktravels 2019 in_review Comments (0)

Lofoten 2019 - Norway

Norway, above the arctic circle

31/08/2019 - 06/09/2019 45 °F
View Scandinavia 2019 on MurkTravels's travel map.

overview

My first sailing journey.

I headed from Oslo to Svolvaer in northern Norway, above the arctic circle. This is in the Lofoten region consisting of a pensinula and lots of islands sticking into the north Atlantic. It has a long history of islands, sailing, fishing, incredible natural environment, and fjords. Myself and a small group spent a week on board a sailing catamaran.

We checked out several fjords; which of course are long, narrow, deep inlets of the sea between high cliffs typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley. The first and most impressive was Trollfjord. The last and equally beautiful was Ulvagfjord. The entire landscape of the region is unique with the dramatic rising of steep cliff walls onto rocky and jagged peaks. All of this is wrapped in a vibrant green coating of trees and moss and shrubs. On the few areas that are a bit flat are the coastal towns, the occasional sheep farm, or even a few beach sites. But since the locals thrive on the fishing industry, you'll see lots of harbors, ships, fish drying racks, and water based businesses.

One of the nights, we spent glamping in teepees. Even woke up at 2 in the morning to catch glimpses of the northern lights. There we also got treated to an amazing meal from a local chef - cod and mackerel caught that day, some herbed potato mash, and the worlds best cake for dessert (it's actually named that; search it and be amazed).

Another couple of days were filled at the town of Henningsvaer. It's an artsy and hipster town, that got a bit of viral Instagram fame for it's soccer pitch on a rocky island. There's also several art shops, local craft and clothing stores, and a brick oven and sauna pub to spend time at. There's even about 25 posters around town that provide information on the history; most in Norwegian but they also have a code to scan to get translations.

Near the very end of the chain of islands is the town of Reine. It has a few places to check out in town, but the real draw is the hiking and views around the town. Despite some strong winds and rain, we trekked up to the top of Reinebringen to be amazed at the sight of islands, seascapes, towns, and mountains. The entire drive on Lofoton is covered by the E10 highway. If you take it, you can find some hidden lakes, fields, additional hiking, and some surf spots.

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