Why we cancelled Lofoten twice in September
Two weather windows that closed, and how we call it.
Sigrún Halldórsdóttir Twice in September we told a full group the trip was off. Both times the sky over Svolvær looked survivable. Both times we were right to cancel, and we want to show the reasoning rather than ask anyone to take it on trust.
The first window
A low tracking north-east with a forecast gust of 22 m/s on the exposed crossings. On land that is unpleasant. In a loaded sea kayak between islands it is the end of the discussion. We cancelled forty hours out, which is early enough for people to change flights.
The second window
Harder. The wind was inside limits and the swell was not — a long-period set arriving from the west that would have made two of the five landings unusable. We could have run a shortened route. We have done that before and the trip becomes a different trip that nobody booked.
How we call it
Three conditions, any one of which stops a paddle: sustained wind above 12 m/s on a crossing, swell over 1.5 m at a landing, or visibility below one kilometre on an open leg. The numbers are not clever. Having them written down before the morning is what makes them useful.
Everyone who was on those two trips has a credit and a place on the first spring departure. That is the other half of a cancellation policy worth having.
