Private tour (Report to an absent friend)
Bottenviken-Ö Tormesön, 20/1 -01

Kaj and Eva Röhs skated on Monday and gave this report:

About 3 inch fantastic ice on Bottenviken, diminishing in direction Tormesöarna.

We decided to retry this ice on Saturday (sorry our English friend could not come). Starting from the Lervik small boat harbour (the parking space at the Ferry cottage is closed this winter).

In the inner Bottenviken partly snow heaps which where slightly hindering. Otherwise coarse black ice with a little powder that gave nice skating. A lot of winter fishermen out on the ice. The target for the tour was Ö Tormesön, we chose to go in the middle of the straight on our way outwards. The eastern part close to Hultön and in towards Lunnerviken open with drifting ice. Ice thickness along our path was from over 8 down to 3,5 cm (3" - 1+"). At the thinnest spot we decided to go westwards and took the path through the straight between the Tormesöarna. It is open west of the Tormesöarna. A short walk over the western part of Ö Tormesön. Then it was possible to skate in between Relingen and Ö Tormesön. The end destination was Kaj and Eva's cottage on Relingen. Vänern's high water gave evidence through the facts that the bathing cliff was just above the water front and that the dry closet hade turned into a water closet.

The dry closet hade turned into a water closet. It was however not possible to enter.

After a wonderfull sunny coffee breake with a view facing the open Vänern towards Krokskär it was time to do the return trip. We skated thorugh the waist of Ö Tormesön, possible since the high water had given ice even there. Continuing back but now with a choice of route closer to the Gersholmarna. On the way back a turn around the Bottenviken (for half the group). We saw traces of mink (a kind of weasel) and Bambi on slippery ice. This was a tour that really deserved the name Vänerskridsko (Väner skating)!

Some Swedish words: holmarna = ; the islets; Långfärdsskridsko = Long tour skating; skär = 1. skating step 2. rocky islet; sundet = the straight; viken = the bay; Ö = E (east); ö = island; ön = the island; öar = islands; öarna = the islands