Waves, Wings and the Unexpected

When weather surprises, the adventure begins — a day at Kelvenne, Päijänne National Park — with a little about great cormorants

My family took a boat trip to the national park last week. Some might say the trip was a failure, but I don’t see it that way. Our plan was to spend a sunny beach day on an island and return back to the cottage later for the night. But nature had other plans!

After breakfast, we started packing. My partner took care of preparing the boat, and I packed spare clothes, swimming goggles and food for the hike. The children played on the shore while we packed. Then we thought we were ready to sail, called the children to the boat, and set course towards the Kelvenne, the long island in the middle of the Päijänne National Park.

Just when we had left the dock, we noticed something non-waterproof had been left outside, and I swam back to shore to take care of it, then swam back to the boat.

After a short sail, I remembered that we had forgotten the kettle for the pasta meal kit. We had only a small Jetboil kettle for coffee, but that’s not an option for big family’s pasta meal. So, we turned around and returned to the home shore. I ran inside to get the kettle — which was in the fridge with leftovers from yesterday. So I had to wash it first.

We left once again. At the same spot where I remembered the kettle, I noticed that I didn’t pack bread, even though I had taken all other bread equipment like butter and cheese. Whatever, we thought, and kept sailing. The cheese gets a little boat ride!

Mood was good and we chatted about where to go for this day trip. My son suggested a beach in Kelvenne, which he had looked at on the map. There we headed! My partner navigated us there via an islet where there is a kummeli, a white cairn. It’s basically just a pile of rocks which has been painted white to be seen in darkness and help navigation.

This kummeli is special to my 5-year-old daughter. She paddleboarded with me past this kummeli islet when dozens of seagulls lifted off from there. Maybe we were too close and disturbed them, I don’t know for sure. But I paddled away from them. Though my 5-year-old was excited, remembered that for a long time, and still talks about and sees dreams of Lokkiluoto — Islet of Seagulls.

This picture is from last summer — the seagulls in the air and the kummeli on the cliff

This time we saw something different. Two great cormorants (Finn. merimetso) Phalacrocorax carbo, were standing on the edge of an islet — or at least I think they were. As I mentioned in my other post Growing up with Birds, I’m not the best at identifying birds.

Great cormorants disappeared from Finland for a long time due to hunting, but they returned in the 1990s. Today, its biggest enemy is the sea eagle. On the other hand, other birds often benefit from great cormorants: for example, razorbills (Finn. ruokki) live within great cormorant colonies and seem to use them as protection.

The bird has been persecuted due to its increasing population and impact on fisheries. Also disliked for its droppings, but to be honest, even though my family often visits cliffs and the children play freely there, we’ve never been bothered by bird droppings. What I find more annoying is the litter left by people. I think we all fit in nature, birds and people.

Maybe instead of fighting over space, we could try seeing these birds as part of the same wild world we’re all living in. Like many species, it’s part of an ecosystem that’s constantly shifting — and maybe our task is to learn to live alongside, not against.

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Kelvenne was great, as it always is. It’s a long esker island and the heart of the national park. There are eight campsites, which all have a fire pit and a composting toilet. It’s an easy and quite popular place. In good weather, the longest shores are usually full of boats docked. We went to Likolahti, which is northernmost campsite of the island. This time, there were only two boats besides us.

Just when we had docked, we heard thunder and wind got stronger. Waves crashed hard against the shore. I looked at my partner and he looked at me, and we realized that neither of us had checked the weather forecast.

Quickly, we set up the boat's canopy and took only the most important stuff like cooking equipments, a water container, and sand toys — because priorities! The children had just a little bit time to play on the shore until thunder rumbled loudly and close, and we ran to the woodshed.

We were wet and hungry. I started to make lunch. I don’t know why, but whoever had delivered the firewood to the shed, had dumped the whole wood load in front of woodshed’s door. So it was not very functional for us to to climb in and out or prepare the pasta meal there. But a free doorway would have been too easy, wouldn’t it?

While the pasta was cooking, the weather got better and the sun started to shine again. The wet forest looked so lush and vibrant! The children went to play, and I finished our lunch. We ate at the campfire seating circle, and while eating, we followed the next thunderstorm front getting closer.

We made coffee for me and my partner, and hot chocolate drinks for the children. I have created small info cards for my blog to leave at places where nature enthusiasts would visit and see them. I love crafting digitally and those cards were a pleasure to design.

I tried to figure out where to put the card when the thunder started to get too close, so I slipped the card quickly between the guide signs, and we ran again to the woodshed.

When our captain decided it was safe to go before the next thunder front, we took our gear and ran to pack the boat. 8-year-old did the dishes — which naturally included some playtime — while we got the boat ready to go. This one sandcake (in Finnish we call them that) was done — I’m not sure by whom, but its lovely.

So, what do you think, was the trip a total failure, or did we succeed in making memories that the children — and the cheese — will remember forever?

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