Ice and sun

Finally the weather and my my time coincided so I could go skating. In the morning we had some powder snow falling and there was a bit of wind so the snow whirled around making it look more dramatic than it really was. Later on, the wind dropped and the sun came out so, after lunch I went skating.

For the first time this year I went looking for ice by the coast of the mainland, there is no ice anywhere along the Öland coast because there are no sheltered coast where the ice can form. But in places with lots of little islands and bays and inlets you can find shelter and ice. We've had over a week now with temperatures below zero so the ice has formed and are now thick enough to skate on. It takes about 6-10 cm of ice to make it "safe" for skating but there are many factors that can make it weak, like wind exposed places or outlets or currents so you constantly need to be observant and make holes every now and then to check on the  ice. 

But, today I had one of the best ice-trips for years with bright sun, low winds and almost perfect ice. I made a trip of about six km there and back and had a lovely coffee brake on one of the islands. I put a little video out on my Facebook page so you can see more of what it can be like.