--- title: "White Sea 2017" url: "https://twopuffins.com/en/posts/white-sea-2017/" lang: en date: 2017-08-12T00:00:00.000Z category: "Kayak" tags: ["kayak", "sea kayak", "White Sea", "Chupa", "Kandalaksha Gulf", "Karelia", "Kola", "Teriberka"] summary: "The White Sea again — this time a loop around the Kandalaksha Gulf out of Chupa: 210 kilometers folded in half, belugas and seals, rain and heat. And for dessert, a tour across the Kola Peninsula all the way to the Barents Sea." --- # White Sea 2017 ## Day-by-day route - Aug 12 — Chupa, Aurelia base (Packing) - Aug 13 — Wetting the paddles (Kandalaksha Gulf) - Aug 14 — Islands and a rainbow - Aug 15 — A rusty hull - Aug 16 — Kandalaksha Nature Reserve - Aug 17 — 27.5 km among the islands - Aug 18 — Beacons and crossings - Aug 19 — Cape Maksimova, rain - Aug 21 — Heat and dead calm - Aug 22 — Toward the finish - Aug 23 — Finish · 210 kilometers - Aug 24 — Khibiny (Kola tour) - Aug 25 — Kirovsk - Aug 26 — Teriberka, the Barents Sea Three years after our first sea trip, we returned to the White Sea — now to the Kandalaksha Gulf, starting from the Karelian town of Chupa. It came out as a 210-kilometer loop "folded in half": out and back along the reserve's islands, with belugas, cod and mosquitoes. And when we stepped ashore, we handed back our train tickets and, instead of a sleeper compartment, treated ourselves to a road tour across the Kola Peninsula: the Tersky Coast, the Khibiny mountains, and Teriberka with its view of the Barents Sea. (This note was reconstructed from posts in our VK group) ## Aug 12 — Chupa, Aurelia base > Arrived in Chupa; packing up and resting at the Aurelia base. ![The old fishing pier at Aurelia](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05050.jpg) ![The evening before the start, Chupa Inlet](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05058.jpg) ## Aug 13 — Wetting the paddles > "We're starting to wet the paddles." Set up a Spot page so we could be tracked from the mainland. ![Wandering near a Sámi labyrinth](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05096.jpg) ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05088.jpg) ## Aug 14 — Islands and a rainbow ![A rainbow over the gulf](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05122.jpg) ![Scouting the shore at low tide](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05118.jpg) ![Camp on a grassy shore](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05127.jpg) ## Aug 15 — A rusty hull ![The rusty hull of a launch on the rocks](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05151.jpg) ![A rain squall at sunset](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05144.jpg) ## Aug 16 — Kandalaksha Nature Reserve > Day 4. Today we covered 40 kilometers — the whole Kandalaksha Nature Reserve. Didn't land once, seven hours in the kayak. Caught cod, saw lots of belugas and seals. Beautiful, in a word. ![Dusk on the rocks after forty kilometers](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05164.jpg) ![Low tide by the reserve's islands](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05158.jpg) ## Aug 17 — 27.5 km among the islands > Day 5. Woke up early to catch the dying tailwind. It carried us for an hour and a half, then we had to work against a headwind, so we didn't pull off the full plan. Covered 27.5 km and camped on an island again. ![A break with a view over the gulf](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05194.jpg) ![A campsite in a pine forest](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05181.jpg) ![A cove for the night](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05209.jpg) ## Aug 18 — Beacons and crossings ![A navigation marker on a skerry](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05222.jpg) ![From the water: endless crossings](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05218.jpg) ## Aug 19 — Cape Maksimova, rain > Day 7. Yesterday we crossed the gulf near Cape Maksimova — there are trashy boozy fishermen's camps there, so we pressed on. The shore was awful; we spent two hours looking for a campsite. Found a pretty mediocre one, but next to a stream. This morning rain is hammering down and clouds of mosquitoes are flying about. A so-so rest day, but what can you do. ![An old fisherman's hut with a storage cache](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05250.jpg) ![Rain and mosquitoes — a so-so rest day](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05261.jpg) ![Sunset over the rocks](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05242.jpg) ## Aug 21 — Heat and dead calm > The sun blazes all day long. The wind has stopped, and it's unbearably hot on the water. ![Cloudberries on the bog](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05319.jpg) ![Feet resting, the sea glinting](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05325.jpg) ![Bear tracks in the sand](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05310.jpg) ## Aug 22 — Toward the finish ![Our puffin admiring the sea](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05367.jpg) ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05346.jpg) ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05351.jpg) ## Aug 23 — Finish · 210 kilometers > We handed back our return train tickets, bought plane tickets out of Murmansk, and gave ourselves a little tour of the Kola Peninsula instead of a day and a half in a sleeper compartment. It came to 210 kilometers in all — and folded in half at that. ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05417.jpg) ![A tent-roofed bell tower](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05412.jpg) ## Aug 24 — Khibiny > Arrived in the Khibiny, but it's pouring rain here and cold besides. Wandering through museums. ![The Khibiny in the rain](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/vk/vk_-75294527_456239040.jpg) ## Aug 25 — Kirovsk > Stayed in Kirovsk for the second time, at the Powder Hotel by the town slope — we liked it so much the first time, back in May, that we came back again. ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/vk/vk_-75294527_456239043.jpg) ## Aug 26 — Teriberka, the Barents Sea > Finally made a run out to Teriberka. Very beautiful, stunning views of the Barents Sea and crowds of tourists. The road is still gravel. The tourist infrastructure is still in a bad way: a café posing as a restaurant, a few hotels, and, of course, a chapel. ![A tundra lake on the way to the ocean](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05446.jpg) ![The Barents Sea](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05420.jpg) ![](https://twopuffins.com/assets/images/ws2017-DSC05434.jpg) Route on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1snSF-X_7HVwipG63WNvXLeRXS4Q Trip video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYuPzspVoEw --- Two Puffins — twopuffins.com · [HTML version](https://twopuffins.com/en/posts/white-sea-2017/) · [llms.txt](https://twopuffins.com/llms.txt)