Welcome

Hi, and welcome to my little nest on the Internet. My name is Tor Håkon Haugen. I am a Norwegian living in Norway. I read, I write—and I make mistakes.

I have also written posts in Norwegian in the past. I am currently restructuring my blog, so things might be moving around, but I will do my best not to break any links to my pages.

The thoughts and text on this blog is mine, and mine alone.

  • Fun with waves

    A week ago, me and two other kayakers decided to have some fun in the waves. This time they were bigger than last time. A lot bigger.

    We started as usual in Matlaug just outside of Haugesund. A safe haven where the water can be completly flat while waves up to 2 meter can rage just on the outside. Like it did this day.

    The previous image and the next one is taken just outside of Matlaug.

    After playing around and getting used to the waves, we continued north along Gardsøy and Tonjer. We kept a good distance from the shore since the waves would break in the islets just outside and create rolling waves that did not stop until it reached land.

    After deciding it was unsafe to be on the west side of Tonjer, we padled around the north tip and placed ourselfs on the east side. The waves would break over the small island and create “safe waves” to play in. Should we fall into the ocean, we would not be pushed into land, but rather away from it.

    The next two images shows the difference a wave can make in height difference.

    This next one is of me having fun.

    Some of the more interesting waves are the once you get from the side. There is only one trick to stay upright. Lean heavily into the wave with a brace strok and ride it out.

    The waves can make you look really small.

    The first map shows Matlaug. As you can see it really is a well proteced area. The big waves came in from north-west (right-ish)

    Then I have marked the area we continued to afterwards in green. We stayed well away from the area I marked as red on our way up, but on the return we did cross, but only because the waves had diminished quite a bit.

  • Kayak in Waves

    Saturday I had my second kayak trip of the year. This time in waves.

    The forcast said it would be around 1,2 meters, but I don’t think it was more than one meter. Luckly we know how to find waves to play in. Way more than one meter.

    Me getting a salty wash. Photo: Arild Haugstulen
    Looks like I forgot my kayak. Photo: Arild Haugstulen
    Luckly, I was not the only one that forgot his kayak.

    After having fun in the waves, we practiced rescue. I was happy my self rescue in waves went without problems, even if it was only 70-80 cm. We also practice rescuing each other.

    Never go kayaking in whitewater waves alone. You may end up in a situation you need rescuing. Even if you know self rescue, you may get injured.

    Practice, practice, practice…

    This was my first time trying a new waterproof camera, the OM System TG-7. The image quality is not as good as I am used to from my Canon 5D series cameras. But unlike the Canon, this one can be submerged in water without issues.

    All in all, a good day.

  • First Kayak Trip of the Year

    On Saturday I had my first kayak trip of the year. It was short, in and around Vibrandsøy, just outside of Haugesund. The weather was calm, but visibility was like a 3D game of the late 90s; Foggy.

    View padling out of Haugesund.
    Crystal clear water. Also very cold water.
    Tonjer lighthouse in fog. Also noticed that I have picked up some litter.
    MS Utsira (Haugesund – Utsira) in fog.

  • Do you really care?

    Let me see if I get this correct.

    You can’t really be bothered to write, so you get ChatGPT to write for you.

    But you also can’t be bothered to read, presumably text someone else got ChatGPT to write for them, so you get ChatGPT to make a summary.

    Then you find the summary so insightful that you just have to share it. However, it is a bit short, so better ask ChatGPT to embellish it a bit.

    You want to look like a professional after all.

  • Shoelaces

    Yes, you read that correctly. Shoelaces. In a world filled with uncertainty, I am glad to have found some joy. And that joy is a shoelace knot.

    For years I have had a problem that the shoelaces have untied themselves, some shoes worse than others. But with the “right” combination of shoe and shoelace, a regular bunny-ear style shoelace would get undone between the door and my car. Sometimes it even managed to get untied while I was driving.

    So, I tried a few things. First one: Tie it double. It worked to some degree, but it was far from perfect. It managed to untie itself at some point during a long walk.

    Last year, I stumbled upon the Berluti Shoelace Knot. And what a game changer. I did not learn it exactly the way as in the link, but the result is the same. A stylish knot that does not give up. It does take some more time to knot, but I only have to tie it once since it does not come undone.

    As an bonus, it is symmetrical, so it looks very good on dress shoes as well as being secure.

    Recently I learned of Ian’s Secure Shoelace Knot, which seems to be a slightly simpler variant, meaning it is quicker to tie. Otherwise, it looks almost the same as the Berluti knot. I have just started to try it out, and so far, it has not come undone. But I have yet to use it while hiking in the woods, so time will tell. But for now, it works wonder as a day-to-day knot.

    If you are interested in shoelaces (and who wouldn’t be?), I can recommend Ian’s Shoelace Site. There is a lot of information about lacing shoes, different knots, how a shoelace is constructed, the proper length of a shoelace, and more.