Lithuanian River SUP
Part 2 of my Lithuanian paddle adventure focuses on my longest paddle to date, a 38 (.2!) km down river paddle with 2 Lithuanian Friends, Valdone and Rimas.
The river Neris is a significant water feature in Lithuania. It rises in Belarus, bisects the capital city, Vilnius and then flows into the river Neman 510 km from it's source. The plan for the day was to paddle down one section of it aiming to get to Kaunas and to cover 40+ km in the process. Plans are created in order to be tested and changed so that didn't quite work out but we still managed a longer paddle than any of us had managed before on a beautiful day.
Starting off by car from Vilnius we had more than an hours drive to our drop off point, this was a cable ferry crossing over the river, a reliable and simple way to cross the river.
The ferry pulls itself across the river using a vertical spindle that traps the cable. It's very effective but strange to watch, when the vessel left the pontoon as it swung quickly around in the current until there was enough tension in the cable for the spindle to get grip, then it was off.
Once the boards had been inflated and the ferry had returned to the other side it was our turn. The bank was very 'squishy', I think that's the correct term. What looked like solid bank was a very spongy mass of vegetation so we went, carefully, from the pontoon.
River paddling in SW England is easy enough but anything big enough to paddle will be tidal, paddles are therefore governed by the moon and the moon can keep very antisocial hours.
No such issues here though with a gentle current moving me along nicely whenever I stopped paddling. Typically the river was running between 0 and 4 km/h, you quickly get used to the easy motion under your feet, so much so that when the river slows it is a surprise.
The landscape in Lithuania has a theme, that theme is 'trees'. There are a lot of trees everywhere and the banks of the Neris, like all the lakes I paddled, were no exception. Very little of the river side has been cleared for agriculture.
I like to eat and starting so close to lunchtime, having been up, fed and watered for hours before leaving, my thoughts quickly turned to food. For this trip I was using a new bit of kit, the Red Paddle dry bag, which had my supplies stashed inside, sandwiches and several litres of water. It's a normal dry bag with a clear window and with straps attached to make hooking it onto the cargo points on my Explorer easy. Mounted on the stern of the board this has minimal impact on the boards handling as long as I was standing a little further forward than normal. Turning took a little more effort but that was slightly offset by using my smaller fin, the one supplied with the board. With the mouth of the bag facing forward access was fairly straightforward as long as I could turn around.
I also had a Camelback Baja pack which carries 2l of fluid and has plenty of space for more food, in my case SIS Go bars and gels, a chest pocket that's ideal for a camera and, importantly a whistle attached to a shoulder strap.
With nowhere obvious to land, and no desire to do so, lunch was on the fly, drifting with the current but keeping an eye out for shallow sections and the occasional rock.
I think it is fair to say that I was the strongest paddler and had the fastest board so occasionally I'd turn upstream to wait. If I could I'd find some small feature to sit behind, using the length of the board and the disturbed flow to stay stationary with little or no effort required.
There was wildlife everywhere. This is, I think, a European Club Tailed Yellow dragonfly although it was a little further north than the usual range for the species. I scooped it up from the water as it attempted to swim, very badly. At the time I didn't realise it has lost one wing. Once it had dried out and warmed up I returned it to a reed bed, pretty sure it couldn't fly anymore.
Unlike the Hawker dragonflies that are common in SW England this club tailed dragonfly has eyes that are widely separated. Dragonfly facts.
I saw Greater Egrets at regular intervals, these are even more wary of company than the lesser egrets found in the UK and not once did I get close enough to get a photo, even lying prone on the board. Highly suspicions creatures. Also dozens of herons, swifts, swallows and martins, ducks, gooseanders and ever present raptors.
And of course, I suffered from property envy at regular intervals. Who'd live in a house like that...
Occasionally the river would divide to flow around an island. Having been warned that there was a split in the river I was wary of getting too far ahead and going the wrong way so I'd hang back and follow Valdone who'd usually go for the faster flowing, more interesting option.
Very occasionally the river got very shallow, just about OK with fin choice but it did lead to some interesting steering moves, use the hips and drag the paddle to slide the board around rocks and obstacles in the river that were only seen at the last minute.
As we moved further downstream we joined the river Neman, from here the river's character changed, immediately bigger, deeper, slower, darker. With a lot more activity on the banks, now it was a case of trying not to disturb fly fishermen standing in the water, zig zagging from one side to the other, often with an appreciative wave or nod as they held back from their hypnotic casting.
With a mind on how long it would take our lift to get to us and with dusk approaching we decided that we'd pull out at Jonava, short of Kaunas but the best place we could think of.
Part 2 of my Lithuanian paddle adventure focuses on my longest paddle to date, a 38 (.2!) km down river paddle with 2 Lithuanian Friends, Valdone and Rimas.
The river Neris is a significant water feature in Lithuania. It rises in Belarus, bisects the capital city, Vilnius and then flows into the river Neman 510 km from it's source. The plan for the day was to paddle down one section of it aiming to get to Kaunas and to cover 40+ km in the process. Plans are created in order to be tested and changed so that didn't quite work out but we still managed a longer paddle than any of us had managed before on a beautiful day.
Starting off by car from Vilnius we had more than an hours drive to our drop off point, this was a cable ferry crossing over the river, a reliable and simple way to cross the river.
 |
| River Neris crossing |
 |
| Mind the gap(s) |
 |
| Looking upriver from the crossing |
So far, so good.
 |
| Lets paddle! |
No such issues here though with a gentle current moving me along nicely whenever I stopped paddling. Typically the river was running between 0 and 4 km/h, you quickly get used to the easy motion under your feet, so much so that when the river slows it is a surprise.
The landscape in Lithuania has a theme, that theme is 'trees'. There are a lot of trees everywhere and the banks of the Neris, like all the lakes I paddled, were no exception. Very little of the river side has been cleared for agriculture.
Trees often to the waters edge, cleared in places for housing or access to the water. Almost all of the riverbank was low lying, very pretty and unlike most of the SW.
I like to eat and starting so close to lunchtime, having been up, fed and watered for hours before leaving, my thoughts quickly turned to food. For this trip I was using a new bit of kit, the Red Paddle dry bag, which had my supplies stashed inside, sandwiches and several litres of water. It's a normal dry bag with a clear window and with straps attached to make hooking it onto the cargo points on my Explorer easy. Mounted on the stern of the board this has minimal impact on the boards handling as long as I was standing a little further forward than normal. Turning took a little more effort but that was slightly offset by using my smaller fin, the one supplied with the board. With the mouth of the bag facing forward access was fairly straightforward as long as I could turn around.
I also had a Camelback Baja pack which carries 2l of fluid and has plenty of space for more food, in my case SIS Go bars and gels, a chest pocket that's ideal for a camera and, importantly a whistle attached to a shoulder strap.
With nowhere obvious to land, and no desire to do so, lunch was on the fly, drifting with the current but keeping an eye out for shallow sections and the occasional rock.
I think it is fair to say that I was the strongest paddler and had the fastest board so occasionally I'd turn upstream to wait. If I could I'd find some small feature to sit behind, using the length of the board and the disturbed flow to stay stationary with little or no effort required.
There was wildlife everywhere. This is, I think, a European Club Tailed Yellow dragonfly although it was a little further north than the usual range for the species. I scooped it up from the water as it attempted to swim, very badly. At the time I didn't realise it has lost one wing. Once it had dried out and warmed up I returned it to a reed bed, pretty sure it couldn't fly anymore.
Unlike the Hawker dragonflies that are common in SW England this club tailed dragonfly has eyes that are widely separated. Dragonfly facts.
I saw Greater Egrets at regular intervals, these are even more wary of company than the lesser egrets found in the UK and not once did I get close enough to get a photo, even lying prone on the board. Highly suspicions creatures. Also dozens of herons, swifts, swallows and martins, ducks, gooseanders and ever present raptors.
And of course, I suffered from property envy at regular intervals. Who'd live in a house like that...
Occasionally the river would divide to flow around an island. Having been warned that there was a split in the river I was wary of getting too far ahead and going the wrong way so I'd hang back and follow Valdone who'd usually go for the faster flowing, more interesting option.
Very occasionally the river got very shallow, just about OK with fin choice but it did lead to some interesting steering moves, use the hips and drag the paddle to slide the board around rocks and obstacles in the river that were only seen at the last minute.
 |
| Confluence of Rivers Neris and Neman |
 |
| Valdone |
 |
| Approaching Jonava |
With some advice from a friendly angler we found a local swimming spot, a sandy gap in the bank with easy access from the road and sat down to wait for our pick up after a very satisfying 5 hours and 40 minutes on the water.
 |
| Journeys end. |