EURO TRIP - 108 HOURS

Norwegian windsurfers, Oda Johanne Stokstad Brødholt and Håkon Skorge hit the road in continental Europe, following forecasts and checking out new spots in their self-converted camper van. From Norway to Portugal via Switzerland and back to Norway, taking in Spain and Sweden on the way, it was 108 hours of driving. Was it worth it? Read on and decide as Oda documents the highs and lows of their ‘Euro’ trip.

Words Oda Johanne Stokstad Brødholt // Photos John Carter & Håkon Skorge

This feature originally appeared in the November/December 2018 issue of Windsurf Magazine.

VAN PLANS
Last year I went on a three week road trip with my boyfriend, Håkon Skorge, in a 1997 Volkswagen Transporter. We had plenty of wind and waves around Denmark and Holland but the van’s heater broke down after 3 days and it was 5ºC outside. Not good. People who know me know I love trips and adventures, but with no heater to get warm after the session I really felt like going home. Meeting other people with bigger vans I knew we had to upgrade. I was done spooning with my boards every night. Six months later we were proud owners of a big 2012 Volkswagen Crafter. After competing in the PWA World Cup in Morocco this year we set about converting it into a camper. We had researched plenty of ‘how to build a camper’ articles and they indicated a build time of around 7 months. We did not have that sort of time frame, we wanted to convert it in 2 weeks so we could squeeze in a trip to the north of Norway (Lofoten), before driving down to Portugal for the PWA World Cup freestyle and slalom event at Viana do Castelo. Unfortunately, despite hours and hours of work, it took us 6 weeks, and we never made it to Lofoten, but decided to try to finish it as much as we could before heading down to Portugal. And we did!

HANDY TIPS
Building this van taught us a lot of handy skills! Most of the time it was fun, but there was also a bit of hating here and there. Like attaching the roof windows is something I hope I never have to do again. That said, we made it exactly the way we wanted. It has a special design where we can fit 4 slalom boards, 3 freestyle boards, 1 foil board, 2 wave boards, a surfboard and 20 sails! The biggest change from the old van is that the living area is completely separated from the gear storage. No more spooning with the gear while sleeping. We wanted to make it as ‘open’ as possible, without too much stuff here and there. We designed a shower inside that doesn´t take any space. A long process, but worth every minute of it. There’s nothing like taking a hot shower after a day on the water. With a hot water tank and 200 litres of water you can really shower just like you would at home.

SWITZERLAND
Heading towards Portugal our mission was to get some sailing along the way. Sadly the forecast was not playing ball. I knew that the wind in Switzerland was unpredictable, so we texted our Swiss friends Eva Wyss and Balz Muller, two freestylers who knew the local wind game. They both convinced us to drive to Lake Urnesee. The drive there was beautiful and it was worth going just to see the landscape. High mountains and an amazing green lake welcomed us, but zero wind. That was the moment we regretted not bringing our mountain bikes as the town close by was full of people enjoying the trails. Meeting up with Balz and Eva at the parking lot they were convinced we would get wind, so we took our foil and freestyle gear down the 700 metre path to the beach. I was not really sure we would get any wind, but it’s always wise to listen to locals. Within twenty minutes it suddenly started to blow. And it took the locals barely three minutes to get out on the water! From being just four people at the beach waiting for wind, it was suddenly seventy other windsurfers on the lake, incredible! As the wind was pretty up and down we went foiling. As I was practicing my foil gybes, Balz Muller was landing back loops, burners and culos on his foil! Looking at Balz’s burners on the foil was pretty crazy. First the rotation and then the massive foil coming out of the water spinning around, just hoping it will not cut Balz in half if he makes a mistake. That guy really has some Balzzz! That said, I am not inspired to start freestyling on a foil just yet as it looks gnarly! I will keep to just cruising and racing on my foil for now.

COMPETITION TIME!
Two days in Switzerland was enough as we did not have many more days left before the World Cup in Portugal started. We decided to drive straight there and put the hours in on the road. It was a long drive and after hours of sitting in the van I started to wonder if I had ADHD! We stopped for a while and I had to burn off some energy, so went for an improvised workout. It felt great to get moving again and restored my sanity – I might not have ADHD after all! Finally, after 45 hours of driving, we arrived in Portugal! From day one in Portugal we had amazing wind. I entered both the freestyle and slalom events and we had epic conditions for both, nuking winds and even some waves!. We started with freestyle in the morning and slalom in the afternoon; doing slalom racing in 48 knots was full on as you can imagine!

VACAY
After 8 days of competing and a successful event, finishing on the podium in freestyle, I was really looking forward to getting into ‘vacay’ mode. No pressure, just driving around, searching for spots to sail. We drove to northern Spain and wanted to stop for a steak dinner in a restaurant. While waiting for the restaurant to open we very randomly saw a windsurf shop. Like all windsurfers, we love to visit windsurfing shops, there’s just something about seeing loads of new kit! The staff there told us where to go to get some wind. We followed their advice and ended up at a spot called San Xurxo. To our surprise it was crystal clear water and small ramps. We were stoked to score a fun freestyle wave session there. The surrounding area has lots of other beautiful beaches and going there in the van was very easy with plenty of spots to camp at with an amazing view! It’s moments like those when you just love van life. I am pretty sure we would have never seen or sailed these spots otherwise.

HEADING NORTH
When the wind died in Spain we decided to make the long drive towards Sweden as we thought there might be some light wind to sail slalom and there was no wind really forecast for anywhere else. When we arrived in Apelviken there was no wind unfortunately, but we found a new spot, Norre Nos, just eleven minutes by car from Apelviken. We spent the evening watching an amazing sunset while eating the best steak I’ve ever had! The day after, we kind of decided to drive towards Norway, but suddenly the wind picked up and I rigged my Severne Mach 1 8.6 and Starboard iSonic 117. After a pretty fun slalom session, we came in to change down our kit, but the wind just kept increasing more and more. What was happening? The forecast was for pretty light winds, yet it was howling. We rigged our 4.4 sails and freestyle gear and it turned out to be one of my best sessions of 2018 so far. I didn’t know that this spot had so many amazing other places to sail behind the small islands! I felt like I had won the lotto and was super happy to share this moment with my boyfriend! We felt like kids who had discovered a hidden playground. How could we have been sailing so close to this place for years without knowing about this freestyle and slalom Mecca! We both knew that this day was one for the books. Fully powered up we were sailing side by side, trying to impress each other more and more! Nothing is better than watching Håkon land a sick kabikuchi right in front of me. And then I followed up with a one-handed shaka while throwing him a kiss with the other hand! Ha ha! I could see in his eyes that he also felt like a lucky guy having a girlfriend to share this session with.

After ninety minutes the wind died completely. We barely made it back to the beach and met all the other Swedish sailors who had just arrived. They had seen the wind come up suddenly and tried to get off work early to score it but sadly just missed it. We told them how good it had been; sometimes it’s better to hear how bad the conditions were if you didn’t get out sailing, but our stoke was too big to hide!

NORWAY
Packing up in Sweden I headed towards Oslo to drop Håkon off at his work and pick up three friends that were going to join me for a trip to the mountains in the middle of Norway. We went mountain biking and hiking for four days, soaking up the clean air and incredible views. In Norway we have a saying, “Ut på tur, aldri sur”, which means, “Out in nature you cannot be grumpy!” It’s not the best thing to hear if you are grumpy ha ha, but it’s funny that the unwritten rule in nature in Norway is that you always need to be happy and smiley! But what can I say, I am also extra positive while hiking… and we also like to say after every 100 metres of hiking “How beautiful Norway is. We are so lucky!” At the end of the trip the forecast was looking good for Lista in southern Norway, so I drove seven hours back from the mountains to drop off my friends in Oslo, before heading straight to Lista, a further 6-hour drive. Three friends and Håkon were already there and told me that there would be waves if I could make it in time. I did a power nap at a petrol station in my van for three hours and continued the drive. Arriving at Lista I was happy to see my windsurf mates again. I rigged my Severne Blade 3.7 and Starboard UltraKode 76 and we sailed for hours until sunset. With just four people on the water we sailed in almost a circle, with waves of between one to three metres on every run – it was an epic day!

NEW SPOT
The next day at Lista was still windy, but no waves. Next to the wave spot though there is a big breakwater and inside of it is flat water which works well for freestyle. As it was Sunday, Håkon and the rest of my friends had to drive back to Oslo, due to work. I stayed one more day to sail as I wanted to check out a new spot called Husebysanden. It turned out to be a great decision as I was mind blown by how beautiful the beach was. I wondered why had I never gone here before? I felt super lucky to have wind to go out, but also a very sad feeling of not being able to share this session with anyone. I have to admit I don´t mind sailing slalom or foiling alone, but freestyle is different. It´s so much easier to push yourself if you have your friends around you. I decided after the first session to call it a day, I was too lonely on the water. Packing the car I got a Facebook notification about wind in Tønsberg, which is one hour from Oslo. I called my friend Vibeke and we decided to check out the spot. It was north wind, which is the worst direction for steady wind there, but it turned out to be epic! It is a flat water spot, but with enough wind for 4.0 and chop I was landing back loops and high forwards all day long. I had to stop after 4 hours as I was feeling dizzy after all the spins! Happy to have scored this session, but even happier to have shared it with my friend. It’s incredible how much I appreciate sailing with other windsurfers instead of alone! It was a perfect bookend to the trip and it’s true what they say, there is no place like home, especially when your home has four wheels and a shower!

ODA’S VAN LIFE TIPS
I guess the most important tip when travelling as a couple is to remember you are two people in a small area, so try to make space for your partner and cook delicious meals for each other. Also drive around for new adventures, don´t get stuck in one place too long. It was funny meeting other campervan owners who were not windsurfers. They are on a different kind of adventure, sometimes it looks like a competition of moving as little as possible!

Another tip is never get your van fixed if you don´t know the garage or their reputation. We had a small repair done in France and when they lifted the van up to do the work they broke the chassis of the van without telling us. Luckily we had insurance! Build a shower in your campervan! It´s the best way to still feel fresh and means you can go away for weeks, months or years in a big van! Maybe I´m more into being clean than the average person, but that´s my advice, get a hot water shower! And drive through Switzerland one time before you die. It´s so beautiful! And remember to bring mountain bikes, that’s one mistake we definitely made. In Europe, it´s hard to get proper food on the motorways, so fill up your fridge and cook in the van. If you build a kitchen, make sure the kitchen bench is big, and that you have a lot of space to prepare the food, that makes it easier to cook. And don´t forget to make a decent playlist of music! When you get tired, stop for a power nap and listen to podcasts while driving, that helps keep you awake, that´s my tip for not falling asleep as I don´t drink much coffee!