Lake Wdzydze: paddling the Kashubian sea

Wdzydze - the lake that flows four ways

Wdzydze is five connected waters with a total area of about 1,450 hectares, stretched along two perpendicular troughs: Jelenie to the north, Wdzydze to the south, Radolne to the west, Gołuń to the east. On the map those four arms form a cross, and that is what people in Kashubia call it - the Cross of the Wdzydze Lakes; the fifth lake in the complex is Słupinko. The water here reaches about seventy metres deep, which for a post-glacial lake is exceptional.

The name "the Kashubian sea" is no brochure trick - the landscape park itself uses it, and once you paddle out into the middle it is hard to argue with. A vast sheet of water, a shore slipping away into bays, islands on the horizon. It is also called the Great Water and the Szerzawa.

How to paddle a kayak on Wdzydze

The strongest impression comes from paddling onto the lake from the river side. The Wda flows down here from Lipusz to Radolne, that is, to the western arm of the cross. From there, through the narrow strait between the Niwka and Kozłowiec peninsulas, you paddle out onto the big water - and that is the moment worth coming here for. The tight passage opens suddenly onto a huge expanse.

The whole stretch of the trail from Lipusz through the lakes all the way to Borsk is rated easy and accessible to beginners. You will find put-in points at Wdzydze Kiszewskie, Gołuń, Wdzydze Tucholskie, Lipa and Borsk. On the trail itself, within the park, rest stops have been laid out near Schodno and Loryniec.

Where to go: peninsulas, islands, viewpoints

Wdzydze has seven islands with a total area of over one hundred and fifty hectares: Ostrów Wielki, Glonek, Ceronek, Sorka, Przerośla, Mielnica and Sidły.

It is better not to land on the islands. Contrary to what you can read in guidebooks, they are not a reserve - a reserve covering them is only proposed, and the only one established in the park remains Krwawe Doły. The reason for restraint is different and just as concrete: the islands have owners, and many species of bird live there. Paddling round these places brings more pleasure than stepping ashore.

A quiet with a legal basis

On Wdzydze you won't hear a motorboat or a jet ski. Within the landscape park, the use of motorboats on open water bodies is banned, introduced by a resolution of the provincial assembly. The exception is craft with an electric drive of up to five horsepower - the kind that cannot pick up enough speed to build a wave.

It is worth naming this precisely, because most descriptions of the lake speak of a "quiet zone". A quiet zone is something else - a separate legal institution, established by the county council, and there is none on Wdzydze. The effect for the kayaker is the same, but the source of the ban is different.

Safety: big water and the west wind

The greatest danger on Wdzydze is not obstacles in the water but the surface itself. In windy weather paddling across the lake can be dangerous because of the high waves. Westerly winds prevail over the lake, and the open water gives them several kilometres of fetch.

The practice is simple: in a stronger wind keep to the shore rather than cutting across the lake, and in a bigger wave point the bow of the kayak into it, not the side. Before you set off, check the weather forecast and the current water level.

The open-air museum by Lake Gołuń

By Lake Gołuń stands the Kashubian Ethnographic Park - the oldest open-air museum in the Polish lands. It was founded in 1906 by Teodora and Izydor Gulgowski, starting from an eighteenth-century cottage bought from a local farmer. Today it is twenty-two hectares and nearly fifty buildings from Kashubia and Kociewie.

The qualifier "in the Polish lands" matters here: the museum was created before independence was regained, under a different state, and that is precisely what makes it the first such place in this part of Europe.

The outflow at Borsk and on down the Wda

The Wda flows out of the complex at Borsk, at the southern end, and runs on towards Czarna Woda and Tleń. Right at the outflow there are weirs and a portage waits, so the end of the lake section means getting out onto the bank. Anyone who wants to link the big water with the river has a natural crossing here - and the whole Wda ahead of them.

See the area on the interactive map Click to load the map - routes on the lake, shorelines and weather

How to paddle a kayak on Wdzydze? You plan the route yourself - it is a complex of five connected lakes in the shape of a cross, so there are several directions to choose from. You won't meet motorboats here, because within the park motorised craft are banned. Watch out for the wind, though: on such big, open water a wave builds fast, and the winds here blow mostly from the west.