Unfortunately I can't help with anything useful like Oslo-Moscow kayak transport...though there's certainly a train line from Helsinki to Moscow.
If you could ship straight to Helsinki rather than Oslo that might reduce headaches.

On the lake trivia question, there's a website for the International Lake Environment Committee Foundation in Japan that has all sorts of neat stats for resolving questions like "which is biggest." Shoreline would seem to be the relevant measure for an expedition that involves "paddling around" something (depth or volume might be more relevant for submariners). Apparently the Caspian Sea has the longest shoreline at 6,000km (at high water levels), then Lake Superior at 4,800km, then Lake Victoria at 3,400km, then Baikal at 2,000km. The same order holds for surface area. By volume, Baikal comes in second. It has an astounding mean depth of 740 meters.

I think some people argue that the Caspian Sea is not a "proper" lake because it doesn't drain to an ocean. However the ILEC lists it. That debate is far beyond me.

By the way, in my book just because Baikal is third or fourth on the shoreline measure doesn't disqualify this from the ranks of coolest kayak trips ever. And that comes from someone with a great fondness for Lake Superior.

Martin

: Actually the Caspian Sea is the earth's largest lake. Lake Superior is the
: earth's largest freshwater lake. As far as geography is concerned Lake
: Baikal is certainly the deepest and the most volumous, but not the
: largest.