For this blog I have decided to take you on my preparation for a Canoe expedition that we are about to embark upon in the NorthWest of Scotland. I will go through the main items that we are taking, any information regarding those items and perhaps a few lessons learned from previous trips should you want to take a trip of your own.
I try to do a minimum of one trip like this every year and since 2014 I have managed to take the family too, our first trip being the Loch Shiel circuit. Our two boys were 3 and 5 years at that time which brought a few challenges beyond the normal preparation but that could be a whole blog in itself.
This trip was planned to start today as I am typing however Storm David is about to hit Scotland so we decided to postpone the start a couple of days.
Lesson number 1 – Be prepared to change your plans to fit around the weather.
When we first started family canoe tripping our boys were very small and we were able to sit them side by side in the center of the canoe. Our equipment and food for the trip were then packed in the remaining spaces.
Here we are on Fionn Loch 2015 leaving base camp to climb Mt. Suilven.
The Canoe(s) and safety equipment
The canoe you see in the previous photo is a Swift Prospector 17 in expedition carbon Kevlar construction, this has been our go to expedition canoe since those early days and has proven to be an excellent workhorse. As the boys got older however, they began to outgrow their double seat and eventually we had to become a two canoe tripping family.
So here we have the Swift along with our second tripping canoe, a Nova Craft Pal in Tuffstuff. Slightly shorter than the Swift but lighter and more manageable by my wife and our youngest.
In this photo I am in the process of checking out our equipment for damage prior to our next adventure. Buoyancy aid size has also been an issue as the boys have grown and it is always important to make sure the fit and capacity meets their growing demands. The ropes you can see are painters (orange and yellow) which attach to each end of the canoes and allow us to line the canoes along rivers that may be too difficult to paddle or more often than not are used to drag the canoes over the Scottish highlands when portaging. The yellow ropes are throwlines, the bags are just out of the shot but we have one of these per canoe accessible at all times in case of emergencies.
Lesson number 2 – Make sure you check for damage and sizing before you turn up at the put in.
Portage packs. (Waterproof carry bags)
With all water related activities there is a good chance things may get wet either through an unforeseen swim or just from the weather. With this in mind it’s a good idea to have water proof bags to keep all your gear in. Over the years we have tried lots of different options but have settled on just a few that do the job well.
The bulk of our equipment fits into two 75l Palm portage packs and one Ortleib 85l expedition duffle bag. The reason we went for this size and not bigger is packaging. The size of these packs are perfect to fit across the canoes between and below the gunwales. It’s important to try and keep things low down in the canoe for a couple of reasons; 1. anything sticking above the gunwales is likely to catch the wind and act like a sail which is not always desirable. 2. Keeping things low makes sure your centre of gravity is below the centre of buoyancy. This is an important consideration to generate good stability in your canoe especially when paddling through large swell or waves that roll the canoe.
All three of these packs have shoulder straps which make carrying them much easier, in addition the yellow Ortleib bag is very visible which helps to spot it if it goes overboard and makes finding things inside much easier due to the brightness. The Palm bags have roll top closures and the Ortleib a T-zip which makes it 100% water tight. In the above photo I am testing their integrity by filling them with air to test for leaks.
Even when I am happy that the packs are performing as expected there is still a possibility that one may sustain damage so everything that needs to be kept perfectly dry is double bagged in a second dry bag within the pack and in the case of sleeping bags triple bagged.
Lesson number 3 – If there’s a risk something will get wet, it probably will, so remove the risk.
In addition to the packs our tents have their own waterproof roll top dry bags which were sized to be the perfect fit either under a seat or in the bow/stern of the canoe.
Next to the tents here we also carry two tarps and some nesting Tatonka tarp poles. These are not essential items but having a tarp to sit under is enough to change your conditions from unbearable to comfortable and since we are canoe tripping the weight is not so much an issue.
Why two tarps though? In a group camping trip there are often times when just one is not enough and sitting at the edge of the tarp can be a drafty and wet experience. Having two tarps also means that you can put one over the entrance to your tent to give you a semi dry area to put on shoes and coats and stop the weather getting in. See lesson number 3.
Having two tarps also allows for redundancy. The above photo was taken while camping on an island on Loch Maree and that night we were hit by the tail end of Hurricane Katrina, the tarp was shredded by breakfast time. This has also happened on Ennerdale Water in the Lakes so now we always carry two tarps.
Lesson number 4 – Two is one and one is none.
We also have an accessible Overboard ditch bag in each canoe containing a change of clothing and more safety items and first aid kits.
Finally we carry a fridge in which we keep food items cold, not a real fridge obviously but that’s what we call it. This is the results of many years of iterations; I think this is probably the 5th version having gone through many types of insulation but it works pretty well now.
It is basically a small plastic barrel with a screw top. The inside has been lined with approximately 25mm of insulation and then it is covered in reflective foil tape.
Cooking and eating
So now we know how we are carrying it’s time to move onto what we are carrying and we can start with catering.
I have laid out the items we take for the four of us in the following photo. The easiest thing to do is probably just go through the photo (clockwise from bottom left). We do switch this around occasionally and take different items depending on what meals we are preparing to have. At the moment we can’t quite decide whether to switch the pots out for our aluminium dutch oven so we can make some sourdough bread.
- One large and one medium Tatonka cooking pot.
- Plates and bowls, sized so that they nest inside one another and then inside the cooking pots
- Cleaning items
- Insulated mugs
- Cutlery
- Jetboil and gas
- Wooden cooking implements and tongs
- Firebox and blow poker
Water & Hygiene
Fresh water lochs in Scotland tend to be pretty clean from my experience. I generally collect water from somewhere way off shore if I can to minimize contamination but I also take a means of filtering just in case. From the left: Millbank bag, clean water collapsable bottle, Water to go filter bottle, Grayl Ultrapress filter bottle.
The last two options continuing to follow on from lesson number 4.
Toiletry items and clothing wash
Toilet roll, hand gel, lighter, wipes and fabric wash. The pegs are something that you don’t miss until you don’t have them. For us it stemmed from when the boys were still very young and being able to wash items on extended trips was essential. If I am paddling solo then I tend to just make a peg out of a stick. We also carry a small folding spade for when nature calls.
Camp items
We have already talked about tarps but I didn’t mention anything beyond that so next are a couple of mesh bags with a few carabiners, aluminium pegs, paracord guy lines and sand anchors, for those times when the only suitable place to camp is a beach. (See the Maree photo above).
I could probably save weight by leaving out the pegs and carabiners but I prefer to guy out the tarps with carabiners on the tabs and the ridge line. The reason for this is to facilitate a quick dropping of the tarp in the middle of the night if the wind picks up too much. It only takes a minute to walk around the tarp and unclip them all then bundle the tarp up leaving the lines ready to re-attach in the morning already pre-pegged. Lesson learnt one stormy night on Loch Lurgainn.
Lesson number 5 – Prepare for a failure then take pleasure in knowing you planned ahead.
Toolkit
This is contained within a small screw top barrel and consists of spare fire lighting items (in addition to the ones carried in buoyancy aids), Tenacious repair tape, roll of duct tape, rubber inner tube containing multiple tie wraps, brass chain, screw driver, multi tool.
Canoe trolleys
This is very much dependent on the trip that you are doing. I know this years’ trip will involve a portage or two but they will be on gravel tracks so we are taking the trolleys. Obviously, these don’t work on rugged terrain so there would be no point in taking them if that’s what you are planning.
There are many types of trolleys available and they are specific for the type of craft you have. All I can say is if you have an open canoe and you are liable to leave the odd bag in it then go for a trolley that has a rigid link between the two wheels to prevent splaying and failure. It has happened to me and at the most inconvenient time. Another failure that can happen are tyres, a lot of trolleys come with pneumatic tyres but they are poor quality, they puncture and leak and even worse sometimes. On one such trip we had to portage along a track between Loch Maree and Fionn Loch and about half way up there was a huge bang that sounded like a shotgun going off. It was actually one of our group’s tyres exploding. To get back down the track we ended up lashing two canoes together in a raft formation and then supporting them on one and a half trolleys. For that reason our trolleys are fitted with solid polyurethane tyres, an inexpensive but worthwhile change even though they are yellow.
Lesson number 6 – Modify your equipment where required to meet your needs.
Sleeping
Four people, four sleeping bags, four mats, four pillows simples.
No point explaining the what and why because everyone is different and have personal preferences. Just follow the rules to make sure they are up to the conditions you expect to find.
What is not shown here, however, are the bivvy bags that we sometimes take. On one trip on Cam Loch we ended up spending a night camping on tussets underneath a tarp between two canoes as there was nowhere to pitch a tent, we were thankful that we had packed the bivvy bags on that trip.
Camp Furniture
This is another subjective topic but our philosophy is, if you have the space and weight is not an issue then why wouldn’t you take it to make your camp more pleasant?
I can honestly say that I have never questioned why I took it, but when I didn’t I have wished I had.
Many types of chair are available but we have come to the conclusion that the Helinox range give the best performance in terms of longevity and weight/space saving. People have said that there are clones out there that are just as good as Helinox for half the price. You can’t argue with the price but those same people are now on their third clone where ours are 10 years old and still absolutely fine.
Lesson number 7 – Inclement does not have to mean uncomfortable.
Lesson number 8 – Buy cheap, buy twice.
Throughout this blog I am conscious that I have just stuck to the main items that we take on a canoeing expedition and I have not gone into too much detail about those items. I have not mentioned paddling kit that we all carry on our person, neither have I even started on clothing or food that we have been preparing to take with us. I think those might be worth a blog all of their own. Perhaps I will save that for another day.