[Paddlewise] Our trip in Quetico P.P., gelcoat repair and next summer trip

	A few month ago, I joined the paddlewise list and asked
information and experiences about doing the Quetico Provincial
Park in Ontario with two fiberglass Sealution, one regular and
one XL.  As expected, I got quite a few answers, some saying:
"forget it, use canoes", others saying: "will be hard but try
it". This was followed by exchanges about the + and - of sea
kayaks vs. canoes.
	Well, here is our experience: Lise and I did spend 3 weeks
(from sept.23 to oct.14) within the park with our two Sealution.
Great trip!!
	Total tranquillity, no clock with us, only the sun, the moon
and the darkness to give us the time of day (our stomach too
sometimes).  We did not meet anybody, except on the second day,
and we saw two mosquitoes !! We saw many moose, some very
impressive bocks from fairly close (One swam just in front of
our camp one morning). We heard the wolfs a couple of time, and
once from just across a 50 to 70 metre (~200 feet) lake!!!
Wonderful feeling to hear them, sitting by our fire eating fresh
fish.
We saw many bald eagles, playing above us.
	The weather was very nice, comfortable most of the time. The
last two days were very windy, very very windy and fairly cold
(some snow in the morning!). Luckily, we had the wind behind us
and we were just flying.
	We covered about 240 kilometres (~150 miles) in 21 days. It
might not be that much but we were in no hurry, we think it is
always the best way to do any kind of trip: Enjoy each lake,
each bay, each creek, each portage, each mud hole, take the time
to observe the wildlife, the flowers, the trees...
	We had 30 kg (66 lbs.) of food and 63 kg. (121 lbs.) of
equipment. Lise carried a total of 35 kg in here kayak and I had
58 kg in mine. A total of 22 portages.  That's where we had some
of the biggest surprises.
	On the first day we knew we had a long 880 metres (~half a
mile) portage, first portage of the trip, full load. We each had
a hip and shoulder strap which supported the kayak on our side,
we used one arm also to support the kayak.  In this manner we
could shift the weight from the arm to the strap on the shoulder
and rest one muscle or the other.  Good thing we are in good
shape and fairly strong. We usually split the portages into
small trips of 150 to 300 metres for each kayak and one trip
with as much as we could carry in our backpack and hands (for a
total 3 trips, therefore a 100 metre portage demanded 500 metres
of walking). We were well organized for packing and it did not
take long to put what was needed in our backpack. We were sore
the next day, especially some bruises on our hips, but after a
few days it got much better.
	This first portage was the second longest we had planned, the
longest one was nearer the end of our trip.  But things never go
as plan, water level was very low and most creeks were dry. The
third day we were suppose to do two small portages of about 50
metres, they became one portage of 1 kilometre. Two days latter
a 500 metre portage was transformed into a 1.8 kilometre (more
than a mile) portage, that one was a hard one and we were very
happy to be sitting in our kayaks again.
	So, after our trip, what do we think about a trip like this in
kayaks. Great!! Kayaks have some advantages over canoes. Most
important, we each had our own and could go each our own way and
meet latter. Also, they are much more comfortable under rainy
condition, a good rain jacket is the only thing needed, the
lower body stays dry and warm. Portages might be longer to
execute, but when we are in no hurry, what is the point.  The
first week the portages were hard and demanding, but by the
second week they were quite manageable and on the last week they
were quite easy (we did half mile portages in a breeze). One
fairly important problem with kayak : if one of us got hurt, it
would have been very hard for the other one to go get help by
himself if any portage were in the way.  We are thinking of
getting a canoe in a few years, especially for river trips.

	We are already thinking about our trips for the next years.
Next spring we are thinking about the east coast of the US, My
sister lives in Athens (Georgia) so we go inland and return
along the coast (We live in Val D'Or northern Québec). The year
after will be Newfoundland! Naturally if any of you have any
suggestion about great sea kayak destinations in these areas,
let us know. We prefer places that are not too popular and
quiet.
	This trip also brings another question. A few times, we dragged
our kayaks on sandy and muddy river beds with only a few inches
of water to support the kayak. Naturally, when we got back home
we notice that we lost some paint and gelcoat along the bottom
of our kayaks. Is it possible to do the repairs at home with
basic tools? I have got a fairly good but basic shop (wood
working shop mostly) and I have no experience with fiberglass
work. Would it be better and/or cheaper to bring our kayak to a
boat shop?

Dominique Berube
Val d'Or, Quebec

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