Another lurker coming out of the intertidal zone...... I'm another late forties guy. Since the 70', I have paddled my little 14' cedar canvas canoe around the Vancouver, Victoria and Gulf Islands area, but only on little day outings. I always avoided windy, lumpy conditions, especially once the kids started coming along. About six years ago I finally tried kayaking, and loved the relative ease and safety of it. Since then I've been fortunate to go on a few trips to various glorious (more or less) wilderness locales up and down the BC coast (Broken Group, Clayquot, Haida Gwaii, Johnstone Strait, Nootka Sound). I will now make the terrible public admission that I've always (except for a couple Gulf Island overnights) gone as a "PAYING CLIENT" with a guided group. Hey, it's not that bad. The outfit that I've gone with provides mainly single kayaks, communal kitchen equipment, guides, and not much else. In other words, they do not pamper the "guests" by cooking, doing dishes, or otherwise catering excessively to them. All food provisions are communally provided and prepared. I am slowly learning about tides, navigation, weather, etc. but I'm a long way from having the knowledge, gear, and experience to safely venture out on my own, so this suits me fine. This spring I plan to attend a kayaking skills workshop at Thetis Island - its about time! When I go on these outings, I view it as a paddling/camping trip with 6 or 8 friends that I haven't met yet - for the most part, this has turned out to be true. I always bring my half size beach guitar (in its home made dry bag - bungied onto the rear deck) and have now discovered that 9 lb test monofilament makes a fine replacement for a busted E string, having been stupid enough not to pack spares. Of Groovers (part of another thread): It used to be that we "went" in the forest, and for the past few years have been using the intertidal zone. Is this not still environmentally correct? "What I Have Most Appreciated From The List": (a new thread?) 1. Interesting trip reports. 2. Gear talk (to a point) especially Cameras, Sleeping Bags, Clothing, etc. 3. Recommended reading. (More!) Only Tip: Take a cheap (ie. lightweight) large zippered duffle bag to carry individual dry bags, tent bag, food,boots, etc. etc. up and down the beach - this way you can pack all your gear from kayak to tentsite in one trip (with one hand free to carry the guitar) Do lots of others do this? I haven't met many. Personal trivia: Self employed Architect in Vancouver (not much work around lately) Cheers, all. Thanks for listening. The canoe's still hangin' in the carport. Ian ______________________ Ian Cohen / Icon Architecture *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Ian Cohen wrote: > Another lurker coming out of the intertidal zone...... [snip] > Only Tip: Take a cheap (ie. lightweight) large zippered [mesh?] duffle bag to > carry individual dry bags, tent bag, food,boots, etc. etc. up and down the > beach - this way you can pack all your gear from kayak to tentsite in one > trip (with one hand free to carry the guitar) Do lots of others do this? I do. Must be a good idea: My completely anti-gearhead, totally stubborn paddling buddy Gary (he's from North Dakota -- it's cultural) poked fun at my use of THREE mesh gear bags, until the day I made ONE trip across 100 yards of deep, deep sand to our campsite, to his SIX trips! I was casually lolling about, sucking down my second beer as he completed his last gear ferry. Next trip, he had *two* gear bags. Snork! LL Bean seems to have the best ones. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Ian Cohen wrote: > > Another lurker coming out of the intertidal zone...... [snip] > [A] Tip: Take a cheap (ie. lightweight) large zippered duffle bag to > carry individual dry bags, tent bag, food,boots, etc. etc. up and down the > beach - this way you can pack all your gear from kayak to tentsite in one > trip (with one hand free to carry the guitar) Do lots of others do this? > I haven't met many. I use 'em, also -- really great for organizing gear enroute to the put-in, also. My SO and I must have a lot more gear than you do -- we need three large ones between us! -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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