Officially on a countdown now and today is my last day of work.
Plan for tomorrow is pick up Julie at 12pm load her stuff into my truck head downtown to pick up our Kayaks for 3pm, then head up north to our launch point in Victoria Harbour, do a test pack or two then relax for the rest of the afternoon with family until we leave.
Hard to believe it’s been a year since the last trip.
I can’t speak to what Julie has packed but do know she has one extra bag of clothes, here is what I’m bringing and have 3 opportunities to do laundry along the way. All packed in 1-25l Dry Bag.
Wearing or in Kayak in case I need them.
I didn’t include a list of the food I brought last year and figured I would post it this year for those interested. I re-supply along the way as needed, works well for the Trent Waterway as there are lots of places to shop and eat when you get tired of eating out of boxes and bags.
Fluids
Primary drink is water, and drink lots of it, I carry two 1000ml bottles, one on deck one behind seat, usually enough for a few hours of paddling, I either use my water filter in a pinch or top at the locks or stores along the way. I also pick up Gatorade where available.
I also carry 8 1000ml juice packs, tetra packs, you can pick up at any grocery store and they are durable and once you drink the juice you can fill with more water if needed. usually store one in the cockpit and the others in the hatch.
For times when I get bored of water I carry 20 Koolaid single packs in various flavor just to add some taste to the water, rarely used them last year but nice to have.
Pre-mixed coffee for when I get to camp or in the morning, also have instant hot chocolate packs for a change. I keep my eye out for Tim Hortons for the real stuff when I can get it.
6-12 cans of beer under the deck, don’t drink during the day but enjoy one once camp is setup. Debating bringing Whiskey this year but carrying coke is a pain. I use the Georgian Bay cooler system, put beer in a bag and put in water to cool. They generally stay cool under the deck anyway.
Snacks
Generally snack all day to keep energy up and then always nice to have something to munch on at camp. Carry a cooler bag which sits in the cockpit in front of the foot pegs and then I have a Tupperware container I add stuff to for the day’s paddle so it’s handy.
I then take everything out of the packaging and divide up into zip-lock bags to reduce space for packing. I prefer the medium Smart Zip ones as they are durable, easy to open and close and puff out at the bottom.
Breakfast
Never been a big breakfast person but need energy to start the day, typically consists of hot oatmeal (cinnamon apple my favorite) and have added some pre-packaged meals (just add hot water) for a little change, scrambled eggs etc..
Lunch
Usually snack all day while paddling but have a number of soups, stews etc for when we get the urge to have something with a little more substance. Won’t bore with specific list, generic canned stuff.
Dinner
Various pastas with sauce, rice/chicken and other canned items like vegetables, beans etc., for dessert, canned fruit. Lots of restaurants along the way so will eat out a few times when really want a good meal (and rye and coke)
Hard to believe it’s been almost a year since the trip last year, 15 more days and will push off from shore for a repeat trip. Excited and starting to switch into vacation mode, we have a stat holiday this week and took a couple days of vacation so really only 1 more full week of work left.
Don’t think I will be posting anything between now and when we leave on 15th of July, everything is packed and organized, rental complete, etc. Only outstanding item is to pack food which I will be doing over the next couple of weeks but nothing worthy of posting.
As with my previous trip I will be posting daily trip reports, if you followed along last year I will try and keep it entertaining.
Hmmm, should I hop on the twitter bandwagon……
Decided to rent again this year for two reasons.
Here are my basic requirements
Ended up Renting from MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op), they had better selection of boats and the price was cheaper than all other outfitters, $510 plus tax for 17 day rental is very reasonable in my opinion. They also allow you to pickup day before after 3pm and return before 1pm the day after at no additional cost and threw in car carrier kit and spare paddle which I had to pay extra for last year, definitely a bonus.
Ended up going with the Seaward Cosma, a little smaller than I had last year as it’s only 16’2” long but had everything else I wanted. Not as much cargo space as last year either but with two boats shouldn’t be a problem. I did go down and inspect the kayaks because I thought might be a little small but definitely not, very happy with advice from staff.
http://www.seawardkayaks.com/products_fibre_cosma.php
Another nice feature on the Seaward boats is the Smart Rudder System, instead of having to turn rudder by pressing rudder pedal forward and back with each foot, the pedals are fixed and you turn by pressing forward like a gas pedal, suppose to be much more efficient, will see.
Would have preferred the Seaward Tyee for this trip as it’s bigger but they only had one available and wanted two exact Kayaks for the trip.
Other outfitters I checked out
Swift Canoe/Kayak – No availability on touring Kayaks meeting my requirements, had a few plastic wilderness boats but can’t stand them, have rented twice and just don’t like them at all.
Muskoka Outfitters – They don’t have a lot of demand for touring kayaks so limited selection, wasn’t happy with service, called in and they said they had the Kayaks, were busy and said they would call back when they confirmed details, after a week I called back and they said they didn’t have anything in stock during the time of our trip, also meant would have to drive there to pick up (2 hours each way)
Paddle Toronto – Checked out their boats when I was down at Harbour Front, great selection but only do hourly/daily rentals and very expensive, almost 3 times the price to rent for the day and they don’t do extended rentals.
Complete Paddler – Only carry polycarbonate Kayaks
Haven’t posted in quite some time and figured time for an update. My original plan for this trip was circumnavigation of Georgian Bay, the majority of this blog so far has been around the planning of that trip.
Good news/Bad News, downside, will be postponing the Georgian Bay trip until next year. Upside, still doing a trip this year and will do essentially the same route as last year, Trent Waterway from Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario. I will be doing the Georgian Bay trip at some point in the future but my reason for trip change this year is simple, bringing a date.
After stopping in Buckhorn for a day last year, I planted the bug to Julie that she should give kayaking a try, well… she heard me loud and clear and since that point hasn’t stopped bugging me about coming along this year, after she went out and picked up all her gear, how can I say no, joking of course on the bugging part.
Will be a blast to have her along, we did do a kayak weekend last year to make sure she would enjoy, went out in Georgian Bay for overnighter, weather wasn’t the best but she was a trooper and didn’t loose interest in the thought of going this year.
Having said that, when I think back to planning last year and never having kayaked before, wouldn’t of considered doing Georgian Bay so with this being Julie’s first real trip I didn’t think it was fair to put her out in Georgian Bay for 2+ weeks unprepared.
Julie maintains that I should keep my original plan and not change just because she is coming but I think it is the wisest decision. I enjoyed the Trent so can’t think of any reason why it would be any less enjoyable a second time, especially when I know what to expect now.
Point is to get away from the city and be out on the water, destination less important to me. She will give me grief when she reads this but too bad Julie, trip planner prerogative.
Here we go!
I get a kick out of reading what other people pack for their trip, figured was time to post an updated list of my gear. For the most part it hasn’t changed much from last year but I did add a bunch of new gear. Here is my Gear List as it stands today, will most likely not change now and only 1-2 items I might add.
Still find it amazing that it all fits into a kayak, difference from last year is that I had no idea if it would or not and was only going on what I read, this year I know that it will, doesn’t stop me from shaking my head.
Have indicated whether the item has been ADDED from what I brought last year or whether I REPLACED an item for one reason or another. There are numerous posts on my blog from last year on the equipment I have, including post trip reviews. If interested in more info, check the posts from last year. Link on side menu.
Kayak Equipment
Might still add the following Items:
Not sure yet if I’m going to buy a Kayak or rent again. If I purchase, will need to add the following items, they come with Rental.
Navigation Equipment
Safety Equipment
Might still add the following:
Electronic Equipment
Personal Items
Camp Equipment
Clothing / Paddle Gear
Other than food, that’s it, other than the items where I mentioned I might still add, by gear list is complete. Have a spare room completely cleared out, tent set-up and all gear organized and ready to go. Yes, I am a freak when it comes to planning ahead.
