Having just become a full fledged member of this august group, I thought I should begin with a contribution...i.e. a trip report from way back when...my beginnings as a hanger, who, what where and why.
In 2000/2001 my wife and I decided that since we enjoyed ocean/coastal kayaking a great deal and have always loved camping, that we should combine the two and have an "adventure"
Our adventures are a constant source of anxiety for our children. Despite growing up with us having family "adventures", as they grew up and out on their own, they became more convinced that;
-the folks were nuts
-they probably should be watched by professionals
-Hell, no, they were NOT following our lead!
we took up kayaking, then white water kayaking, then ocean kayaking. we experimented with a variety of kayaks and propulsion systems, including sails and traction kites.
Once we had the supplementary power issues sorted out ( we mounted a Spirit Sail on a 22 ft open cockpit kayak, and supplemented it with an 11 ft traction kite...plus paddles of course), we then had to do some gear for on the ground.
small and easy was key, as was protection from weather and bugs. we looked at a lot of tents, and then looked at the terrain along our route, and said "Nah". a tent would have been almost impossible to set up in most spots. Henessey was fairly new at the time, and I started looking at them to see if they would work.
I bought one, and played with it. slept well, was easy to set, perfect for the terrain, small, etc. etc., so we bought a second and then started trying them out with dogs. we have two Chinese pugs and a chihuahua...the dogs had always paddled with us, at least on our flat water escapades. They're all small, and my wife and I are both skinny as rakes, so we worked out a "system." one night I'd have the chihuahua and one pug, the wife with the other pug, then change for the next night.
Dogs in a hammock are "interesting". it took a while, but they all finally came to the conclusion that sleeping inside the sleeping bags, down at our feet, was where they wanted to be...it was perfect; kibble powered foot warmers!
We were quite a sight; big purple kayak, yellow spray skirt with two "people ports" and three "dog ports". Pugs have a unique floating technique; head under water, butt in the air, so we had all three fitted for life jackets. The chihuahua also got a neoprene body suit; without it, the shivering would shake the boat apart.
Dogs, boat, sail, hammocks, bags, cooking gear, a collapsable crab pot, assorted "stuff", and we were off. The boat hit the water in Ladysmith B.C. weighing a touch over 700 lbs with everyone on board; within 30 lbs of it's max capacity. Yes, in retrospect...foolish.
Our destination was Telegraph Cove on the nothern end of the island. all our paddling was done on the leeward side of the island in calm water and seldom more than a couple of hundred feet from shore.
The entire way up the coast is dotted with small communities, marinas, etc. so we had no issues resupplying. we used the crab pot regularly; a tin of catfood inside, and drop it in overnight for a soak usually resulted in far more crab than we could realistically use ( or want. it's amazing how uninterested you can get in crab after eating it daily for the first two weeks).
I won't bore you or prolong this with too much detail about the paddling...it was often tedious; we set a goal of a minimum 15kms a day, and discovered that while that was ambitious. we maintained that (actually averaged a little over 20 km/day on paddling days), however without the sail and the kite to supplement our paddling efforts, we could not have done it.
Our fun time was often after the day's paddling was done. Vancouver island is an amazing place; tons of little coves to tie up in for the night, and even though there was often civilization within a few kilometers, it felt like we were the only people within a thousand km.
We got quite adept at hanging in "unique" spots. the geography of the island lends itself to fissures in the rock, so we set up the hammoks often hanging over the water, or immediately adjacent to it. Its tough to beat waking up to mist hanging over the water, while YOU'RE hanging over the water too.
We had rain...lots and lots of it. we kept the sleeping gear in dry bags, and the flys separate. erect the fly, get underneath it with the drybagged gear, hang the hammock and stuff the sleeping bags inside. we were never wet because of the weather once we set camp. Oh, there was the first few nights...wet due to dumb thumbs and lack of attention. You only need one night sleeping soggy to appreciate paying attention to the task at hand.
We made our goal of Telegraph Cove (28 days later), and had AMAZING experiences during the trip; seals trying to climb onto the stern of the boat to get away from the killer whales feeding...killer whales...feeding, playing, sleeping, swimming, vocalizing...you truly have to see them at work to fully appreciate these magnificent creatures. They are incredibly intelligent, and they will mess with humans...just to see what you'll do. I have video somewhere in this pile of moving boxes shot on the trip of a female swimming at the boat at speed, then diving just before she would have hit us, passing right under the boat while she rolled on her side so that she could watch our reaction.
Bald eagles who were determined to snatch one of the dogs...this happened more than once, and it is terrifying to see a bird that size sweeping down at you, glaring at you with those yellow eyes and big talons. I actually had nightmares a couple of times because of them. we had to be constantly alert to them the further north we went.
Would I do that trip again? IN A HEARTBEAT, if I could. Since that adventure, I had an adventure of another kind; in 2006 I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and lost half of my jaw, part of my left leg and part of my left arm, so my kayaking days have pretty much come to an end. My hammock adventures are now mostly during motorcycle trips, and my Expedition with an MEC Habanero sleeping bag as my gear of choice. Our new home in Regina will force me to rethink some of my approaches; there is a distinct lack of trees in southern Saskatchewan...but up north...
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