Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12
  1. #1
    New Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
    Posts
    4

    an OLD trip report....

    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...

  2. #2
    Senior Member Poppabear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Lexington Park, MD
    Hammock
    Warbonnet Blackbird 1.7
    Tarp
    Zpacks Cuben Fiber
    Insulation
    Leigh's UQ
    Suspension
    Whoopies/Treestrap
    Posts
    1,392
    When you mentioned this trip in your intro post I was intrigued. Now I am in awe after reading your report on the trip. That is truely a trip to remember. You and you wife are two very lucky people. I can only dream of experiencing a trip such as that. Thanks for sharing with us.
    Terry

  3. #3
    New Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
    Posts
    4
    thanks! we are...lucky that is. Lucky to have experienced the island that way, lucky to have beaten the big "C", lucky to have retired this year at 55...really blessed.

    One really important life lesson that I learned on that trip; Don't feed crab to Pugs. Chinese Pugs are gassy little creatures to begin with. Add fresh crab, then stuffing said Pug in the bottom of your sleeping bag for the night...NOT a good idea. Until then, I had no idea that flatuance could have color and texture.

    If it ( the gas) could have been bottled, the Military would be interested.....

  4. #4
    Senior Member Mountain Gout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Michigan
    Hammock
    Wbbb 1.1dbl.- Traveler multicam 1.9
    Tarp
    H.G. Cuben camo
    Insulation
    Phinc-burrow- H.R.
    Posts
    1,472
    It warms my heart like you will never know to hear you beat the "c" I have lost too many people in my life to it.. I look forward to more stories as well.. Thanx for sharing..
    crab and pugs..
    We would be one step closer to world peace, if everyone slept in a hammock..

  5. #5
    KefWalker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    ABQ, NM
    Hammock
    WBXLC 1.1 DL
    Tarp
    HG Cuben Tarp
    Insulation
    Shamu, CrowsNest
    Suspension
    AHE Whoopie Slings
    Posts
    182
    Images
    11
    Thanks for the uplifting write-up! That's an incredible adventure Dragan--enough for a lifetime for some folks.
    Solvitur Ambulando - Diogenes

  6. #6
    Senior Member gargoyle's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Muskegon MI
    Hammock
    G-Bird II/Bridge
    Tarp
    Ogee tarp
    Insulation
    DIY TQ DIY Down UQ
    Suspension
    whoopies
    Posts
    6,686
    Images
    45

    Good stuff Dragan.
    You will fit in fine!
    Adventure, hanging, grit, and flatulence...written like a master!
    Thanks for the smile.
    Ambulo tua ambulo.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Vandalia, OH
    Hammock
    Mikey C. Custom Hammocks
    Tarp
    Kelty Noah 12x12
    Insulation
    Mikey C. Easy-Bake
    Posts
    585
    Images
    17
    AMAZING trip, and awesome first post. I'd like to go that exact same thing.
    (WM)===:::

  8. #8
    New Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
    Posts
    4
    Wow! thanks for the welcome everyone!
    our trip was definetly one of those "bucket trip" sort of things...SO glad we did it then. When I was sick in 2006, I realized that there were things worse than staring death in the face; staring death in the face and thinking about all those adventures you COULD have taken, and didn't for no particular reason was waay harder to deal with.

    Life is WAY too short to sit on the sidelines and watch it go by. In 2007, after I was "hospital free", my family indulged me in another "bucket list" adventure; having a family portrait taken...on the Great Wall of China.

    We did that; my son and son-in-laws helped me with the climb, we got the photo, and then the boys and I took advantage of a new "adventure"...we spent the night on the wall in one of the guard towers.

    A company in Beijing has a package set up where you can camp out on the wall for the night...no hammocks unfortunately...camp cots though. AMAZING. If anyone's interested, some photos of the wall, including the family portrait, are at;
    http://yycadm.zenfolio.com/
    in the China folder.

    This is fun! I'm gonna have to dig through the hard drives for some more hammock adventure stuff...

  9. #9
    Senior Member Poppabear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Lexington Park, MD
    Hammock
    Warbonnet Blackbird 1.7
    Tarp
    Zpacks Cuben Fiber
    Insulation
    Leigh's UQ
    Suspension
    Whoopies/Treestrap
    Posts
    1,392
    Dragan, You definitely have to did through those hard drives. I for one would be very interested in hearing more of your stories.
    Terry

  10. #10
    Senior Member Veto 65's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Cohoes, New York
    Hammock
    WBBB 1.7 DL
    Tarp
    Chinook 9.6x9.6
    Insulation
    AH New River UQ
    Suspension
    Came with the BB
    Posts
    704
    Images
    6
    Quote Originally Posted by Dragan View Post
    A company in Beijing has a package set up where you can camp out on the wall for the night...no hammocks unfortunately...camp cots though. AMAZING. If anyone's interested, some photos of the wall, including the family portrait, are at;
    http://yycadm.zenfolio.com/
    in the China folder.

    This is fun! I'm gonna have to dig through the hard drives for some more hammock adventure stuff...
    Yes please do. No pictures? It didn't happen.

    Welcome to Hammock Forums. Your experience will be greatly appreciated here, due to the fact you learned on your own, so you may have a different way of doing the same thing. I look forward to hearing some of your ideas.

    China had some great pictures, you got a talented eye for photography. I hope to see the pictures from this trip report soon.
    I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. - E. B. White (1899 - 1985)

  • + New Posts
  • Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. The un-Trip Report
      By E.A.Y. in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 10
      Last Post: 04-03-2012, 19:13
    2. Hardly a trip report .....
      By Tjalling in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 12
      Last Post: 02-15-2012, 11:04
    3. Trip Report: Mt. Rogers weekend trip
      By Yosef in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 3
      Last Post: 03-30-2011, 21:52
    4. Standing Indian Trip Report/Equipment Report (Long)
      By Cruiser161 in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 8
      Last Post: 05-20-2009, 20:07
    5. Trip report...
      By paddleguy in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 2
      Last Post: 08-28-2007, 20:03

    Tags for this Thread

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •