Kayaking
Queen Charlotte Strait Solo
QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS
I have
answered here the
most common questions that I have been asked about my trips. If you
would like to know something else, please send
me a message
and I will do my best to reply directly or post an answer here, if the
question is of interest to a larger audience. Your question will be
posted anonimously, unless you instruct me to use your name.
Q: Was this
inflatable kayak up to the challenge?
A:
It got me through a month of travel, sometimes through the turbulent
waters. This trip has clearly highlighted its advantages but even more
the limitations for the ocean kayaking. The main problem was that
paddling in strong winds in a cruising configuaration, with
the deck
bags, was very difficult to impossible. Especially challenging was the
paddling against or on a broad reach course to the wind and the waves.
If
facing strong front waves and winds the speed was very slow and the
efforts to move forward disproportionate. In winds above 15-20 knots
any reasonable progress was next to impossible. Equally difficult was
paddling on a broad reach course, with the wind and the waves on the
beam and slightly behind. The kayak had a strong dendency to turn
broadside to
the wind, the stronger the wind, the more determined the turn, until at
some point keeping the kayak on the course became impossible. The large
deck bags were likely partially to blame for this, as they were
increasing
kayak's wind profile. However, due to the limited space inside, a long
trip would be impossible without the deck bags. I had also noticed the
same tendencies, maybe to a lesser extend, when paddling on day
trips, without the large deck bags. To summarize, the ocean kayaking in
challenging open waters can only be possible if travelling on quiet
days. For more on this kayak and other equipment, please see my
previous trip notes.
Q: How did your photo equipment stand up to the marine environment?
A:
I have not experienced any problems yet, however I kept it well
protected whenever possible. For example, while kayaking, my camera was
inside the dry bag on the deck and, in addition, most of the time
inside a plastic bag or a rain cover. To photograph, I would remove the
camera from the dry bag, take the pictures and immediately place it
back closing the bag.
The only photography-related issue that
I had faced on this trip was that my solar panel stopped charging.
Fortunately, I had five camera batteries with me (one inside each of my
two DSLR cameras plus three replacement batteries). They were all fully
charged prior to my departure. I had managed to top up one battery
once, before the solar panel died, and these batteries had lasted the
whole trip, although at the end I only had enough juice left for about
a hundred of shots. Once back, I had shipped the solar panel to the
manufacturer for testing/repairs. To their credit, Brunton sent me a
replacement panel in no time.
Q: What food
were you eating and haw did you manage for so long without the fresh
greens?
A:
I have found that a combination of the fresh air, a hunger and a
healthy dosage
of exersise do wonders, making even the most banale food delicious. To
simplify my life during these long trips, I am only using the basic ingredients
and most simple cooking techniques. On the travel days, I
also try to cook
only once, in the afternoon, once I have established the camp. This is
to save my time; if I was in a group, rotating cooking
responsibilities and sharing other chores would have made my approach
unnecessary. The main ingredients I use are the staples (rice, pasta,
dried mashed potatoes, baking flour). I combine them with canned meat
and freshly caught fish, or make macaroni & cheese. I also
make pancakes. The
fish that I catch may go into a smoker -- the most efficient tecnique
of cooking, when only the gutting and no scaling is needed. The smoking
also adds a unique flavor. Otherwise, the fish is fried or goes into the fish soup,
thickened with mashed potatoes.
My
typical routine on a travel day is to cook a late lunch/early dinner
once I have established the camp. If I am planning to travel next day,
I cook enough to have the leftovers for breakfast (unless I intend to
have cereal). I also boil water and make the coffee for the morning by
mixing the ground coffee, the sugar and the hot water in the thermos.
In the morning, I finish the leftovers, or have a cereal, then coffee,
and off I go. The whole breakfast does not usually take more than 15
minutes. Sometime mid-day, I have my lunch while floating in the kayak,
normally granola bars with water. And that's about it. I do take with
me a few onions, garlic heads and lemons. The garlic survives a month
of travel, lemons and onions last less, perhaps up to three weeks. The
key to longevity is to keep all of them dry, if possible, and
to
aerate and dry up daily, weather permitting. I also take with me trail
mix, dry fruits, chocolate and other odds, however I have noticed that
I can easily
do without them, so these are definitely optional. Add tea,
black or
herbal, sugar, salt, some spices, honey for the pancakes, and that is
about it.
I do miss
the fresh greens, of course. Although I regularly take multivitamins
while travelling, I do try to supplement with the whild berries
whenever possible.
When provisioning for
my trips, I try to stay under 700g of food a day, to fit it all inside
my kayak and to limit the weight of my check-in bags. This means that I
have to supplement my supplies while travelling and I do so by
fishing.
The fish is plentiful and on almost all occasions it has taken me less
than an hour to get enough fish for up to two days. The fishing
regulations on the Pacific Coast are complex, and there are numerous
areas off limit for fishing. Some, like the marine parks, are large and
some, like the rockfish conservations areas, can be quite small and
patchy. So the advanced research and the printouts of rules and fishing
charts are a must.
Q. How do you get fresh
water while traveling?
While sea kayaking, I try to carry all the time as much water as I can
fit into my kayak
replenishing the reserves whenever possible. The inflatable kayak does
not have much space inside, so I use a combination of 1.0 and 1.5 liter
plastic pop bottles, holding around 20 liters, fitting them in all
available places, and a 10 liter soft water carrier. My water
consumption in warm (but not hot) conditions, paddling about four hours
a day, is at least 2.5 liters of fresh water a day. Three liters a day
seem to
be sufficient to keep me going indefinitely. So the 30 liters inside my
kayak may last somewhere between 10 to 12 days. To achieve these modest
consumption rates, I mix fresh and salt water for cooking, in 3:1
proportion. The actual ratio is obviously subject to the individual
taste and to the salinity of the sea. I tightly control my water
consumption if no source of fresh water is available nearby. One way to
know if I drink enough, as I have learned from several sources, is to
watch the urine color. If it is too light, too much water is consumed.
Too dark -- I am not drinking enough, but this might be all right for a
while, if on a tight ration. If I camp next to a source of fresh water,
it is time for an unrestricted feast.
Q: What camping gear do
you use?
I have been using a very
simple one-person Wenzel A-frame tent. The main
reason for choosing this particular model was
that I had it already. It is small, light and cheap. The BC coast
summers are
usually reasonably warm and dry, so I do not really need anything more
sophisticated. However, the condensation is an issue, I think it is a
common
problem for single-wall tents. Another issue, as I had discovered over
this
year trip, is that the netting is not no-see-um proof. I always pitch
the tent on top of a
ground sheet to
protect it from abrasion and punctures. If rains were a potential
issue, I would have also taken a tarp for covering the tent or the
cooking area.
I use a Thermarest 3/4 length
self-inflating
mattress, also because I already have it. It packs smaller than the
full-size
alternatives. When sleeping, I keep the soft kayak seat (if
it is
dry) in the
foot area, to cover almost the full length of my tent. If the seat is
wet, I still place something in the foot area, to create an insulation
layer, for example empty dry bags, my paddling jacket and pants, if
they are
dry, etc. My sleeping bag for this type of
trips is an ultra-light
Lafuma 1.2 kg mummy version, rated to +7 C for comfort. It is warm
enough for
me, for the BC summers. When I have felt cold on a couple of occasions,
I slept in a
layer of thermal underwear. The sleeping bags lose lots of insulation
when
washed, so I always sleep inside a cotton insert to minimize direct
contacts of my body with the bag. For the pillow I use a synthetic
bag stuffed with my
clothes. Mine has a layer of fleece on one side, for a more pleasant
feel
when sleeping. The sleeping pad, the sleeping bag
with the insert, the
pillow and my warm fleece jacket fit in the
front deck bag, with
some spare space left for the hiking shoes.
I
cook in two pots, 0.75 liter and 1.5 liter, with the larger pot lid
used as a frying pan. I also use a portable smoker, the size of a large
dictionary, for smoking fish.
Q: How safe is
kayaking alone in these waters?
Overall,
I do not feel that I expose myself to undue risks. The key, from my
point of view, is to know what I can and cannot do with my kayak and
level of skills, and travel accordingly. For example, I only cross
large open areas on relatively calm days. If it is too windy and
choppy, I camp for another day. And this brings me to another
point: it is extremely important to have an adequate number of extra
days as a safety reserve. I do not want being forced to paddle in
unsafe
conditions just because I am running out of time. I also rely on a
portable VHF marine radio in case something bad happens. And I have
with me more safety equipment than prescribed by the boating rules for
the kayaks.
Copyright © 2011 Mikhail Belikov. All rights reserved.
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