I finally decided on a canoe and will be picking it up this week. Old Town Discovery 119. Now, I’m trying to get together what I should take with me since I will be canoeing alone. Life vest, dry box, water, sunscreen, stuff like that. I was thinking of attaching a lightweight kayak paddle to the canoe as an extra paddle. bug spray? cell phone? What do you bring if you paddle alone? The dog will stay home for the first few trips.
I’m also thinking I should name the canoe for good luck. I have a Subaru Forester that I named Forest as in Run, Forest Run to encourage it to last at least as long as the loan.
Add a first aid kit, and a sponge, and
you should be good to go
Jack L
what’s the sponge for?
What you should leave…
– Last Updated: May-21-12 9:20 PM EST –
You are a self described beginner, and you are about to go on a solo canoe trip. Sounds as if it might be your first solo canoe trip; you didn't say?
Anyway, a good thing for you to "leave" is information about the trip.
Leave the information with someone you trust.
Things they need to know:
What river will you be paddling?
Put in time/date/location?
Take out time/date/location?
If you haven't checked in with them by a certain time/date........who do you want them to contact?
Some things I "always" take are snack food, rain gear, extra water, flashlight, Crazy Creek chair, and fire starting material. Doesn't matter if it's a day trip, multi overnight, solo, or with a group. First aid kit & sponge are also nice items to have.
Enjoy.
BOB
P.S. A sponge is good for getting water out of the bilge of your canoe. Also good for cleaning out dirt, bugs, leaf litter, and other debris that collects in the bildge. At the take out, it's good for a little bit of canoe cleanup.
solo
First solo trip but not the first time I’ve been canoeing. Good idea to let someone know the details. Payback worry for my kids haha.
Don’t bring one with you, and you’ll
find out pretty quick!
Jack L
Enjoy
Your new boat!
finally got out there
All the advice helped a lot. I remembered my sponge! I was caught by surprise at how fast the canoe took off due to a small amount of wind, good to know. I was glad I had my cell phone (and whistle) but was able to get it under control momentarily. If anyone followed my threads from last year and my angst over how I would get the canoe in and out of the water, I just laid down two 2 x 6 x 12 planks, pushed the canoe down over the bulkhead and rip rap and voila. Getting it back out was a little trickier but mostly I just lifted it like you’d put it on a car. This is why I needed a lightweight canoe. I cannot wait to take a real trip. Everything looked so different from out on the creek than it does from the shore. I’m very happy with my choice of canoes, felt stable and responsive.