Good idea rb
I am glad to hear that someone is still teaching adolescents how to handle swamped canoes in real-world conditions. I had the benefit of belonging to a high school canoeing club, and we did teh same sort of training.
Jim
2 packs for trim
In a solo, you need two packs for trim - I put the heavier/bulkier pack behind the seat and a lighter pack or daypack up in the bow, with a rope attached to it so I can pull it back to me if needed (as when a headwind lightens up) and I can push it as far to the bow end as needed with my paddle when the headwind blows harder (happens about 90% of the time to mw!). In windy conditions on lakes, the wind direction is often shifting and increasing in intensity, and changes in direction of travel will also effectively change the wind direction - I want the ātrim packā mobile enough to adjust for changing conditions - with a long enough tether, I can pull the pack back from the bow, and toss it behind me without worrying it will roll off the big pack behind me.
I always securely tie in packs on river trips - (dry bags give added floatation if tied in) to avoid losing gear, but mainly to avoid entrapment issues, and avoid having the gear cause the boat to wrap on a rock, or otherwise get hung up.
I canāt really see where a boat over boat is practical on a river - much easier to just get the boat to shore and dump or bail out the water.
On lakes, Iāll often use a long tether on a pack, like a daypack that does not have much float to it, or if going out on big water in wind - that way, I can flip the boat back up and bail it out if needed without losing gear - not going to be doing a boat over boat if solo, and if that ever came up, I could untie or cut the tether lines.
If doing a lot of frequent portaging, wonāt tie in at all.