2004 Buyer’s Guide: Lakewater
lakewater lakewater
Survival tips for the ultimate canoe expedition O
n April 18, 1995, Roman Rockliffe and I dipped our paddles into the Bay of Fundy. We were set- ting off up the Saint John River, attempting to be
the first people to paddle coast to coast across Canada in a season. We had no support team and little funding; only a canoe and a dream. In the following six months, we paddled up the Saint Lawrence (and lunched with Pierre Trudeau in Montreal en route), sloshed across the Great Lakes, hopped through the Boundary Waters, danced across Lake Winnipeg, toiled up the North Saskatchewan, grunted over the Rockies and then flew down the Fraser. On October 12 we splashed down in the Pacific Ocean and tasted its salty broth, bringing our great Canadian adventure to a close. We weren’t superhuman, just a couple of canoe trip-
pers who had always talked about “the big one” until we finally decided to give it a go. Anyone with determina- tion and a love of canoe tripping can do the same. Here are a few tips to help you along as you prepare for your own cross-Canada canoe marathon.
Choosing your partner Some might think that on a 180-day canoe trip you’d
want your best friend or partner to be your companion. It could work, sure...or you could be at the throat of your dear friend and ruin that relationship forever. In order to do all 8,000 kilometres from the Maritimes to Lotusland, you have to be prepared to paddle and portage for 10 to 12 hours a day, every day. Roman and I had met exactly twice before we set off.
The key was that we were both bull-headed and would never, at any cost, quit before our goal was achieved. We were thrown together to achieve one singular task and had no baggage of the past to bring with us.
Canoe across Canada in a season
lakewater how to by Frank Wolf photo by Rick Matthews So pick out a determined individual who loves to trip
and shares your dream. Perhaps try an ad in the person- als—“tripper seeks tripper for cross-Canada fun.”
Fuelling the 8,000-kilometre engine We discovered on our journey that we could average
about 60 kilometres per day on flat water, 90 kilometres per day downstream and 40 kilometres per day upstream (portaging, of course, cut down these distances). To keep the engine humming at this pace, we ate a very basic diet. It consisted of oatmeal for breakfast,
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