Suz

Sorry to be such a spoil sport. Really not a good idea to save food from one meal to the next while camping. Imagine this, you open your brand new package of Tasty Bites (BTW, they sell these in bulk at Costco...) you decide to eat half now and eat the other half tomorrow night. So you carefully use the spoon you rinsed off from the previous meal and divided your package by putting half in a bowl to eat now and the other half you carefully folded down the lid and put into a clean zip lock and then put back in your boat. (Of course if you eat out of the bag and reintroduced your spoon each time into the bag THEN closed it up, you are definitely asking for trouble.) The bag has been opened and assuming your spoon was clean, you may not have introduced anything other than air to the package. The problem comes from the fact that when the bag of stuff was produced, if the producers were not 100% in their processing, you now have air that will allow something that was already there to start growing. You have an environment that you are not able to bring food to a temperature that will slow or prevent growth. Either super cold or super hot. Food that has been brought to high temperatures is less likely to have active or growing but most people who eat those bag meals are usually just warming them up. My husband will sometimes eat the leftovers from dinner camping for breakfast. If we had sautéed onions/peppers at dinner, I would reheat those and use for an omelet for breakfast (if I still ate eggs). Personally I wouldn't eat last nights meal for dinner the next night. Saving the best info for last: http://www.fda.gov/food/resourcesforyou/consumers/ucm103263.htm The above link is a really great chart for food poisoning. It shows time of onset, symptoms, duration of symptoms and likely food source. Note that NONE of the typical food borne illnesses are typically less than 6 hours from ingestion. That is why people usually don't know where they got sick from. Review the symptoms and you can see why people don't always attribute the symptoms to food poisoning and think they have the "touch of a summer cold or stomach bug"... Tasty Bites: http://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Channa-Masala-Pouches/dp/B002JF61XO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406293952&sr=8-1&keywords=tastybite 1 pouch costs about $3.00 on Amazon. 2 servings per pouch - 168 calories per serving. I say eat the whole thing! That is a low calorie meal - 6 g of protein per serving. So, in short, plan your meals so that you are consuming all, of what you have made or bought, once it is open. Really not worth the risk of food poisoning ESPECIALLY when camping alone.

Good question Nate. Marshall - can Dorothy lift a loaded Kari Tec rack? Years ago I remember paddling with Jeff Allen in Cornwall, England and he used the Kari Tec and put loaded boats on the rack and the two of us had to lift it up.

Lisa, You are totally right... hullavator is what I was meaning instead of hull a port... Suz

Check the weight of the Hull A Port system as it is heavier than just a rack. Remember to add the rack weight into the total including your boats on your roof. I would hazard a guess that if you do two Hull a Ports, you won't be able to fit a third boat on your roof. The "system" takes up a lot of room. Probably once the weight of the rack system is added in you would top out at max weight load for the roof with two boats regardless. Bow lines are really important when you are carrying so many boats on your roof - it helps to prevent the wind from lifting the whole rack and the kayaks off. (Meaning your kayaks are secured to the roof but the wind/updraft? pulls the rack off the car. I do know of this happening. All that said, I have really long cross bars and with stackers, I can fit 4 boats on the roof but prefer doing no more than 3. Plus, the only time I do that is when I have multiple (TALL) people to help (read between the lines and recognize they are doing the loading) load the boats on the roof. Never saw the purpose of the dual hull a port systems because if you are carrying two boats, you have a second person to help and even with short people to help, 2 people to load boats means no second hull a port system is needed. (Plus they look like moose antlers driving down the road when empty!)

Shari- you can order from any full service retail North Water dealer. Harder to do through REI... Sea Cliff Kayakers Charles River Kittery Trading Post Email me for further details

Gordon Brown's primer on kayaking called Sea Kayak. (Not without it's faults but I haven't seen a better one.)

Chris Duff - On Celtic Tides - adventure expedition book - not a how to but a "why" Books about waves - The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean

You could try these from Kokatat: http://kokatat.com/products/hand-jackets-and-mitts/hand-cover.html I have been debating it too. We might need to become trendsetters!

I looked and looked. Found some small Nalgene's but they are too big. They hold about an ounce.

I dress like Peter does... when too cold for either my shorts or my "longs" (Kokatat Surfskin Longs or Kokatat Neocore Shorts) with either a Knappster top or Paddling Jacket I move into the drysuit. Personally I find wetsuits terribly uncomfortable and restrictive. The length of the torso always give me a backache, it is just a touch too short and so always pulls and I feel like I am fighting it all day. I also get rub marks from the arm holes - super sensitive skin. If you go the wetsuit route, you will find that the shorty styles don't usually have a relief zipper. Therefore if you need to pee, you need to remove your life jacket and any layering pieces and then bare yourself to the public... Discreetly of course (unless you are in a hurry:) ) Therefore for the times I am in shorty weather, I prefer separate pieces. If you go the full farmer john/jane route, be sure to buy one with a relief zipper for the same reason as above. Suz

I rsvp'd via the calendar without issue.

I hadn't heard of people saying that with the redesign. Is the velcro getting you or is it the 'sharp edge' of the tab? Do you secure the velcro to itself in either of the two positions? Open neck or loose neck? I will give feedback to the designers based on your response.

Ah ha... the old neck style (8+ years ago on a GMER - before they went with the neo punch through on neck/ wrists) did have a slightly too small opening for the neck (in my opinion) and the velcro bothered some people. Never an issue for the wrists but was an issue on the neck. That was on both the old GFER and the old GMER. Both new necks have been redesigned.

Scott - on ordering, you can't order 'directly' from Kokatat. Must go through a Kokatat retailer. Paul - on stowing the hood, look between the inside of the hood and just below the gasket on the inside of the hood, you will find a loop of black material. This allows you to roll the hood down outside to inside and using the velcro bit on the back, you can secure the hood. It will now be rolled and secured and will be a bit like a loose "cowl neck". If you want that to lay flatter and closer to your neck, you can cinch up the hood material with the pulls both front and back. The hood is made so that it is one hand deployable. Need two hands to stow it though. The hood is made so that when it is on your head, you can secure it so that it won't impede your vision. It is made of pac light material so really doesn't restrict your hearing. Give it a try - put it on and then cinch the front pull so that it encircles your head. Then secure the back by pulling that popper so that the hood then pulls backwards keeping your peripheral vision open. For the tiniest of heads, you can also utilize the velcro on the back so that the 'visor' portion of the hood comes back a bit so that it doesn't cover over your face too much. Really well designed hood that goes away when not using it. As for the velcro scratching hands, not sure how that can happen. The velcro is fully on the outside of the cuff - both the soft and rough side of the velcro. Even when not secured down, it isn't exposed.

Agreed with all that Phil says... I will add that the additional difference between the two suits you mentioned is the difference in the cuff. The cuff on the Meridian is a neoprene punch through. The cuff on the expedition is a cuff with a velcro closure. My preference is for the cuff w/ closure. Another option is to do what John Carmody does... He doesn't like hoods and has ordered in the past the expedition suit with the Meridian neck closure. Go out and play around on the Gizmo on Kokatat's site to configure it however you would like. You can see pricing that way. Suz

Good find Michael! That company sells poles.

I don't think any Hammock review would be considered serious if you didn't consider also the original: http://hennessyhammock.com I think they may work well when you have trees. I think you can set up both on the ground and also with poles but I have never used one. I did buy a Hennessy for my nephew though and he said he loved it.

Lovely write up! I am still waiting on the one from Newfoundland though:)

It is important for people new to paddling to understand that water temp is just one component of the decision of what to wear. Other things go into the decision such as: personal skill level alone or with others skill level of others you are paddling with Just the other day I was talking to my sister (who will remain nameless) that has NEVER done a wet exit in 14 years of paddling her Perception Carolina. She was quite proud of the fact that 3 weeks ago she had been paddling at her cottage on a lake in Maine. She owns no protective clothing and I would wager she was in her shorts/tshirt. It was really only a week or two after full ice out in that area. I was horrified and when she saw my face, she said, not to worry as she didn't bring the dogs (she is more likely to 'dump' if she has them with her). Funny thing is that she is NOT a risk taker, is totally risk adverse and really had no clue what the dangers she was exposing herself to. If she had gone over in the lake, I would bet that she would not have been able to swim back to shore, that would be assuming she survived the gasp reflex when she initially went over. Important thing is to recognize if it is too cold for a swim in the clothing you have on, you are not properly dressed for immersion. Suz

Waterproof matches AND waterproof storm matches. I dislike it when the lighters fail... plus hands that were wet all day get soft and ripped up from 'flicking' the winding thing...

I think I would rather just bring the flat neck form and clamps rather than a basketball and a pump... The forms are flat and could easily be packed against a bulkhead and take up very little room. I could do a neck seal with 6 clamps without a problem. The clamps take up a bit of room but probably not so much. I will try to take a picture tonight. Personally I don't go through neck gaskets very often. So, I would just change the gaskets ahead of time and not bother to bring for a month long trip. BTW, while you could do the drysuit test noted above by Dan, it won't be under pressure (as Kokatat does) and you would need to be doing it outside for sure on a well supported table as the drysuit filled with water gets very heavy.

Dealers can't do. Only Kokatat has the forms to do a leak test. They fill the suit inside out and then watch to see if it leaks. If you want to check yourself, you can wear gray cotton undergarments and then zip it closed and then get in the water for 20 min. Get out, dry the outside of the suit with a towel and then unzip and take off without getting the inside wet so that you can see if you have any leaks. If you are dry, that's a good enough test usually. If wet, follow Kokatat's instructions on returning for repair.

The roof of the car. I did that for a few years. For winter I would bring it to a relatives garage. Others store them in the yard if option at the rental or in your garage space if you have.

Have to say that Solo instructor Sean Littlefield did a fabulous job! It continues to amaze me how much I forget from the previous session only two years ago. Well worth organizing every two years. Thanks for such a great trip report Pru. If anyone else is interested in organizing a Solo Wilderness First Aid course, the first step is to inquire with Solo about setting up a course: http://www.soloschools.com You can do economically with as few as 12 people or as many at 20+. At my house, I find that 16 works well. Solo can send you all the details. Suz

Go test them out at either EMS or REI and see which ones you prefer to sleep on. Bring your sleeping bag as I suspect that might be where the noise is generated between the two materials. Alternatively, I can lend you two styles and you can sleep on them at home in your bedroom floor and see which one works better for you.