Gear – Laurie Apgar Chandler

Back on the water: Badin Lake, Uwharrie National Forest, NC

How my new origami kayak performed in some small coves on a very large lake

Every great blue heron seems unique. This one had marvelous feathers and a calm presence.

Before jumping into the report of kayaking Badin Lake in my new boat, I want to share that life out here is not always rosy. I’m in South Carolina now, and last night was cold, lonely, and edgy. A true test of camping totally off-grid in frigid conditions. I wanted to try this, and I’m discovering that a lot of effort goes into cleanliness (laundry and even showers, as the camper is still winterized) and maintaining enough battery power to have light and warmth. This morning, I woke to an outside temperature of 13, after a night in which I had to switch propane tanks at 2 a.m. and then lost battery power at 4:30 a.m., an hour and a half before generator use is allowed. But it’s warm and cheery in here now!

Assembling the kayak from folded suitcase to finished product is down to nine minutes

In asking for questions, it’s evident you want to know how the boat handles. My first two significant outings were on 5,350-acre Badin Lake, launching from the Cove Boat Ramp adjacent to my campground. After tying a line onto a bow strap, I stepped in from the dock. From the first moment, the boat felt very stable. A huge positive, along with its compact folded size, light weight, and portability. A boat that’s easy to get ready gets used more.

A friend has likened it to paddling a box, and in some respects, he is not far from the mark. I went out twice and found that my paddling technique improved with experience, as I adjusted to a much shorter, less dynamic craft, where I am not up on a seat. Even in small, choppy waves, I felt secure and angled into them as I would have in my canoe.

This was my favorite nook, where it almost seemed I would find a shortcut to the next cove. Maneuvering around logs and weeds, I was pleased that the boat responded in a familiar way.

Another drawback is comfort, or should I say discomfort? After a couple of hours on the thinly padded seat, I found myself wiggling and stretching to try to get comfortable. Loosening or tightening the side straps to adjust the angle of the seat’s back rest helps, but not enough. There is also no foot rest or bar to brace against. My back and bottom were very stiff when I clambered out onto the dock after the longer three-hour excursion.

Mosaic of sun and cloud above the beautiful wooded shore

Most of all, it just felt wonderful to be back out on the water. I saw lots of wildlife, including a painted turtle sunning in January, belted kingfisher, buffleheads, cormorants, herons, downy woodpecker, and a large dark hawk I could not identify. There were moments when the cadence of the paddle felt just like old times. Somehow, this seemed rather miraculous in this unique boat.

To read more about the sights on Badin Lake, look for my March column in the Northwoods Sporting Journal. Issues become available on the NSJ website shortly after publication.

My new origami kayak

Introducing the new, lightweight, folding Oru Kayak that’s joining me on my winter RV travels in the South

At first, I planned to bring my 13-foot solo canoe along on this winter’s RV travels. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wished for a more compact boat. Well, it doesn’t get much more compact than a folding kayak. Folded up, it resembles a suitcase, complete with handle. It fits easily inside the truck’s back seat area. You can even fly with it as luggage!

My Lake model Oru Kayak at Maine’s Biscay Pond after its first short outing

Made in the USA, Oru kayaks come with a 3-year warranty. The material they are made of reminds me of post office mail tubs. The 5-mm, double-layered, polypropylene sheet is not flat. The bow and stern are partially shaped and have small hard plastic caps. The boat comes with pre-marked fold lines, but getting it assembled the first time was not an easy task. Even now, considerable effort and force are needed to pop the folds in and out.

Awfully chilly on my bare feet getting in and out on a Maine lake on December 15th!

As I travel South, the waters will be warmer and the excursions longer. My kayak, the Lake model, is the newest, lightest (18 pounds), and plainest of the Oru kayaks. It is easy to carry, ensuring that I will use it often.

There are still uncertainties ahead. How will it track and handle in wind and waves? Will it always feel as stable as it did when I hopped in the first time? Dare I paddle it where there are alligators? All this and more will be answered in the coming days and months.

To learn more, look for my column, “View from the River,” in the upcoming February issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. It’s all about the boat.

Thank you, Aqua-Bound, maker of fine paddles, for writing about Upwards!

DSCN8096

Aqua-Bound, who manufactures quality U.S.-made paddles in Osceola, Wisconsin, recently invited me to collaborate on a blog post about my thru-paddle and book.

A long paddling expedition is built of many components, both within the paddler and without. When it comes to on-the-water equipment, after the boat, the paddle you choose is key. In my case, it was an Aqua-Bound Sting Ray Carbon kayak paddle that brought me safely through to Fort Kent. Here is the blog post, published yesterday. We covered a lot of ground, or should I say water, in 900 or so words!

I was especially pleased that we were able to include a quote from Upwards, in response to one of the more introspective interview questions, about paddling solo. The post also links to two of my favorite websites, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (with an amazing online auction ending Sunday) and the Pemaquid Watershed Association. Thanks again, Aqua-Bound, for introducing the book to a new community of paddlers!

The devil is in the details

Holding the finished portaging yoke and sporting my “canoe cut,” as Katina would say, ready for the river.

Did you know that the architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, often used the phrase “God is in the details,” before the devil became involved at all? Somehow that has a more positive spin, so let’s go with that. And, God, you are most welcome to jump right in and help make sure that I don’t forget to do anything before my upcoming departure date.

The details that go into the preparations for a 2-month canoe trip are almost infinite, and yet they must all be finished very, very soon. And if not finished, then abandoned.

When we were camping in Vermont, Katina Daanen kindly brought me the materials to make a cozy for my cute little .6 liter Optimus cook pot. After watching a video or two showing how it was done, I gave it a try, with the results shown below. The pot cozy weighs just under 1 ounce and I was delighted to discover that it could fit in the drawstring mesh bag, along with the cook pot, lid, stove, and fuel.

Constructed from Reflectix pipe insulation and metallic tape, this custom pot cozy will allow meals to sit and cook after boiling water is added, saving on fuel.

Thought I’d share just one more detail: the all-important first washing of the Ex Officio underwear. (In case you are wondering, the most commented-upon topic on my blog so far has been my new underwear.). And now it is time to fine tune the packing and tying in of all of the gear. Our boats came home this evening to stay until we leave, with much gratitude to Ed and Carol Knapp for sharing their lakeside yard and dock on McCurdy Pond as home base for our canoes and paddling for the past month.

A family affair…and Happy Birthday, Mom!

After creating beautiful quilts, piecing together my groundcloth was a breeze

The materials for the yoke that Dad is building for portaging my canoe

Today is my Mom’s birthday…wishing her a happy, sunny day filled with fun and a healthy, blessed year to come! My parents are my support team, not just for this latest adventure, but for life…and my love of nature was surely nurtured by all those camping trips and family forays into the great outdoors as my brother and I were growing up.

As we are nearing crunch time in being ready for my departure, it is all hands on deck at home. Last weekend (in addition to our awesome intergenerational worship at church), we were busy.

There is no footprint (groundcloth) available for my tent because it has a special reinforced floor. But I wanted one, to keep the bottom of the tent cleaner and drier. It is much easier to contain the dirt and dampness of a groundcloth in your dry bag, than an entire tent. So at the LL Bean outlet, I found a Hubba Hubba footprint for less than 14 dollars and Mom altered it to fit my tent (weight 6.7 oz).

Dad is building canoe yokes for both of us, using birch plywood left over from our new bathroom construction. Mine has a Mad River Canoe self-adhesive foam yoke pad that I purchased at Maine Sport Outfitters, which will be taped to the wooden base once we finish custom fitting it to my boat and shoulders this afternoon.

A couple of brief news items follow. My May training totals, given days under the weather, were 38 miles walking and 42 miles paddling. Mack Truax, who is through-paddling right now, made it from Old Forge, NY to Errol, NH in 14 days and only has Maine left. My computer is currently not allowing me to add links to posts, but you can find his blog link on the NFCT website under Paddlers/Paddler Blogs. Last night I slept through the night, eight hours, for the first time in 3 weeks. Only the fuzzy vision in my right eye remains…may the healing continue.

I’ll close with a few of my favorite photo memories of Mom and Dad…

DSCN5315 — One of Dad’s finer moments on his 200-mile NFCT paddle last summer

DSCN5099 — Last summer, showing Mom my 2011 campsite on Fish Pond

Camp at Long Lake Dam — Photos abound of Dad as camp cook…this one is from the evening we first met the fireplace birds at Lock Dam on the Allagash

A dot in the wilderness (my new SPOT GEN 3)

Update (September 2015) – My SPOT completed the 53-day trip requiring only one battery change, around day 35 or 40. I now have a supply of AAA batteries to last a while!

Let me introduce you to Bernie. At least he started life as “Bernie.” I don’t usually name my equipment, but the online account asked for a name for my new device and that seemed like a good one. Just like a St. Bernard, a SPOT satellite transponder will help you get rescued in the wilderness (and let friends and family know when you are fine).

However, it evolved that with my first test message all of my friends and family got a message that someone named Bernie was paddling the NFCT! There ensued some confused emails asking who is Bernie? My old SPOT is named Laurie so I will christen this new one Laurie C.

Comparison of old and new units:

Old: SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker – purchased in 2011 for about $50 after rebate – annual subscription of $99 – weight 7.2 oz with two AA lithium batteries – its three buttons could (a) send an email message showing that I had safely arrived somewhere with the time and coordinates, (b) send a help message to a small previously-chosen group of email addresses, and (c) send a 911 message far and wide, activating a rescue process.

New: SPOT GEN3 – purchased in 2014 for free after rebate – annual subscription for SPOT Basic Service is $149.99 – weight 4.1 oz with 4 AAA lithium batteries – does everything that the old one did, plus includes tracking (where my position every 10 min. is sent to a private page) – the emergency button is now called an SOS button and sends a message to the GEOS International Emergency Response Center. Here’s hoping I never need to push it!

Feeling awfully good

Those who have seen me recently will be amazed at this photo taken this lovely morning (in the yard in the sun without sunglasses). I woke up after nine hours of sleep with no more light sensitivity and proceeded to set up my new Sierra Designs Flashlight 1 UL tent for the first time (outdoors) and seam seal it. Although the seams are taped inside, Sierra Designs recommends seam sealing the inside and outside of the rainfly and center floor seams to fill in all the tiny holes from the stitching. Another job finished !

The wheels on the boat go round and round (my old kayak cart)

Portaging to Biscay Pond May 14 cropped — First time on the road in May 2011…this photo was in the local newspaper with the announcement of Paddle for Hope. I vividly remember how amazed I was to discover that a well-balanced boat would roll along fairly effortlessly on the flat and downhill sections of a paved road or even the gravel shoulder. (Photo by Bill Bausch)

Trying the wheels with the demo Fusion just before returning it to Maine Sport Outfitters…note the kickstand is down in this photo. Our neighbor’s lobster boat and stacks of traps in the background are another sign of spring!

Happy day, it’s another package from REI, although this one is for my father. It’s another Wheeleez Tuff Tire Kayak/Canoe Cart. After reading often about wheel breakage and meltdown on other paddlers’ blogs, we were very pleased to find that this exact model was still available. The price had gone up slightly, from $129 in 2011 to $135 now.

I chose this model initially for its weight (9 lbs.) and the solid, foam-filled tires which gave me one less thing to worry about. It has carried my kayak on about 50 miles of portages since 2011, with no problems. Even such places as the last third of a mile of the Demo Road portage on NFCT Map 10, which is basically just a rocky trail through the woods. Does it help that I walk so slowly? And my load is well under the cart’s 176-pound capacity.

In my kayak, the cart rode upside down behind my seat, fully assembled. The wheels can be taken off, however, and the marine-grade aluminum cart folded up. Last weekend the wheels were very squeaky, so we greased them, and I will take a bit of grease and some spare pins with me this summer. The cart comes with two 13-ft straps, which traveled across Maine with me in a small Rite Aid bag, tied to the frame! Not very professional, but they were always handy when needed. I think this time, though, I will get a small dry bag that can be clipped on more securely.

Where the rubber meets the road or river (my new shoes)

Did I mrntion how much better my new shoes smell? At least for now…

Goody, goody…my package from REI is here. A visit to a real REI store has always been a treat, going all the way back to the days when my kids were little and the Timonium, MD store was the carrot (at least for Mom) on the long drive from VA to PA. Last weekend I discovered one just on the outskirts of Richmond, in Short Pump!

I spent lots of travel time researching shoes and thought I had found the ones…Chaco Outcross Evo 1 water shoes … a brand I have never owned before.

But they’re light (their 1 lb. 2 oz. weight saves 7 oz.), with good padding, support, traction and a totally closed heel. Plus the color is simply lovely. The biggest debate was not whether to buy them, but in what size. Finally, going by the “true to size” reviews and the saleswoman who said Merrells and Chacos run similar and looking down at the well-loved size 8 Merrell trail shoes on my feet, I chose 8’s. Not sure how much I will wear them barefoot or with liners or Smartwool socks.

The old hat and shoes at work on the Oquosset carry in 2011. My friends were surprised that I really wanted to wheel my boat when they could have easily shuttled me. Grandson Joshua made a pretty cute companion, though!

Then there’s my hat. I am stubborn, and last summer I lost my favorite paddling hat. Sometimes it can just be incredibly difficult to find a replacement for something! This is true, of course, not just for hats but for all manner of things. The difficulty, I believe, is directly proportional to how much you loved the item. I simply wanted a baseball style tan cap, quick-drying and WITHOUT a stiff brim. Finally, in the Short Pump REI I found one. Happy day! It does have mesh ventilation on either side but that is all to the good. So now a new hat for the top of me and new shoes for the bottom and most of the stuff in the middle will not be new.

(This is my first post composed on my iPad rather than my laptop!)

Contemplating Fusion (my new boat)

031415 testing Fusion — Trying a Royalex Wenonah Fusion during a Christmas paddle on the Pemaquid River

Fusion…the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Like the Western cowboy and his horse, a paddler and her boat should become one. This fall, therefore, I set out in search of my missing half, a boat that might be faster and lighter than my kayak, while retaining many of the qualities I love about my old boat. Let me introduce you to the Wenonah Fusion, a 13-foot solo canoe weighing just 30 pounds in Kevlar, shown below.

By the way, among the many types of fusion (like nuclear), I discovered binaural fusion, the cognitive process of combining the auditory information received by both ears and binocular fusion, the cognitive process of combining the visual information received by both eyes. So even hearing distant rapids and spotting a bear (which I have yet to do on the river) involve fusion!

My new boat will arrive at Maine Sport Outfitters in Rockland in early May at the latest. The folks there were kind enough to arrange for a loaner of the same model in the heavier Royalex, which handled well on a surprisingly warm Christmas paddle on the Pemaquid River. So about a week ago I paid the hefty deposit, guaranteeing a place for my canoe in their large spring shipment. So now I wait, about as patiently as a small child nearing Christmas, for the chance to carry and pack and paddle my new Fusion.