Day one with my Alpacka Raft
Today was the first day I was able to get out on the water with my pack raft. Yesterday I had taken the time to make sure it would fit in my Porcelain Rocket handlebar bag, the one that Scott made custom for my winter travels, and I am happy to say it fit with room to spare. That means that I can carry the raft on the bars plus one other item, all safely tucked out of the way.
My plan was to take the raft, learn how to use the inflation bag and then get it out on the water for a spin. Right now I am up in the Canadian Maritimes where the water is cold, the wind is generally blowing 15+ and the currents run up to 6 knts on the ebb. Needless to say, they are challenging waters to kayak in, let alone float around in a raft. I really had absolutely no idea what to expect, so in my typical fashion, I just jumped right in.
The first thing I noticed was how easy the raft is to inflate. I am sure it will get even easier as I figure out the tricks of using the inflation bag, but even with my lack of knowledge I managed to get the raft inflated in a matter of minutes. After removing the inflation bag I used the oral inflation tubes to top off things. With the raft inflated I put her in the water and floated away.
Setting up the raft and GoPro.. Batteries died, so not many pics today
For the trip today trip I am using one of my Aquabound paddles, a 215cm length paddle and one of my summer weight Astral vests. That vest is super light and one that I may consider taking on my extended trips.. My first reaction as I paddled away was wow, this is going to be hard. I felt like all of my strokes were hitting the sides of the raft and I could not even imagine what it would be like with my Mulkluk lashed to the front. Earlier today I had watched some videos on how to lash a bike to the raft, and in that video, he talked about using his backpack as a seat. Well I got to thinking and realized that this raft had an inflatable seat that I had neglected to blow up. A quick trip to shore, some deep breaths in the inflation tube, and I was back on the water.
This time however, things were completely different. The seat elevated me enough to make my paddle strokes not strike the side of the boat, and there was also the added benefit of being off the bottom of the raft. These waters are currently running about 47 degrees and on my first run I had noticed a chill seeping into my legs and bum. Being on top of the seat eliminated any discomfort that I was feeling and made the raft much more manueverable. To finish the first outing I took the boat through a channel the locals call the Narrows.
On the Ebb, all of the water from the bays drain out into the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean through a very narrow passage way. On the bigger tides, the current can reach upwards of 8knts here with lots of whirlpools, boils, and other crazy disturbances. Todays tide, a mere 18.9' was on the small side, but still, there were enough disturbances in the water to make it interesting. The raft just laughed at everything and yielded to my every paddle stroke. The boat turns on a dime and is rock stable. I can't wait to get it loaded and out in some real conditions.
Paddling the raft using my Aquabound paddle and Astral vest
Tomorrow I will work on lashing the Salsa Mukluk to the raft and seeing how that works. I have watched several videos showcasing different techniques so I will try a couple of them, take some pictures and write up what worked and what didn't. I am totally stoked about how the raft opens up an entire new dimension in travel possibilities. For the past week my brain has been going non-stop with potential trips. I have a number of small micro-adventures planned that will let me work through the details of bike-rafting so that I can safely move onto the bigger stuff!!