Planning a multi-day trip, what do I need to know?

[Barrabundy]

Ít's been a little too wet to do my day job today so I headed off to do some recon for a future land based trip during these school holidays. While driving around on my own my mind started to wander off to something that's been on my bucket list since before the term bucket list was even invented.

I got home and did a quick measure of the trip in my mind and it's at least 120k. Now I didn't think it was that far, and it would be very easy to halve it and make the insertion point a sunday drive with the wife and kids, so how do I go about planning it?

I would probably prefer to have someone tag along (unlikely) but would be prepared to go solo on a much shorter trip, even a really short trial run if necessary. Having never done anything like thi,s but being able to gather some intel about the likely route and even possibly doing a flyover closer to the event, what do I need to know, how would I prepare?

Obviously food, water, trip plan, emergency plan B, communication if possible, contact landowners, first aid, damaged hull/shallow water contingencies etc come to mind but what about the detail of all these things?

Someone wrote a book once about a similar trip in a sik but I can't remember the name of it and can't seem to find it anywhere on the net. I saw it in one of those specialist adventure/outdoor type stores in Towsville many years ago.

Anyone out there done a trip over a few days or week where they've been on their own for the whole time? (Murd & Co. come to mind)

[Lapse]

You should definitly put the details up if you want some people to tag along!

I havent done any solo trips in the past, but Biggest issues I have had with multi day trips is:
- Fresh Water is heavy if you are planning a trip in the salt. 2 nights/3 days worth of water is okay, but It gets more tricky as you travel further afield. Ideally you want a good quality water sack. (bottles & jerry cans dont collapse)
- Cold weather triples the amount of clothes you need to take, rain is even worse
- Food: Lunch was always the hardest to plan for. Best way to take food is to take along a good quality small esky with a few frozen bottles of water (not ice cubes - ice melts and gets wasted you end up carrying more weight than you have to)
Dinners: Dinners are easy enough - those dehydrated meals are supposedly edible if you have to. My prefernce though is to get a small esky, freeze a few bottles of water & all your meat in advance & reheat or cook as you need to. Good options for easily frozen dinners are spaggheti bolognese, steak (basically anything you can dig out of the bottom of the freezer will do). Take along some Frozen bacon & eggs for
Lunch: I have decided the best lunch is some lebanese bread, penut butter and a freddo frog all together.I suppose any spread would work though. Top this off with some cordial to drink & an orange or apple.
Breakfast: Frozen bacon in the esky, & eggs. Those pancake mixes you can get from woolies are good aswell. 2 peoples worth of food in one of them.
Booze: You can now get goon sacks of just about anything! I personally like the vodka & cranberry juice.

[kayakone]

Yes BB, plenty of people every year, in sea kayaks or other SIK's. They have the storage volume, whereas SOT's don't.

Will it be downstream (with the flow)? Time of year?


trev

[Ado]

I've done three day white water trips in slalems. I don't see why you couldn't fit what you needed in a decent size SOT too.

A small tent or bivy bag is the go. We did it under a fly and the mozzies got us pretty bad. A large tent takes too much space.
Get a non-down sleeping bag if possible as they stay warm should they get wet.
Old wine bladders are OK for storing water. Get a Dromadary (large water bag) if you can though.
A camelback would be a must so you can drink continually.
I'd forget the esky. Just take food that doesn't perish. Pasta, pasta sauce and tuna is an excellent easy meal.
Cheese, salami, capsicum, pocket bread, bananas, nuts, Tang (or similar drink powder), chocalate - all good for lunch.
Stove and fuel of your choice. Don't be short of fuel. Thermos is a nice luxury for a second coffee during the day.
Are you in wilderness by yourself? If so then I'd think a PLB would be well worth it.
Gaffa tape. Always carry gaffa tape. I repaired a huge crack in my plastic kayak with lashings of gaffa tape, then shot rapids.
Camp well above water level. That way you won't stress about rising river if it starts to rain through the night.
It would surprise me if any farmer worried about you camping without a fire anywhere overnight. Don't worry about prior approval.
You can't have enough dry bags.

[Junglefisher]

As Alex said, freshwater is your big one.
You'll need a hiking tent and sleeping bag or a swag. Swags are hard to fit in kayaks, probably need to be stored on deck.
I can get my tent, bag and mat into me Revo hull no worries.
I difer from Alex in that I would say avoid the esky unless you really need it.
Get a food dehydrator and make your own dried meals or just take packet stuff. For 120km - say 6 days - you can live off just about anything. Flour, tinned fruit, ricecream, dried veggies and catch some fish or crustacea. You'll struggle to carry water for 6 days though. Especially if there's any portaging.
Tides are important if tidal.
First aid kit, sat phone or PLB if you're worried about that sort of thing.
Most importantly, give me plenty of notice.

[missingdna]

toilet paper!!!!!! my GOD dont forget the toilet paper!!!!

[Barrabundy]

One important detail I forgot to mention, this would be in freshwater heading downstream and there would be flowing water the entire distance, how deep and whether any portaging required is unknown although I assume there would be very little (portaging). It would probably be worth a fly over just to be sure if it was a long haul affair over many days. Anything around 2 days worth I could get intel on through friends and is pretty familiar to me anyway.

I'm also pretty sure the landowners wouldn't be worried about being notified if I was seen to be responsible, pretty sure I could name-drop my way out of any situation anyway.....doubt there would be anyone to see along the way anyway.

[indiedog]

Trips like the GC to Bris show you can do these sorts of trips in a SOT. True there is not the same storage space as a SIK but that just means gear management. Meals are pretty easy to sort and only go for things that are dry and you add water to, even bread is too bulky for longer trips. Dehydrated is good but you can do with tuna sachets and noodles if needed. I actually make up day bags which include my meals and snacks for each day. Typically trail mix makes up lunch. Food for these things is an art in itself. Water needs to be calculated and rationed in several smaller bladders so you don't lose it all with a single puncture. Lots of small dry bags to store your gear. A small midgie proof tent. And study the area you intend to go to.

The big difference with going solo as opposed to a group is to make sure you can self rescue or be visible. So investing in a VHF, flares, signal mirror, fire flint, PLB, etc would be a good plan. If you look at one of the Jumpinpin trip proposals you'll see a checklist attached. Everyone's list varies but it's a good starter.

Just saw you are talking freshwater, so I assume a river. 120km in a river is a long way.

[Barrabundy]

Wouldn't jump into a 120k trip as a starter, would like to do it one day (or week or two!). Thinking of an over night trip over 2 days covering about 20-30k as a warm up.

Alternatively I could just cover that distance in a series of smaller trips over a year or so. The problem with that would be getting access through private property easily. With a longer trip it's easier to launch from public space and then just get picked up from somewhere equally convenient at the end.

Hmmmm......I should,stop now otherwise you know what I'll be doing next weekend!

[gonetroppo]

Great thread, will be following with interest as I'm hoping to do some larger trips in the near future too. I have a few questions to add regarding water, what have people done to sanitize water taken from natural sources? Tabs/boil? Is there a way of desalinating and using sea water out there?

[indiedog]

On some of my longer hikes/paddles I've used Micropur tabs to sterilize drinking water and never had a problem, saves boiling it and using fuel. See link below. You could also look at some of the Katadyn filter systems. Some good products out there for making water potable. Either source clean inland freshwater streams, tidal freshwater streams at low tide, or springs. Wherever there is livestock that may access the area, make sure you purify the water as the consequences can be horrible. Always better to be safe than sorry with water. Don't use the Iodine as it tastes like crap.

http://www.k2basecamp.com.au/Active/accessories.html

[labrat]

Anyone out there done a trip over a few days or week where they've been on their own for the whole time? (Murd & Co. come to mind)

Not so much planning advice but a good cautionary tale from one of our own:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=55472

I'm going to start with a local overnighter then hopefully 2 or 3 nights in the Coorong.

Keep us posted.

[Barrabundy]

Anyone out there done a trip over a few days or week where they've been on their own for the whole time? (Murd & Co. come to mind)

Not so much planning advice but a good cautionary tale from one of our own:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=55472

I'm going to start with a local overnighter then hopefully 2 or 3 nights in the Coorong.

Keep us posted.

Sheeet! I hadn't read that one, what a timely read!

[dru]

I don't think 120km is a no go. If you only average 20km a day it's less than a week. Check out things on a smaller trip first I think.

And SIKs aren't necessarily better than SOTs. It's about how much you can confidently carry on your yak. My SIK was dubbed "Collins" for the Aussie submarine class, during the GC to Brissie trip. No SOT had this problem.

[Ado]

If there are rapids involved, even minor ones, I'm not sure solo is a good idea. Even getting caught under a low branch can be deadly without a mate to help you out.