Friday, March 13, 2009

Route

Total distance is just north of 400km, the actual Trent/Severn Waterway is 387km but there is a little extra added on to go into Lake Ontario if I make it that far. Estimated paddling days are 15 which is in-line with what I’ve read elsewhere and lines up with my math. Let’s hope the weather is nice.

To figure out my “Trip Plan” I first had to figure out what a reasonable number of KMs per day would be, typical touring Kayak is capable of 5+km/hr, under ideal conditions. I’ve read a number of articles where it states the average paddler is in the range of 1km per 15 minutes which equals 4km/hr. I would put myself in the “average” bucket at this point and used this as my rule of thumb, reasonable or otherwise I had to pick a number.

The plan is to average between 25-30kms/day which is consistent with what I have read by experienced paddlers. Given a 4km/hr baseline and goal of 25-30km/day, this would mean a range of 6-8 hours of paddling per day. Plan is to be out paddling by 8am each day and start looking for a camping spot (if not near a lock) between 2-4pm, setup camp, swim, make dinner, relax, sleep etc.

While this trip has an intended destination and I am planning a complete route, this doesn’t mean that I am going to follow it, I view it more of a guideline, the last thing I want is any pressure with regards to how far I get, how far I travel each day or where I end up camping each night. There are too many variables and if I wanted to follow a clock I will stay at the office, life is too short. if I like a spot, I may stay longer, if I don’t feel like paddling on a given day, I won’t, if the weather is too crazy, or if I’m just not enjoying myself then I am just going to call it a day, come home and put the motocross gear back on.

I have created a Google Map (see link in sidebar) which shows the planned route for this trip.

1 comment:

  1. I have to say jeff...it may be smart to put yourself in the "below average" category at least until you actually sit in one.

    Just kidding - you can TOTALLy do it.

    Lee-Ann

    ReplyDelete