There are some things that you should take on any canoe or kayak trip. You need a change of clothes, hat, rain gear, sunscreen, sunglasses (with strap to hold them on), insect repellent and your lunch in a waterproof container. The best containers are the water resistant river bags (dry bags). Many people like the plastic buckets from Dunkin' Donut's, or others, because they are often free. They have a lid that seals tight, and can be used as a seat. New military ammo boxes are also good in open canoes, but you have to take care to avoid damaging the boat. Garbage bags are poor, but will do in a pinch if protected by a canvas duffel. For camping you will need Happy Hour beverage, tent, sleeping bag, mattress, flashlight, and other personal gear.
Kayakers should bring small pieces of cord and/or carabineer to secure their water bottle, lunch, etc. in the kayak in case of a swim. Make sure that tying in these items does not, in any way, interfere with your ability to wet exit from the boat! A good carrier for your lunch and other belongings is a small dry bag. These bags are soft and can be stuffed and clipped in under the rear deck of the kayak. Hard shell boxes (ammo boxes, etc.) may not fit in a closed boat.
If you bring a child weighing under about 90 pounds, check with the trip leader to find out if a PFD is available for them. They will not be allowed in a boat without one.
You should bring lunches for Saturday AND Sunday. Some suggestions are: peanut butter and jelly or other non-perishable sandwich fillings, hard-cooked eggs, cheese & crackers, hard salami, sardines or other canned entrees, salads in sealed containers, apples, oranges, bananas, raw veggies, and cookies. You will also need at least a quart of drinking water. Save a plastic soda bottle and tie a string on the neck to tie it into the boat. If the weather is warm, half fill the bottle and freeze it overnight, finish filling it in the morning and you will have cool water for most of the day. Keep alcoholic beverages in your car for Happy Hour or for when you get off the river.
The trip leader usually provides the Saturday evening Happy Hour appetizers and Dinner, eating utensils, cooking equipment, and Sunday breakfast. The leader can not provide special meals or extra cooking equipment for such meals.
At the meeting place, find the leader and introduce yourself. Find out about the paddling plans for the trip and get acquainted with your companions. Should you experience car problems on the way to the meeting place or other difficulties, try to get word to the leader. Leaders usually wait 15 minutes for latecomers, but this is up to the leader's discretion. Sometimes the meeting place is also the put-in.
The leader may have assigned boats and paddling partners, if so, find your partner, get acquainted and locate your boat.
At the put-in, you (and your partner) get a boat off the car that carried it or the trailer, IDENTIFY IT as your boat by putting some personal gear in it and get the rest of your gear ready for the trip. Both you and your partner should have a paddle, a life jacket and one extra paddle for the boat. DO NOT sit on the life jacket or use it as kneeling pad in the boat. Sitting or kneeling on the jacket will com press the foam floatation, rendering it useless when it is needed to save your life. Get your boat to the riverbank and ready to go. Tie your gear in the boat with something that is easily unfastened or will break if necessary. The ropes tied to each end of the boat (they are called "painters") should be untied and coiled up under the shock cords on the decks of the boat. The painters are NOT to be used to tie in gear.
When everyone is ready, the cars are moved (shuttled) from the put-in to the take-out. ONLY THE DRIVERS GO ON THE SHUTTLE. Often the trailer hauler leads the way with the trailer. Once on the road, KEEP UP WITH THE CAR IN FRONT of you and ALWAYS KEEP THE CAR BEHIND YOU IN SIGHT. IF THE CAR BEHIND YOU STOPS, YOU STOP AND FLASH YOUR LIGHTS OR do something to catch the attention of the car in front of you. Eventually, all will stop and the problem can be resolved.
At the take-out, allow the car with the trailer enough room to park, park yourself, lock your car, REMEMBER TO TAKE THE KEY, and get into one of the designated return vehicles.
If you are waiting on the riverbank at the put-in, you can amuse yourself with warm-up exercises, picking up litter around the riverbank, or someone may demonstrate basic strokes. If you have seen a demonstration before, pay attention anyway; each person has a different way of doing things, and you will probably learn something.
You should NOT get into your boat and paddle down the river, nor have a snack and leave your trash on the bank, nor damage any of the flora and fauna.
When the shuttle returns, the group should be ready to go. The leader will have assigned a LEAD (Front Admiral) boat and a SWEEP (Rear Admiral) boat and the group may be divided into sub-groups. Stay with your group and do not pass the lead boat. The lead boat knows the river, where the lunch stop is, and where the take-out is. If you pass the lead, you may pass these places and suffer the wrath of the leader.
The sweep's job is to make certain that everyone gets down the river safely. If you have difficulty paddling, capsize, or get hung up on a log or something, the sweep will help you to the best of their ability.
While on the river, keep the boat in front of you in sight, but maintain ample distance so you can avoid them if they hang up on a rock or tree.
We share the rivers with other users. Don't leave your
litter in the river. When approaching fisherpersons, try to paddle behind them. If you can't,
and river conditions permit, remove your paddle from the water and float by.
Lunch break usually lasts about 45 minutes, and on hot summer days there may be swim stops. However, each leader brings their own personality to their trip, and we have many leaders' styles to enjoy.
Everyone helps load the trailer. Four people, 2 at each end of the boat, can easily carry a boat, turn it upside down and put it on the trailer. The painters (those ropes on the bow [front] and stern [back] of the boats) should be tied around the thwarts. Pass the rope UNDER THE SEAT AND THWART, AROUND THE NEXT THWART, then underneath everything again and tie the end to the rope. The boats are loaded onto the trailer, BOW FORWARD; otherwise the chain won't go around the seats to lock them.
Everyone, except the leaders and the trailer hauler, will have assigned chores. The chores are: Happy Hour Prep, Dinner Prep, Dinner Clean Up, Breakfast Prep, Breakfast Clean up, Cook Kit Count and Trailer Equipment Count. Sometimes other jobs are added, like gathering fire wood or fire builder, banker, getting water or whatever the leader feels is necessary to make the trip run smoothly. These jobs may be announced early in the day, or you may be asked to sign up for the job you prefer. If you don't know your chore when you get to camp, find the leader and ask. Trading chores is often possible. For example, if you are a late sleeper assigned to breakfast prep, you may be able to trade with an early riser on trailer count, but ask the leader first.
When you get to camp, help with getting the base camp set up; the tarp put up, picnic tables moved, or whatever else is necessary. Set up your tent, enjoy Happy Hour, and then dinner with your fellow paddlers.
Usually during dinner, the leader will announce when the "bank" will be open to collect the balance due on the trip fees, what time breakfast will be and the morning departure time to leave the campsite.
After dinner and clean up, enjoy the camaraderie of the camp fire, sing songs, and listen to or tell tales of past canoe and kayak trips. Usually everyone is tired from rising early and a day of paddling; so after 10 PM, this socializing quiets down.
Sometimes the tents must be pitched quite close together; and since tents are NOT soundproof, in- tent activities are usually quiet. If you snore loudly or make loud moans, groans, sighs or cries, awake or asleep, try to pitch your tent away from the others or expect to be the topic of breakfast conversation.
In the morning, get up when you are called, or you may miss breakfast. Adjust your schedule so that you are ready to leave on time. If you're on Breakfast Clean-up, you may want to eat early, then pack your gear while the rest are eating. Everyone helps break down the camp, take down the tarp, move the picnic tables to where they were, and police the area to be certain that it's left neat and tidy. Sunday's paddling plans are usually announced at breakfast.
We often paddle a different section of the same river or a nearby entirely different river. After the run, EVERYONE pitches in to load the trailer and the equipment is counted. No one leaves before everything is accounted for. Say good-bye's to old and new friends, and come back again.
If you use a Club boat, you will be charged a rental fee for the canoe or kayak. This money is used to repair and replace the boats, paddles, life jackets and other boating equipment and pay the rent for "the barn" where we store our boats. The rental fees are determined by the Canoe & Kayak Committee and are higher for Class 1 and above whitewater trips (where the boats are more likely to be damaged) than for other trips.
If you cartop a Club boat, you will be reimbursed for cartopping the boat, even if it is the boat that you used. The amount is revised from time to time by the Canoe & Kayak Committee.
Everyone is assessed a paddling fee which is used to cover Committee expenses like: newsletter mailings, maintenance of the eating, cooking, and first aid equipment, and other supplies used by both private and Club boat paddlers.
You may also be assessed a Leader's fee. The Leader's fee reimburses the Leader(s) for their expenses incurred for phone calls to arrange camping, scouting trips, and other miscellaneous expenses associated with leading this trip.
Finally, the total costs for food and camping are shared by all the eaters and campers.
The cost of a Club canoe and kayak trip depends on several factors, but for a typical weekend trip in 2000, if you rent a Club boat for tandem paddling, the cost for each person should be about like this:
| Flatwater(BW) | Whitewater | |
| Boat Rental | $22.00 | $29.00 |
| Paddling Fee | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Food, Dinner & Breakfast | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Camping | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Leader's Fee | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| TOTAL DUE LEADER | $42.00 | $49.00 |
If you sent in a deposit, that amount would be subtracted from what you pay the leader. If you carry a Club boat(s) on your car, a cartopping payment of as much as $8.00 per boat will be subtracted from what you owe. Your total costs will also include the cost of your personal transportation and lunches.
Students at training courses are usually charged a flat fee which includes the above items plus an overhead cost. The fee for each course is usually included in the course description.
Last updated: January, 2000