As Spring is still tangled up in winter, in our part of the country, warmer weather can't come too soon! In the meantime, with the occasional sunspot of warmth (while sitting inside the house or car) and wearing gloves and other winter warm clothing, there are some preparations that can be made for a season of paddling pleasure. Before I hit the garage and the gear however, there are a couple of inside things to take care of:
#1. Don't forget to renew your Oregon boat permit.
#2 Browse guide books, guide services online, camping cookbooks, kayak magazines and so ON! to stir the imagination, and wish list of places to go, and things to do.
#3. Now out to the storage area: do you need to finish any clean-up on your kayak or camping gear? Last weeks e-news from PaddleNews, (Paddling.net)gave an in-depth article on spring cleaning kayak equipment. My camping gear is all in one place, sure. However, my chore is to sort it out for the easiest grab n'go. This means taking inventory of my day bag or 'go-bag'and making sure things haven't gotten switched around, used up or ruined by varmints. Same with my (ground) camp kitchen and gear, paddling camp gear, and so on. For tents, you may wish to apply a fresh ap of seam-sealer, CampDri treatments, and check for holes. I have my sleeping bags stored in a garment bag in the garage, and I'll still shake those out for spiders. And the trailer! It needs a new running light.
#4. Take the time to test out new equipment before you use it 'for real'. I'm thinking particularly of stoves. Set-up tents before you have to figure it out in the wind; A dry run to pack your kayak with your gear to see how it fits gives you time to downsize or add.
#5. Practice, refresh, improve skills in map and compass (navigation), knot-tying, first aide, paddle strokes, survival skills-things that will take you through the outdoors alive.
Okay. Now that I've got that out of my hair, next post will focus on places we've been and put-ins and take-outs for our kayaking day trips.
