WORDS & PHOTOS:
DAVE JANES
PADDLESPORT INSTRUCTOR
AT PLAS Y BRENIN

Bio

Dave Janes has spent a lifetime in boats. Dave is an accomplished expedition paddler with first descents and first ‘portages’ to his name, and he is always looking for the next adventure. Dave is an experienced coach at Plas y Brenin (the National Outdoor Centre), sharing his passion and enthusiasm with students to enable and encourage adventures and wilderness experiences.

36 top tips for sea kayaking expeditions

Following a month in northern Norway, guiding three successful 10-day sea kayak expeditions on the Lofoten Archipelago, I spent time reflecting on the participants’ journey.

A year ago, we all embarked on a journey to go from paddlers to expedition paddlers. This involved many an evening spent online perusing maps and charts, discussing menus, lectures on Leave no Trace, devising our expedition philosophy, and most of all getting to know the people we would be sharing the highs and lows of expedition life with. During this time, we had three days together to consolidate our training and an opportunity to get out on a mini expedition overnight to stress test our systems and processes. Most of all, it allowed us to get used to living out of a 30cm diameter hatch in a sea kayak.

As a full-time expeditioner, coach, and guide, I have learned the hard way and developed methods to help me be comfortable and thrive in the wilderness. Learning from mistakes, developing concepts and ideas into plans, and most off all organically growing my knowledge and skills.  It is well known in coaching that independently learnt skills developed with mentoring and real-world testing is incredibly powerful.

With this in mind, I want you, the reader, to hear from the participants themselves. The team were mainly first time se kayak expeditioners, inspired to develop their skills as expedition paddlers and seek new adventures.

Post expedition, I asked everyone, “What have you learnt that would be useful for someone in your shoes to know before their first sea kayak expedition? Not something I have coached you but something experience has taught you.” Here are the responses in no particular order:

• Labelling my dry bags was helpful as I didn’t need to search for things and could pack up and organise things logically regarding when I would use things.
• Boil extra water in the mornings to make a travel mug of tea or coffee for the day and also enough water for a flask of food, e.g., soup, or quick-cook pasta.
• BA round my hand luggage rucksack to free up baggage space.
• I put my water bladder on my deck, which was handy and a reminder to drink! It was too heavy to go in my BA, but it was good to have the extra water on the hot day.
• I guess being patient and expecting the unexpected, especially with the weather, and being prepared to be flexible with the route are key.
• Have a dry bag for ‘extras’ in the morning. When packing, if you realise you forgot something that should go in a dry bag that’s already closed, instead of opening it again and losing some time, it goes into the ‘extra’ dry bag, which is the last one you close for the day.
• Making communal meals – spending time with others saves gas, organisation, and cooking time.
• Communal coffee in a big pot.
• Making extra space by having the tent in a good dry bag behind the foot pegs
• When we got the chance to buy stuff, adding fresh fruit like berries to drinking water kept the berries fresh, made the water taste nice, and the berries were a great addition to breakfast (generally rehydrated porridge type meals)
• I went with rehydrated meals for both breakfast and lunch. Before the trip, I tried quite a few to make sure I would like them. I was surprised at how good they were.
• I wish I’d had one of the sun cream sticks rather than bottles of liquid; I would have been much better on the water.
• Having a well organised group nurse who had all the medication we forgot/ran out of.  Thank you, Louise.
• Being open to ‘expedition time,’ we didn’t have day and night times or regular meal times, so there was a slight feeling of disorientation. Once I got my head around this, everything was an opportunity!
• Paddle when the weather and tides are good. Eat when you’re hungry and sleep when you’re tired. Sort of takes you out of the 9 to 5 mindset. Invests you with flexibility.
• For fuel economy, only heat water to the required temperature for a hot drink; it doesn’t need to boil.
• Fill the Nalgene with hot squash and insulate it with a sock – it’s a hot water bottle! In the morning, drink all of the warm squash.
• Snack in BA and eat just before landing at camp to give you some energy to set up.
• Using a tent peg as a hook to grab onto the stuff stuck at the end of the boat.
• Keep everything you are likely to need for a day’s paddling in the same accessible hatch, excluding snacks or hydration, which should be within easy reach.
• Don’t get sand in Dave’s boat!
• Always pack a warm jacket (for stops), food and a stove (for lunch stops), and your tent, poles, and pegs where they are easily accessible in your boat.
• M&S chai tea lattes were perfect; just add hot water. Delicious and easy.
• Don’t rely exclusively on dried food. Although nutritious, it becomes tasteless and boring very quickly. Supplement it with fresh vegetables.
• Hand warmers to put in a sleeping bag, warm sleeping clothes and a warm waterproof storm cag.
• Simplify as much as possible.
• Remember to pack loads of BA snacks and replenish them every day!
• Ladies, take two bras for paddling; if you are lucky enough to paddle cagless, they will get encrusted with salt.
• Waterproof socks are great at camp for keeping feet dry and look cool with sandals.
• Rotating three simple meals during a trip works well and reduces waste.
• Google Translate is your friend when shopping in foreign supermarkets – just because it looks like a tin of tuna doesn’t mean it is!
• Packing the boat so your kit is accessible when needed is essential to avoid repeated packing and repacking during the day.
• The choice of next-to-skin clothing is really important when wearing dry suits, cags, etc., when the opportunity to wash kit is limited. Natural fibres such as merino wool or bamboo work much better than man made fibres.
• You rarely camp on flat mown grass, so your sleeping system must cope with rough and uneven ground.
• Being super organised with your food and kit means you don’t need to get up three hours before you are due to leave in the morning.
• Go with great people – everything else is just detail!

These are the weird and wacky top tips and handy hints that can only come from undertaking a real expedition and experiencing the highs, lows, challenges and celebrations of living out of a 30cm hatch in a sea kayak.

We had a bit of everything thrown at us, from days when it was too hot to paddle to nights spent holding tents down so they didn’t fly and everything in between. We didn’t just survive it; we thrived in our small expedition community, supported each other, and learnt a hell of a lot about ourselves, each other, paddling, and expedition life.

My philosophy for guiding, particularly international trips, is simple. I am there to oversee safety and the long-term strategy of the expedition. I strive to prepare and train all the skills needed beyond paddling. Sharing expedition skills and experience I have honed over 16 years and thousands of nights camping in bizarre and wonderful places. In essence, I like to coach expeditions rather than guide them. I have the best job in the world because I have the privilege to see all the toil and effort pay dividends when individuals become a team and an expedition becomes a holiday.

The expeditions were part of the new Plas y Brenin EMBARK initiative.

Expeditioners and contributors:
Deborah Reekie, Gemma Holloway, Alice Smith, Alice Lieutier, Louise Goodman, Lucy Bryant, Chris Smart, Katy Winterborn, Fraser Winterborn, Marion Baker, Pete Ogan, Phil Pascoe, Rachel Chamberlain, Alex Menniss, Christine Walker, Danie Bax, John Attree, Lucyjane Padgett, Kevin Walker, Hannah Rice and Patrick Cawley. Special mention should also go to fellow guides and coaches Lou Beetlestone, Annabel Finch and Oliver Sandeman.