As Peter says, an open canoe is an ideal craft for what you want to do,
but do not do it without adequate preparation which includes learning to
paddle and learning what the limitations regarding the weather are.

I heard a true story a couple of months ago about a group of walkers
several of whom were experienced kayakers who decided to open canoe
across Loch Maree to do Slioch. The wind picked up when they were in the
middle and the boats got swamped. After struggling for a bit most of
them gave up and swam for the shore. The first man ashore noticed one of
the others struggling to swim so went back for him. Eventually a power
boat got out to the 2 that were still with the boats and rescued them.
This was a summer trip and I think only 2 out of a group of 6 did not
need to go to hospital for hypothermia treatment. You want to know why
it all went wrong - they were dressed for walking not canoeing. None
were canoeists although most were river kayakers, and they simply didn't
realise the waves would be a lot bigger further out and how easily opens
can swamp. I don't think they had any self rescue experience in open
boats, and no way to bail swamped boats. Most open boaters would have
recognised the conditions and paddled around the perimeter, some very
experienced open boaters would have known how to trim the boat to handle
in the wind and would have had plenty of extra buoyancy bags and
possibly even a spray cover to make the trip across possible. Just
wearing the correct kit would have given them much longer in the water
to sort themselves out, but you do need to be well practised in sorting
yourself out because it won't keep you alive for ever!

Anyway, doom and gloom aside, yes you can take all your gear in an open
canoe and up to 3 people. 2 people is the best solution as both will be
paddling and the middle area can be filled with gear, but if you get a
16 or 17 foot boat many have a third seat and taking a smaller adult in
the middle is feasible.
Your kit needs to go in waterproof bags/containers. Giant dry bags or
barrels are ideal for this as when lashed into the boat they will
provide buoyancy and take up space that water would otherwise get into
if you swamp. Leave space to bail out, buckets, things like dustpans or
even a portable hand pump all work well - you can take a lot of water in
an open canoe so be prepared for high volume bailing! Fitting big air
bags in any unused space is a good idea too. You need to learn about
trimming your boat - where you position the weight inside can seriously
affect the handling!
Most of all double check the weather forecast and only attempt open
crossings when you are very certain you have several hours of settled
weather. Otherwise paddle around the edge of the loch, taking a note of
wind direction and stay close to the lee shore (that is so if you stop
paddling you get blown to the shore). If the wind is going the same way
as you it will give you a helping hand on your way, you can even use
bivi bags as sails, just remember that the return leg will be a real
upwind slog (you may choose to walk-in in such conditions). You'll be
used to mountain weather, so always be alert for the fact it might just
turn round over a couple of minutes and drop you in an uncomfortable
situation.

Peter mentioned sea kayaks - if you have some kayaking experience
consider them instead. Sea kayaks will take a little less kit than an
open boat, but I use mine for week long trips with all my camping gear,
food and beer stored inside so there is plenty of room! Again you need
some experience and a bit of skill but a sea kayak will not swamp
(unless you capsize and swim) so can continue to power through quite
large waves and against fairly strong winds (I've slogged against force
6 at the end of a week, so slightly less than fully laden but I really
don't recommend it, most people get frightened at force 4). If you get
second hand sea kayaks look out for watertight bulkheads (forward and
aft compartments are separate from the cockpit, so even if you swim your
kit stays dry and the boat stays afloat) and built in pumps. Most new
kayaks come with these things now but you haven't seen the price yet,
second hand is a lot easier!

For something a little less serious there are several modern touring
boats around with near sea kayak qualities but considerably less price
tag which would actually be ideal for what you want to do. Again I would
choose something with at least one bulkhead, and possibly deck lines (to
tie overflow kit on top) - look for perceptions Arcadia and Carolina
kayaks and similar. These sort of boats are slower than sea kayaks with
less room for kit, but faster than open boats and should have enough
space for your walking/climbing gear. They also feel more stable than
high performance kayaks so you would get happy paddling them much more
quickly!

There is no reason why some of you shouldn't paddle opens and others
kayaks, although there will be a tendency to see all that open space and
surreptitiously offload kit into the open boats :-)

Warnings and logistics aside, canoes and/or kayaks are a great way to
see the mountains, just do the preparation!

JIM

Peter Clinch wrote:

Fergie wrote:

A few of us intend to try some canoe access to Munros in Scotland. We
are walkers but have never canoed before. Our intention was to try a
small trip on Loch Lyon from the power station end and follow up with
a bigger trip on on Loch Ericht. We can hire canadian canoes locally.

I am looking for any and all advice ? Will we get onto the Loch s
easily ? Are there access problems ? What kind of loads can these
canoes take (tents, climbing gear and people). Any canoe problems we
will encounter ?


Can't remember what's what with Lyon, but Ericht is *potentially* a good
canoeing loch. With wind (if you can imagine such a thing up there...
oh! you can!) in the wrong direction canoes vary between hard work and
unmanageable, so you'd have to be prepared to get out and stop at almost
any point, and also be prepared to be stuck at the bothy a while (couple
of experienced friends in sea kayaks, which do bad conditions much
better than canoes, had to wait it out a couple of days last year. Since
they'd gone in to supply a walking party with a large supply of alcohol,
they barely escaped with their livers...).

I would personally suggest you wait until you have some canoe
experience. For a short, trivial paddle you can pretty much get into an
open canoe and get about and have fun with no experience, but a loaded
wilderness trip around Drumochter isn't trivial. Aside from the safety
aspect, you'll have a much easier time of it and probably a lot more fun
if you get some instruction in open paddling fist: handling a boat
*well* involves quite a bit of skill.

Once you have got some experience you'll find an open boat is a
wonderful tool for carrying loads in the right conditions, with easy
transport of far more stuff than you could ever walk or cycle with.
You'll want a good supply of dry bags, though.

Pete.