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Actually it could be a really interesting race. Especially since one of the rules would be that you have to pack gear and food for a 5 day spring trip. Being spring that would include a fair proportion of fresh, not dehydrated, food. :-)
The kayak will be faster on the water, but the portages could easily overwhelm that. Should I start the pool?
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5 days? Am I doing it twice? 
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Ya see, the participants don't get to set the rules. ;-)
A Brent Run can be done with a handful of granola bars and a water bottle. That favours the kayak too much. This competition is to see what is the better craft for canoe tripping. The Brent Run might not be a bad course route, but the gear has to reflect a canoe trip. That's where the 5 days of food and gear come in.
Of course if you both have time to do the full Meanest Link route, that could work too ...
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Not only do I accept your challenge, I am going to defeat you so overwhelmingly that your candy ass kayak is going to shatter under the weight of humiliation as it gets crushed. Wait! Can a plastic kayak even shatter? Probably not. Maybe it will just melt away in shame. We are also not doing some sissy walk in the park Brent Run. Meanest Link is the Route and yes it will be a race! I would race you for your boat, but what the hell would I ever do with a k-k-k-kayaaak!!! 
Uh Gord, can I borrow your Cruiser 16'8"
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The meanest link is probably the most canoe-biased route in the entire park. It's not the total length of the portages (68km), but how many tiny little portages there are along the route, which means I spend more time packing/unpacking than I do portaging.
But Martin: I'd still kick your ass. Bring it.
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LOL, a few of us are talking about doing the link in Solos next year. You should join us! I'll wait up.
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That sounds like you're conceding defeat to me.
(But yeah, if you're doing the link next year I'd join for sure)
Thread Starter@Uppa - I am not that sure about being smoked by kayaker: on the water for sure, but on portages, I think, with each next kilometer a man carrying a kayak will loose some ground to a canoe. I mean, peer pressure sometimes favors better overall functionality. Though being different has a value of its own that can't be measured, but deserves respect, at the very least. A smile, sometimes.
@RobW: the trim pays tribute to the designer skills. The boat is Nomad by Dave Curtis, circa 85-88. I comfortably paddle it solo with a single 60-70lbs pack in the stern, no trim issues. Here paddlers are my sons, ages 24 and 9, and the bow paddler keeps his paddle horizontally at the moment (I tried to upload a bigger picture, but wasn't able to).
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@Eddy: many of my replies in this thread are tongue in cheek. Camping isn't a race - that's just silly. But I put a lot of time and effort into figuring out how to portage a kayak properly, which meant designing and building my own yoke, and thinking very carefully about the gear I bring and how I pack it. The result is that I'm faster on the water (kayak v canoe, not a superhero trait) and only marginally slower on portages (the packing up/unpacking time on either end, not the actual portage time - I single carry).
On the whole I think I'm faster, and less susceptible to wind conditions than any solo canoeist out there - and likely many two-person canoes as well.
The kayak Achilles heel is a lot of short portages in succession, where I'd be spending more time getting organized on either end than the portage time itself - like the stretch from Radiant to Lavieille via the Petawawa and Crow rivers. 19 portages with tiny little paddling stretches between many of them. That route would try my patience, no doubt.
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Well finally !!
I have been waiting for the Gauntlet to be thrown down.. How do I get in on this..?
I have my solo kit down to near perfection now with a few winter additions.
Plus i have been training to do the Steel River loop this year for my 50th birthday. I think i now have the body of an in shape 75 year old.
How many axes do i need to pack for this party?.
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LOLoooo
Uppa wrote:
On the whole I think I'm faster, and less susceptible to wind conditions than any solo canoeist out there - and likely many two-person canoes as well
I don't doubt this and I agree that it's not the point, really. It was said by a sage that whichever way one likes to fool around in a boat is the way to be taken. For me, for instance, unique feeling of a canoe paddle interacting with water on each stroke is something I can't give up for advantages in speed or stability.
On a practical note I wonder if balancing a narrow kayak for few kilometers on your shoulders, especially on a rough trail, is more demanding a job than carrying a wider canoe.
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It sounds like we have agreement on the test course being the Meanest Link and we've got Uppa signed up to represent the kayak crown and Martin & ShawnD representing the solo canoe crowd. Dates to be finalized somewhere around the peak of cabin fever next winter. Using the Meanest Link we also know that it isn't so much about being a race as it is about survival.
Next challenge, how to track the progress and provide live updates to the entranced home audience.
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It sounds like we have agreement on the test course being the Meanest Link and we've got Uppa signed up to represent the kayak crown and Martin & ShawnD representing the solo canoe crowd. Dates to be finalized somewhere around the peak of cabin fever next winter. Using the Meanest Link we also know that it isn't so much about being a race as it is about survival.
Next challenge, how to track the progress and provide live updates to the entranced home audience.
The real challenge will be getting Mrs Shawnd to sign off on me being gone for the required time to complete the Link. Although it shouldn’t really take me that long.
What kinda odds am I getting in Vegas right now? We have 2 kids to put through Clown College. Decent odds could sway the approval.
Last edited by ShawnD (4/27/2019 10:21 am)
