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Solo Tripping is Safer

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People always ask if solo tripping is dangerous. I think it's safer than going with folks who can't possibly navigate or paddle themselves out and are more likely to get into medical distress. The same PLB goes on both tandem and solo trips.

I can also argue that taking two solo canoes instead of one tandem provides an extra margin of safety for spill recovery and emergency evacuation purposes.

Solo tripping is actually safer in many cases, and two boats is always the safer option.
 
I spent most of my younger years solo hiking the mountains of New England most the Whites of NH, BS*. When you're solo (I think) you're more careful and pay more attention to what you're doing. A lot of people are afraid to be alone in the woods, especially at night, others have said they won't know what to do by themselves during the downtime.
If you're solo you don't have to worry about keeping up, waiting on a slower partner, you can take a whatever side trips you want, change your route...

Most of the time I'm the one who has to plan and coordinate the trip, attempting to iron out all the problems others in the group have. For me, that was the worst part of the trip even when we were just doing the Allagash River. The same trip, the same start point, the same week and every year and a whole new set of problems each time.

Solo may be safer but, when things go sidewards the penalties can be more severe.




*(Before SPOT)
 
Yeah, honestly, I enjoy not taking care of anyone except myself and dog. I can eat sleep paddle and fish to my heart's content, pack lighter, and worry less. I guess if I got incapacitated, having someone to keep me warm and feed me soup until the chopper comes would be a plus.
 
I have been asked many times whether or not it is safe for Kathleen and I to paddle wilderness rivers on our own. The implication is that we are being somewhat foolhardy. I have been asked so often, that I have prepared a response, which I have pasted below.

Kathleen and I very much prefer to paddle alone, an approach that is considered wrong, even foolhardy by most “experts” and wilderness paddling books. The general recommendation is that all wilderness canoe trips should include at least three tandem boats. If one boat is lost or damaged by capsize or broaching on a rock, then the remaining two boats can each accommodate one of the unfortunate paddlers. Also, three tandem boats with six people provides a critical mass for camp chores and the flexibility to spell off a tired or sick paddler. All of this makes good sense.

I should say though, that Kathleen and I never capsize on wilderness canoe trips. Never. I’m a firm believer that you should never capsize on wilderness rivers. Despite this confidence bordering on hubris, people still ask us, “Well, what if you do capsize?”

I tell them again that we don’t capsize. Ever. Kathleen and I are experienced. We know our skills. We work well as a team. We are always reading the river, anticipating what hazards might be waiting for us downstream. And, if the truth be told, as I am about to tell you, more boats and more people sometimes just inject bravado and peer pressure into the paddling expedition.

Imagine that six people are standing on shore, looking at the rapid, and deciding whether or not to run. One pair of paddlers is definitely worried and apprehensive. They would rather portage. The other four paddlers start saying things like, “I can run this. You should be able to run it too. Come on. We don’t even need to scout the entire rapid. Let’s just go. What are you worried about?”

So all six people climb back into their canoes and turn down into the noisy, rocky maelstrom of white and foam. The worried pair of paddlers becomes hesitant. Their strokes become tentative. Hesitation and tentative strokes often produce very bad results in a rapid. The frightened paddlers make it halfway down before broaching on a midstream rock. Their Kevlar canoe wraps, shudders for a second or two, and then shatters into pieces. Gear and now-panicked canoeists float away at the mercy of the unforgiving current. Maybe all of the gear and both canoeists are saved. That is certainly the best-case scenario.

So, one of the tandem boats has been lost. The remaining two boats now have three paddlers and approximately 50% more gear. This is not a good option. On all of our wilderness canoe trips, our boat is full, pretty much from the beginning to the very end of the trip. Kathleen and I really don’t have room for more people and more gear in our canoe.

Kathleen and I very much prefer to paddle alone, an approach that is considered wrong, even foolhardy by most “experts” and wilderness paddling books. The general recommendation is that all wilderness canoe trips should include at least three tandem boats. If one boat is lost or damaged by capsize or broaching on a rock, then the remaining two boats can each accommodate one of the unfortunate paddlers. Also, three tandem boats with six people provides a critical mass for camp chores and the flexibility to spell off a tired or sick paddler. All of this makes good sense.

I should say though, that Kathleen and I never capsize on wilderness canoe trips. Never. I’m a firm believer that you should never capsize on wilderness rivers. Despite this confidence bordering on hubris, people still ask us, “Well, what if you do capsize?”

I tell them again that we don’t capsize. Ever. Kathleen and I are experienced. We know our skills. We work well as a team. We are always reading the river, anticipating what hazards might be waiting for us downstream. And, if the truth be told, as I am about to tell you, more boats and more people sometimes just inject bravado and peer pressure into the paddling expedition.

Imagine that six people are standing on shore, looking at the rapid, and deciding whether or not to run. One pair of paddlers is definitely worried and apprehensive. They would rather portage. The other four paddlers start saying things like, “I can run this. You should be able to run it too. Come on. We don’t even need to scout the entire rapid. Let’s just go. What are you worried about?”

So all six people climb back into their canoes and turn down into the noisy, rocky maelstrom of white and foam. The worried pair of paddlers becomes hesitant. Their strokes become tentative. Hesitation and tentative strokes often produce very bad results in a rapid. The frightened paddlers make it halfway down before broaching on a midstream rock. Their Kevlar canoe wraps, shudders for a second or two, and then shatters into pieces. Gear and now-panicked canoeists float away at the mercy of the unforgiving current. Maybe all of the gear and both canoeists are saved. That is certainly the best-case scenario.

So, one of the tandem boats has been lost. The remaining two boats now have three paddlers and approximately 50% more gear. This is not a good option. On all of our wilderness canoe trips, our boat is full, pretty much from the beginning to the very end of the trip. Kathleen and I really don’t have room for more people and more gear in our canoe.

Kathleen and I feel quite safe on our own. We never run any rapid unless both of us agree to run. We often scout where others might not. We are alone on the river, so we must not capsize. Ever. Kathleen and I actually feel secure in our aloneness, not threatened. We are free to paddle when we want. We are free to camp where and when we want. We are free to take unplanned rest days and hikes when we want. We are free to stop to botanize and birdwatch when we want. We are free to be ourselves.

I should also point out that larger groups do not even guarantee rescue of capsized paddlers and gear. I have read and heard of many fatalities that have occurred among larger groups. A mid-river capsize on a large, Arctic river can initiate fatal hypothermia before help arrives. A foot entrapment can cause drowning before help arrives. Large groups can improve safety and security, but they provide no such guarantee. Wilderness canoeing emancipates the paddler from regulations and rules. Travel in groups if you wish. Paddle alone if you prefer. It’s your choice no matter what anyone says.

That's my take on it, anyway.
 
Nice. Great take. More people always equals more risk unless all of equal training, temperment, physical strength. To be truly safe, only firemen and Navy seals should trip.
 
One of my most enjoyable trips was in the BWCA a couple of years ago when 4 of us soloed together. We all pretty much packed as if we were going solo, started off together and found ourselves a nice base camp and then we all did our own thing during the day but were all back at camp at night. Some fished, some hiked and some just explored.
 
I wouldn't say that solo is safer but I agree that we tend to be more careful when solo. I also find it easier (and often more enjoyable) to just go alone. It's hard to find people you can be around 24/7 for extended periods and my daughters won't "camp" without flush toilets & hot showers. :( In my opinion, whether solo, tandem or in a group, an InReach or Spot is essential safety equipment (as long as it stays on your person and not in camp).
 
I carry a SPOT, mostly to reassure my wife, who is usually home with the modern plumbing. Like probably everyone here I'm fanatically conservative when tripping solo and would rather eat worms than press that red button. But if I was actually dying I would.

Back BS, I used to wonder what I would do if I came upon a boatless person or group in need of help. I would of course offer such assistance as I could, but if I'm in a skinny solo boat I don't have a lot of evac capacity. Now I know I could press the red button on someone else's behalf, and have some help.
 
I've stopped arguing with the general non solo public about solo tripping.. Its futile. They will never get it that it is as safe as with a group. I am not an adherent of that old very fallacious saw "never paddle alone".

For sure conservatism is the rule rather than "it wont happen to me". I think of all the events that could happen and how would I handle it.. I do not subscribe to the thought that I will never allow myself to capsize. While really rare it does happen.. I know from teaching that there are several things that could lead to a capsize. Most commonly from getting your head outside the bounds of the rail.. Inattention is a major factor ( like looking backward is too) and curiously paddling in rough water never seems to come up.. I know that opposing wind and waves are dangerous, being tense is dangerous as it does not allow you to compensate adequately, But rough water has never been a problem.

Poor map reading can lead you where you do not want to be. This led to one capsize in Wabakimi on a short chute when we nailed a buried sharp rock buried in a two foot haystack.. Bent the boat and literally the stop threw us out.

Misjudging river outflows is another.. capsize fully loaded at the mouth of the Dog in Lake Superior.. This mistake has been made by others.. sometimes fatal.

Both were in a tandem fully loaded for two weeks boat. Both were quite close to shore and took just a few minutes to fix.

Solo.. the capsizes two have been much less glamorous.. Getting out of the boat and slipping on underwater algae covered rocks..

Solo my What If antenna goes up much quicker. there was one four mile crossing of Ponce De Leon Bay with rollers coming broadside that were two feet tall... Solo.. never.. ( I would have done it if I had been able to paddle into the wind which is much more secure, but the tidal outflow of PDL Bay is quite strong.).. We did do it tandem.. Why.. still musing on that. Sometimes group ( is a tandem a group?) mentality is not good. Peer pressure can be awful.. so ideally the "chicken" of the group should have the only say.

My most frightening capsize was on dry land on a portage trail where I was tumping a barrel while carrying my canoe.. I slipped and fell in deep loonshit with all on top of me and the tump around my throat. I was NOT wearing my SPOT ( Very bad mistake) and the tump was choking me.. Its amazing how strong you can be just before you run out of air. What worries me most is not what happens in the canoe but what can happen on land.
 
Two people in a tandem is probably the safest scenario, but I have not tandem tripped in a long time.

I think there are obvious safety trade-offs between going truly solo vs tripping with a companion or a group in multiple boats.

The latter first; I have come to dislike “group” trips, especially groups with mixed or unknown experience. Trying to keep a group together, in a loose pack, even without rigid adherence to probe and sweep boats, can be a nightmare. Even on flatwater.

Groups travel at the speed of the slowest link in the chain. I dislike being out in challenging windy conditions and having to abandon my chosen best speed and course to accommodate stragglers and strugglers. I am actually made less safe in that scenario.

Plus I enjoy paddling as quiet time. A good muckle up conversation is one thing; a companion or group that needs to chatter away for miles is my idea of canoeing heck, and I will paddle far, far ahead.

When tripping solo I am more attentive to conditions and to my surroundings. Or try to be. Sometimes it is helpful to have someone to say “”Hey, watch out, this part of the trail is really freaking slippery”, “dang, that sky does not look good, we should beat feet towards shore now” or “Did you notice that window maker at the edge of the site?”

Certainly in a medical emergency or evacuation scenario a companion is better than being solo. But every additional person increases the potential for a medical issue to arise. Comme ci, comme ça

On group trips, or even two-canoe one-companion trips, some common gear can be shared. Or “could” be shared; even on a two-boat trip with one proven reliable companion I pack everydamn thing I need to be comfortable solo in my own canoe; tent, stove, food, tarp, etc.

My tripping preference today is for either true solo trips, ie one solo (or soloized) boat and just me.

Or for a trip with one (or at most two) proven reliable and like-minded quiet companions. And even in that separate-boat one-companion case I’d prefer that we not be too together evey minute of every day 24/7, especially on longer trips.

Sometimes just wandering away from camp suffices, on really long trips separate permits and occasionally separate campsites is even better. I need an alone break sometimes, even with the finest of companions. See “pack everydamn thing I need to be comfortable solo in my own canoe”

I see one advantage to using a bigger boat on a two-boat companion trip, beyond my self-sufficient excessive gear load. I am partial to using larger solo boats or a soloized tandem as my tripping canoe, and this issue has never arisen, but in a lost-the-other boat scenario, or an unable to paddle injured companion situation, I could still effect a tandem paddle out in a soloized Penobscot or Explorer or similar ilk.

Try that in an MRC Guide or Bell Yellowstone.

EDIT: I have said this before, but the finest group trips have been when folks paddled in to a designated site over the course of a few days. The changing group dynamic is observationally enjoyable, and the best of those trips were when I was first to arrive, had a day or two by my (not) lonesome solo, companions showed up over the course of a day of two, and then the numbers dwindled until I was solo again at the end.

Finest kind.
 
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I've never been a true solo paddler, meaning I don't do extended trips by myself, I could but just choose not to. But when tripping it is usually with one steadfast friend and we've traveled many a mile. We do paddle our boats tandem as a team, me always in the bow, sucks. We've been solo paddlers, our own boats, that working together is a chore. Him in the back yelling pry this and pry that and me from the front going FORK YOU! and then doing a draw just to piss him off. Stupid yes, so I do prefer paddling solo. Not the intent of the OP's original post but my take on the subject.
 
tandem paddlers keep in mind that whatever goes wrong in a boat...there is one rule... its the stern paddler's fault. I learned this little gem from an ACA instructor trainer educator who when he first took lessons with his wife sought instruction to "Tell Anne what she is doing wrong". And they did a demo paddle for the instructor..

The verdict was she was fine.. He was not.. They both took lessons and rose way high in the tandem instructor ranks. And they always start new paddlers off with their story.

But this is a digression though if you consider domestic violence possibilities in untrained tandem teams; solo looks far better. If you screw up there is no one to blame but you.
 
Hey Dougd, Why not try a double solo trip? We did it last year and it was great! No yelling, I could fish alone, and she got more out of it handling her own boat instead of being stuck in the front.

Best of both worlds.
 
Hey Dougd, Why not try a double solo trip? We did it last year and it was great! No yelling, I could fish alone, and she got more out of it handling her own boat instead of being stuck in the front.

Best of both worlds.

Thats our normal on non portaging trips! Everglades and Lake Superior.
 
tandem paddlers keep in mind that whatever goes wrong in a boat...there is one rule... its the stern paddler's fault. I learned this little gem from an ACA instructor trainer educator who when he first took lessons with his wife sought instruction to "Tell Anne what she is doing wrong". And they did a demo paddle for the instructor..

The verdict was she was fine.. He was not.. They both took lessons and rose way high in the tandem instructor ranks. And they always start new paddlers off with their story.

But this is a digression though if you consider domestic violence possibilities in untrained tandem teams; solo looks far better. If you screw up there is no one to blame but you.

This brings back similar memories of when Kathleen and I were teaching new paddlers. I received a call from a guy who wanted to register for him and his wife. After a few minutes of explaining the course, I mentioned that our club always made sure that husband and wife both paddled in the stern and in the bow. He said, "Great. I think my wife needs some help. We sometimes switch positions. When I'm in the front, and she's in the back, the canoe goes perfectly straight. But when she's in the front, and I'm in the back, the canoe zig zags all over the place. She must be doing something wrong when she's in the front."

There was also the time when a fairly new couple was on a day trip with the club. Husband in the stern. Wife in the bow. Husband had been yelling out instructions all day. Finally, the wife (who was actually the better paddler), turned around and said, "You think you're so dang good. Well, paddle the canoe yourself." She then jumped out of the canoe and swam down the rapid.

Sometimes we tried to encourage married couples to paddle with other people. Tandem canoes in our club were often referred to as "divorce boats."
 
I took a five day whitewater kayaking course at Nantahala Outdoor Center.. We were running class 2-3 and there was a canoe class doing the same.. We encountered a canoe couple having a heated pointed fingers discussion on what the other was doing wrong .
Three days later on the Nanny nothing had changed .. they were still hurling curses.. Either the instruction was deficient or the ears were deficient.. Don't know. But things would have been a lot different solo.

I have run into so many women that are unhappy in the bow.. Its not that they feel inferior ( as the bow is the engine its got an important job) but they simply do not trust the person in back of them not to make a sudden move.

Bow paddlers of either sex do not come equipped with eyes in the back of their head.. . Maybe selfie sticks are the answer. We know solo canoes can help..
 
In the third year of our canoeing life, Kathleen and I decided that we both needed to be proficient, confident and enthusiastic in either bow or stern. So we started switching positions after lunch on all our canoe club day trips. This also allowed us to paddle either bow or stern when we separated couples who were not doing so well. We just asked our new partner what they preferred, bow or stern. We would take whatever was their second choice.

All that being said, Kathleen is a better bow paddler than I am. I believe that I am a better stern paddler than she is. Call us traditional if you wish. But these are certainly our strongest tandem positions, and we are completely confident in each other. It is more than 30 years since either one of us has yelled at the other. Life is good.
 
I'm a better stern person than my partner but he is so miserable in the bow so I bow.
Thats fine as i can map read and take photos with the canoe atill being in reasonable control.
There is much more to tripping than perfect technique
I will say that good communication and respect are key when the poop hits the fan.
 
Hey Dougd, Why not try a double solo trip? We did it last year and it was great! No yelling, I could fish alone, and she got more out of it handling her own boat instead of being stuck in the front.

Doug, and many other paddlers here including myself, trip mostly (or always) in solo boats. I know Doug has for years done some long and challenging trips with one companion in two canoes, following old native American routes along the NE coast.

We need a better definition of “Solo Tripping”. I think of that as me, myself and I in a boat, without any companions, vs tripping in a solo boat with a companion or companions in their own craft.

Suggested tripping nomenclature for:

Trips with a single companion, each in their own boat? “Double Solo Canoe Tripping” is too much of a mouthful, and DSCT is the abbreviation for the Dismal Swamp Canoe Trail. Or a psychiatric diagnose.

Trips with one canoe and a tandem pair? “Divorce Boat Tripping” comes to mind, but I know a couple of husband & wife pairs able to work with happy synchronicity in a tandem. One sister team as well, albeit with less paddling synchronicity, but with a lot of happy. How two girls who have known each other for nearly 50 years manage to laugh together 16 hours a day is a mystery.

Trips with 4 people in two tandems? Uh, depends on the people and their paddling compatibility. I have only done that as family trips, one adult and one kid in each tandem.

Large group trips with paddlers of with varying skill levels in multiple boats? I vote for “Movable Zoo Tripping”.

Canoe (or kayak) trips with someone who claims to have been a raft guide. Years ago. For a summer. At camp. “Nightmare Tripping” may be apropos.
 
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