Kayak Camping the Rideau Canal and testing the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 165

Kayak camping at Davis Lock

I'm back from a great 3-day kayak camping trip on the historic Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada with the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 165 sea kayak and a small group of local Ottawa area paddle buddies.

I tested the Tsunami 165 all week for camping, paddling, cowboy scrambling, and seeing if I could get the big monster on a fun edge. I didn't have enough time with it to get someone to try and roll it and give some feedback. I can't roll yet myself but that is my mission this summer with my Maelstrom Vital 166.

There were a lot of firsts for me on this trip!

• It was my first time paddling and kayak camping with this big, plastic, mango coloured 16'6" long, 23.75" wide, 62 lbs. sea kayak with a rudder. I had forgotten how to paddle a kayak with a rudder! I'm used to skeg boats now. So, we had to get to know each other along the way. 

• It was my first time paddling from Kingston Mills to the Narrows lock. A 65 kilometer trip over 3 days. 

• It was my first time going through a lock - called "locking through", rather than portaging around the locks. I wouldn't want to portage with a heavy kayak and lots of gear. We went through a lot of locks! Nine in total over 3 days. The biggest locks were at Jones Falls. They are fifteen feet tall and there were a series of four of them. I was scared and intimidated in most of the locks along the route, except one.

Awesome! I wasn't bored. I learned a lot from paddle buddies, lockmasters, boaters, the water and the envirornment.

And I learned a lot about the Tsunami 165. It's a pretty zen kayak although many nickname it "the tank". I affectionately refer to it now as "the big guy". I learned to love it along the way and made some changes in my mind and how I paddle to make it so.

The Tsunami 165 got me in shape! After 3 days paddling it 20 to 24 kilometers a day, I feel fit, stronger, and ready to pump some iron! I loaded it with 65 lbs of gear, then sat in the seat and added another 125 lbs. It hauled me around. I hauled it around. A true partnership.

All together we were 252 lbs! I'm glad I didn't stop to think about that until now. And after the trip, nothing hurts except the bug bites.

The comfortable, easily adjustable seat and low back band of the kayak allowed me to paddle distance, and being able to stuff my thicker, wider, luxury Therm-a-rest sleeping pad into the roomy Tsunami 165 helped me get the rest and recovery I needed each night. Plus devouring a giant hamburger (it tasted so good!) at a Jones Falls casse croute on day two gave me the protein power and iron boost I needed.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a series of short and sweet daily posts with an image to capture a few awesome highlights of the trip if you'd like to follow along and see what it's like to be stuck in a lock. 

Later, I'll publish more in-depth stories with links to useful resources about kayak camping the Rideau Canal.

Published June 11, 2013 on The Great Waterway, a cool Ontario Tourism website where I'm a regular blogger, here's a link to my story on kayak camping at Newboro lockstation 36: 

Kayak camping at Newboro - Let me linger a little longer

The Cowboy Scramble test up the back deck of the Tsunami 165 is coming soon. 

Was it good, bad, or ugly with this kayak and the rudder?

(July 16, 2012 update: Here's the video: How to Cowboy Scramble up a kayak with a rudder)

Happy paddles!
The BaffinPaddler

Credits:

• Thanks to Ottawa Paddle Shack-Trailhead for letting me test the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 165.
• Thanks to awesome paddle buddies for planning, navigating, and helping me along the way of this trip.