: Hey ya Rob
: We just got back from a second sail and yak trip and I thought for sure you
: would have been gone by now. How's things...all ready to go?
Hey Mike
I have everything I need to survive for a long time. I picked up a few smaller dry bags to make packing the yak easier. I had a couple of 20 liter bags but they were too unruley so I got a couple of 10's with conical bottoms so I can shove them deep into the bow/stern. I managed to take everyone's advice on just about every pointer so if I have any failures I may not have to blame myself. 
I got a 64 MB chip for my digital camera so now I can do a few short videos in addition to some cool pics of whatever is cool up there. I'm bring my Nikon SLR w/80-300 mm power zoom for those shots that only I seem to like taking (small flowers, moss and lichens, bears from far away, weird angled landscapes, yadda..yadda..). My wife has been especially helpful in making sure I got out and purchased everything I'd need to be comfortable so I can spend my time enjoying the trip in all weather. TY Judy! My ditch kit is a miracle of preparation with a full drug kit in case of emergency although I don't have the antibiotics in case of bacterial infection. I do have soem triple action Polysporin so I'm covered as covered as that will allow me to be. I got the 1 liter Nalgene bottle Ken S. suggested and will wrap it with closed cell to insulate. My ditch kit has everything I'll use from day to day. I also managed to figure out that I can attach the GPS to the pfd so its basically a hands off tool right under my nose. I'm almost done carving my GP adn should be oiling it this weekend. I'm angling the corners of the blades so I don't damage them scraping through the shallows. I'm set up with my daughter's teachers so they will be able to follow the trip from day to day. I didn't get the pulley but I did p/u a couple more carbiners so I'll have 5 or 6 of those to work with. Unfortunately, Myrl won't be coming so I''l be on my own. No worries! I did the Devon to Edmonton trip to test equipment weight vs. water line height and found that I have lots of room for more stuff inc ase I want to add more items. I foudn that my food weighs more than my equipment and I plenty of that to spare. I like to be careful about food, I hate that knawing empty gut feeling I get when I forget to eat. I'm bringing along a fishing kit (fits into a 2.5" x 3" baggie) in case I want to do a little fishing along the way.
What can I say, I'm ready and raring to go.
Only 7 more days!
Robert N Pruden
