Pictures and words from our outdoor adventures…..

They say the best way to learn something is to make it fun. Excitement and interest in a subject make it much easier to understand information you’re trying to learn. This is the basis for the Salty Rat, a hands-on experience for learning canoeing basics and canoe touring skills.

In October, several weeks before our Salty Rat, the students participated in an American Canoe Association training course: Introduction to Canoeing – Level 1. Two classes of HAT (High Adventure Team) scouts from the Boy Scouts’ California Inland Empire Council (CIEC) and new paddlers from the Arrowhead Sail & Power Squadron, along with Lead Instructor Paula Boothe, David and I, and several other instructors spent a day for each class at Lake Perris State Recreation Area.  We practiced strokes, swamping and rescuing the canoes, learned the basics of CPR and the principles of Leave No Trace in preparation for our Salty Rat trip.

The first weekend of November, David and I drove to San Diego, braving the Friday night traffic.  Leaving Big Bear in the early afternoon, we swung through Los Angeles to pick up our son, then sat on the 405 freeway, along with many other folks attempting to get home or get out of town for the weekend.

After dinner at Lotsa Pasta in Pacific Beach (it’s a definite recommend, yummy!), we arrived at the San Diego Youth Aquatic Center on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay, just before the gates were expected to close for the night.  We set up our tents in the dark—-or relative dark.  With a heavy cloud cover, not quite fog, the lights of the surrounding city bounced off the low ceiling of moisture, making a dim twilight.  We turned in quickly.  An early start was planned for the next morning.

With over 20 people participating in the adventure, it was busy as we carried our boats to the water, loaded them with equipment, and tied everything down.  The purpose of the Salty Rat is to practice for a longer river or ocean trip.  The canoes were loaded with all the gear that would have needed for a several night excursion—-tents, sleeping bags, clothing, cooking equipment, food and water were stored in dry bags and leak-proof buckets with Gamma Seal lids.  Part of the training was to prepare a hot lunch along the way, so stoves and meal-planning were part of the preparations.

After last minute instructions from Paula, the two crews set out from Enchanted Cove before 9:00 am.  With the tide flowing into Mission Bay, we paddled around Fiesta Island, taking pains to avoid the fishermen on the beaches of the north end.  Also avoiding the water skiiers, then the personal watercraft looping around Fiesta Bay, we hugged Fiesta Island, crossing the bay only when we had passed to the south of the ski beach on Vacation Isle.

Before crossing, our group rested by joining the canoes together and just for fun, practiced a few maneuvers of the 7-canoe raft.  Although the side-by-side boats made a very wide profile, the raft was surprisingly agile.  We executed several spins, then separated to make our way to our lunch stop at the park on the south end of Vacation Isle.

We arrived just as the tide was turning, a fact David and I realized later when we returned to find our kayaks impaled on rocks.  The high tide left us no beach for landing.  We exited our boats and unloaded the gear for lunch balancing on the treacherously slippery stones.

Dividing into several cooking groups, we made our hot meals, cleaned up, then relaxed watching the antics of the boats in the model yacht pond just behind the picnic area.  As the tide turned, several of the canoes broke free of their moorings.  This gave several of the scouts the excuse for a swim.  Luckily, the sun had broken through the low cloud cover.  They rescued their boats, we re-packed and continued around Vacation Isle into Sail Bay and the farthest point of our voyage.

The return trip was, of course, more difficult.  After-lunch-lethargy tried to take hold.  The youth combated this problem with sneak attacks with water blasters and then created several configurations of rafts and co-paddling.  It was soon determined that stringing the boats together was not a workable solution for effective paddling.  Parrallel hulled craft however were found to be quite maneuverable.  In several boats, the bow paddler turned around and spent time paddling backwards when their arms became tired.  All this silliness and the boats rafting up made it much easier to make our way back to Enchanted Cove and our campsite.

Tired but with a sense of accomplishment, by late afternoon, we were making tea or hot cocoa and planning our Dutch oven potluck dinner.  Several of the scouts needed to return home for Sunday activities, but David and I stayed Saturday night, sleeping very well in the misty, damp air.

Sunday we broke camp, paddled around Enchanted Cove with some friends, visited Aqua Adventures Kayak Center, and then made our leisurely way back to Big Bear.

The weekend was an enjoyable way to practice our canoeing skills, try out packing, cooking, and paddling techniques before taking a longer trek.  Many of these scouts will have opportunities to try 50-mile paddles on the Colorado River in the next year.  The Salty Rat gives them good preparation for these adventures, as well as a whole lot of fun getting ready.

If you or your group would like to learn how to canoe, prepare for a canoe expedition, or would like experienced leaders for your paddle adventure, we are available to help.  Contact information is at http://doingtheoutdoors.net/contact-us/

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