Back in 2012, my friends invited me up to their place and thence to Northwest Scotland for a pack rafting trip. They had been using their own packrafts for a couple of years and I'd been after a go. This was the year that everywhere except the North West of Scotland got washed out; and the North West of Scotland got fried! A combination of lochs, hills and some of the best scenery you'll find this side of the alps, all in the sun, re-awakened a previously unfulfilled desire to get some form of water craft. This dated back to school trips to an outdoor centre in the lakes and much playing around in Kayaks, canoes and various sail powered things, which naturally made me want one. But such things would require yet another mountain of gear and the time to use them, neither of which was really an option. But a packraft seemed the ideal way to finally realise that youthful dream, as it wouldn't take up much space, could be combined with biking and walking and could be a ticket to a whole range of new adventures.
That said I didn't need to buy one at this point as my friends were part of an outfit importing Alpacka rafts into the UK and had boats to borrow. So we made various plans for many more trips, which unfortunately came to naught as my mate split acrimoniously from his business partner with no pack rafts! So I pretty much forgot about boats and boating.
Every so often, something would make me have a look to see what was available. From '15 onwards, a few more manus were getting on the band wagon and more rafts were becoming available at a range of prices. That said, packrafting didn't seem to catch on quite like various people predicted. I suspect this is largely due to the hill walking fraternity over here being a bit conservative (or at least tight enough not to splash out the required grand for a set up) and bikepackers saw it as a faff step too far. So it remained a niche and a couple of outfits getting boats made in the far east didn't last long.
Finally last spring, my knee issues motivated me to start looking in earnest as having a form of transport requiring arm rather than leg power would probably do me no end of good. Ebay and various other retailers were scoured to little avail. Alpackas still seemed the best bet as they were the lightest of the lot and I figured minimising weight would be key to walking / biking / boating combo adventures. These were totally un-obtainable at any price however.
Until finally John on the Bearbones forum announced the sale of his Alpacka Caribou, their dedicated bikerafting boat; as he was upgrading to something a bit more white water resistant. For me this was perfect - well used but plenty of life left, under 3kg and burly enough for a muppet like me to use without fear of sinking.... So a deal was done and when it arrived I was like a kid at Christmas, I finally had a boat to mess about in.
I did eventually try a bit of white water, guided down a short section of the Spey in the safe company of Rob, packrafting and kayaking expert. After some initial panic on encountering eternally moving water and waves that seemed like they would have me out in a blink (just about grade 1) I started to get to grips with it. I've no real desire to tackle anything more drastic but this built enough confidence to be fun and awakened a desire to some more of such stuff.
Then the weather went pear shaped. I'd deliberately gone out on a few breezy days to get the feel of wind and wave but gale force winds were to be avoided as these things don't go very fast.... Then winter appeared and the weather got worse and worse (with odd periods of the lochs being frozen)
Finally I did my first real hike and boat trip, inevitably in the Ochills and actually up my water supply, i.e. lower and upper Glen Devon Reservoirs. This hadn't been possible last summer, due to them being small puddles rather than reservoirs so today would be ideal - a perfect late winter day - clear, cool and sunny, with a gentle easterly to give me a shove.
Much exploration of inlets and shore was undertaken, a couple of 'transitions' and a walk back. All good stuff, very relaxing and involving a nice range of physical activity. Carrying it all was a bit of a faff, so I need to have a think about that but the weight was by no means a burden and I could see myself adding bivvy kit without any issues.
