At Mountain Water Expeditions we pride ourselves on providing top quality bespoke canoe expeditions. These expeditions have been designed to build the skills and confidence for you to go and have your own canoeing adventures once you leave us. We will cover all elements of canoe journeying via a wild camping journey through lochs, moorland and forest.
Our open canoe expeditions will allow you to be involved in the planning. We will cover paddling skills, safety and rescue, navigation, camp craft, cookery, portaging, poling, lining and incident management during the course of the expeditions.
The following is a brief outline of the type of paddling and skills that we aim to cover on all expeditions.
Canoe Based Skill and Safety:
- Efficient paddle strokes for travelling
- Efficient turning and control strokes
- The ability to work as a team in a boat
- Decision making on open water
- Understanding weather and, in particular, wind and fetch
- Improvised sailing
- Rafting canoes
- Dealing with a capsize
- Deep water rescue techniques
- Packing a canoe and adjusting its trim
- The merits of different packing systems in different circumstances
- The art of portaging (a true wilderness skill)
- Introduction to poling
- Lining
- Tracking
Campcraft, Cookery and Expedition Skills:
- Choosing and organising your campsite
- Expedition/group tarp systems and knots
- Choosing cookery equipment for canoe journeys
- Choosing food and devising menus for canoe trips
- Campfire cookery
- Everyday wilderness axe skills
- Personal equipment for canoe journeys
- Emergency equipment for canoe journeys (and how to use it)
British Canoeing Qualifications
There is a possibility that on our expeditions you could achieve certain British Canoeing Personal Performance awards along with certain elements of the British Canoeing Guide award.
If you feel the expeditions on our website do not fit your needs, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your requirements.
Staffing
To ensure you get the best possible experience during your expedition all our staff have been hand picked and between them have many years or expeditioning both in the UK and further afield.
For further information or to book a place on any of our open canoe expeditions please email info@mountain-water.co.uk