Scamp Build in Kansas!

The place to discuss SCAMP (Small Craft Advisor Magazine Project), our 11' 11" micro minicruiser.

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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by ericleif »

Lake Ouachita trip report continued (starts on page 25):

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Found a nice cove, pulled up to shore, and hiked up to the top of this island ridge:

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As the sun slipped away with the day, I jumped back in, rowed to the middle of the cove, set anchors, cleaned myself a bit, and took in this view:
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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by ericleif »

I wanted to just lay there and experience the changing light, but the cold kept me moving, and I fell into my evening routine: Once anchored, water collected and treated, body bathed and air-dried; then nighttime clothes go on, the tent goes up, and I cook dinner. Both doors give good ventilation and I cook on the lee side so all the steam goes out the door. A simple, one pot meal, hot chocolate, and some cookies all go into my stomach. Then candles lit, food put away, and sleeping pad and bag come out for a cozy evening with a book.

I spent most of my free time reading The Martian by Andy Weir. This book is about an astronaut stranded in a desolate environment, living in a tiny shelter, trying to survive. Perfect! That’s what I’m doing!!! Well, not exactly.

I try to drink a lot. So I pee a lot, normally, into my veritable multi-use-red-gas-can-bailing-bucket. But at night I have a dedicated Nalgene water bottle repurposed just for this. After dumping the bottle over the side I noticed the moon joining the scene:
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The next morning on the move, while drying out my shirt and trying to catch some energy from the sun for all my devices. Small solar panels can work ok, but less so in the winter with low sun angle.

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And then a pit stop on this island to poop. In a place like this with no serious pack-out waste regulations, I try to get a couple hundred feet ashore, away from campsites and water, dig a 6” cat hole, and collect some nice clean egg sized round rocks to wipe with. This is a old ultralight backpacking technique and it works great. The rocks and soil go back in the hole and I try to find a log or big rock to put on top for good measure. A water bottle makes a great bidet to get clean as a whistle. Hand sanitizer to do final hand cleaning and I’m done. So satisfying to poop in the wilds, and nice to get on ground and relax for a few minutes on this lonely piece of land.

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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

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On this day, I sailed around, went here and there, just meandered. I couldn’t quite decide where to head to for the night so I made my way back to last night’s big island (Hotel Island) to explore some unseen coves. As I sailed into this one, it just felt right. I’m staying here tonight. The cove was exposed to the lake but also to the setting sun, and the water was dead calm so I thought, it’ll be OK. This is the second time I’ve made that mistake (more on that later).

View into the cove:
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And looking out:
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Another quick landing to hike to a new ridge and back, as the sun was setting.
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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

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This evening I jumped into the water for a swim. Ok I didn’t jump in. I slowly, awkwardly lowered myself into the 50 something degree water standing on my sling (to avoid cold shock reflex). First I lowered my feet and legs into the stinging water, then yikes! My butt!!! And the rest!...the chest is the hardest part and then I’m in and swimming for a bit.

Wow, the water felt great but it was cold! I cleaned up, flopped my naked body back in the boat like a seal, and dried off. For some reason (getting older maybe) I just couldn’t get my feet warm. They stayed cold and numb and stubbornly refused to warm up. Weird and just a touch scary.

Even my home made dual purpose gorilla socks didn’t help:
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But finally, my candles fixed that situation:
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It’s always good to prepare for bad weather when camping, but I often disregard that advice. Deep into the night, wind shifted and sure enough, started blowing right into the cove with the full fetch of the lake behind it. This is a small boat and even little waves get it rocking. There was no way I would get any more sleep unless I moved. To make matters worse, my little tug boat had done a 360 and the anchor lines had crossed. I won’t go into the comedy of errors details that followed, but 45 minutes later I was tucked back into bed having moved my boat about 50 feet to the left to get out of the waves.

The next morning:
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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

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Exploring a bit more of Hotel Island:
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And checking out a cove I might come back to on a future kayaking trip.
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Clouds crept in under the sun. I love winter days like this. Cool, overcast, no other person to be seen, trees bare and lonely. And a sad, longing pit in my stomach that feels so sweet at the same time. Lonely-happy days.
IMG_6054.jpeg
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ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

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I skimmed along the hilly south shore and made my way back to the mouth of that channel where I started from, for one more night out.

One last morning:
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And I ghosted on a light puff back through the mountains:
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My car was still there waiting patiently at the boat ramp. I drove home, a bit transformed.

Another SCAMP trip complete!
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lhav
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Location: Wichita Falls TX

Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by lhav »

Great pictures! Lake Quachita is just six or seven hours from where we live in N Texas - adding it to my list. We've driven though beautiful western Arkansas several times, but never been on the lake. Thanks for the write up; I'm using it as inspiration to get back out there and work on #560.
ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by ericleif »

Awesome! Have fun with your build!!!
GBt
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by GBt »

This is an amazing thread -thanks for all of your thoughtful contributions Eric. That tent setup seems super practical. Awesome work all around.

I don't have a scamp - but what is the process for beaching? On a lake I understand you wont have to consider tides, but if fully beached, I would guess the boat is too heavy to push back into the water - is that true? If so - what do you do to get it back under way?

Along those same lines - what would make you choose to anchor over sleeping while beached (aside from the obvious like no readily available beach...).
ericleif
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Re: Scamp Build in Kansas!

Post by ericleif »

Thanks GBt,

I’ve never sailed where there are tides. I’m guessing you would want to wait the tide out to make launching easier. But I have beached it several times on Lake Superior to sleep aboard when the waves where too rough. Doing that solo can be tricky and some kind of inflatable cylinder for rolling under the boat is definitely needed. I used fenders and tackle attached to the bow to get some mechanical advantage.

It’s less complicated to just drop anchor and sleep on the water as long as it’s not too rough.

Eric
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