Lapland area of Norway & Finland 1996
Boat Performance Report by Laurie Gullion
The rivers of Arctic Scandinavia feature a mix of broad, shallow rapids along the inland Lapland plain and beautiful plunging drops in the canyons leading back to the Norwegian sea – a perfect opportunity to test the merits of Pakboats’ new 17-foot wilderness canoe.
After successfully paddling a solo model on the Nahanni, I was intrigued to paddle the new tandem version of this foldable canoe under tougher conditions in Norway and Finland.
Rolled like a bedroll into a bundle the size of two large sleeping bags, the Pakboats fit easily inside the float plane for our flight to the headwaters of the Poroeno River in Finland. Assembly on the tundra the next day occurred quickly and easily, as our group of novice “canoe builders” snapped the shock-corded aluminum frames into place within the reinforced PVC skin and blew up the flotation baffles in the sides to create the relatively rigid hulls. After some customizing of seat positions to suit each paddler’s preference for either a sitting or kneeling position, we began our 14-day tour with Norwegian Arctic Trips and Pakboat originator Alv Elvestad.
These rivers offered the gamut of technical paddling – from rock dodging in shallow Class I rapids to hole-busting maneuvers in Class III drops. Because the aluminum canoe frame creates a squarish edge or chine wich can be used to carve turns, these canoes maneuvered responsively around obstacles – despite the personal gear and food packs in the canoe. However, what was most impressive is the frame’s flexibility fore and aft, which allows the bow to ride up over waves and stay drier than a hard-shelled boat. I initially fought my old instincts to stay away from reversals in a loaded canoe, but learned these boats ride high in holes and allow more safe route options.
An interesting phenomenon was the Pakboat’s performance when broached amidships against a rock, which I had an opportunity to watch on this trip! I watched two teams recover from broaches in stiff current that I suspect would have pinned a hard-shelled boat. Why didn’t it happen here? The sponson – a stiff, three-chambered air bag – on the upstream side tended to bob the canoe upward on the current and prevented the gunwale from submerging. While the push of the current against the flexible frame was disconderting, ultimately the ability of the skeleton to “give” saved each canoe, arrested the broach, and kept the canoes dry.
As we portaged and paddled through the headwaters of three rivers, we dragged the canoes repeatedly over gravel bars and paddled through the sharp debris of rockslides in the northern canyons. While I might have treated the PVC canoe skin more delicately, Alv deliberatly tested its abrasion resistance with some harsh handling. We did puncture and abrade these prototypes – which has promoted a change in material in subsequent designs – but the canoe repairs were quickly handled with glued patches primarily at pressure points where the skin rests against the frame.
A mishap during a lining maneuver forced one canoe to capsize completely, and the gear tied into the boat helped to thump it solidly on the river bottom. I continue to be convinced that letting gear float free is the best strategy for any canoe, but it’s especially so for the Pakboats. We were able to straighten bent gunwales and a crimped stem, similar to repairs of aluminum tent poles, but I believe the dents could have been avoided entirely with a different packing strategy.
There is no such thing as a good portage, but the light weight of this wilderness design made easier the trudges around the canyons of the Reisa River. I cannot portage the heavier weight of a hard-shelled canoe even on shorter portages, but at a reasonable 50 pounds, I was able to handle the Pakboat single-handedly on the one-mile portages, including rolling the canoe overhead. And it was worth it! Once on the river again, the canyon walls towered almost 1,000 feet overhead and we paddled to the sea past waterfalls which are among the tallest above the Arctic Circle.
Laurie Gullion is director of the Undergraduate Program in Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts. She is the author of “Canoeing” and the American Canoe Associations’s “Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction Manual”. Laurie has paddled 6,000 miles on wilderness rivers.