Lightweight boating

[arawa]

I saw the tackle tart's kayak in another thread and that prompted me to write about my current "tartish" plans.
Over the years I have looked longingly at trout rising out-of-range around small islands or at the inaccessible edges of reed beds. After seeing how much fun a group of anglers were having with float tubes at Scourie, I had a serious think of getting one. But the bulk and weight of all the necessary kit and the climbs to some of my favourite lochs put me off.
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I experimented with a child's toy dinghy but even that was quite heavy and needed a 60L rucksack for it and the accessories. Also, it easily punctured which was once a bit scary as I saw the rush of bubbles emerging from underneath when relaunching the dinghy from an island in the middle of a loch. I have never rowed back to shore so quickly!
I did a search for better quality lightweight dinghies and came across the Alpacka range – which get excellent reviews with some models weighing 2 1/2 lb being used for rafting down the Grand Canyon. Not planning anything so challenging I bought one of the smallest lightweight (but still tough) versions from the very helpful UK distributor in Aviemore (a friend of Corsican Dave).
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The boat, paddles, small buoyancy aid and tiny anchor fits in my 28L rucksack with a total weight of 9 ½ lb. There is still room in the rucksack for fishing tackle and some food.
I do not expect to use the dinghy for drift fishing as the slightest wind will push it across the water far too quickly, but I have high hopes I can give the trout rising around the islands a good scare.
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[burnie]

I think I'd be packing a puncture repair outfit too.

[rannoch raider]

There's lots of stuff on You Tube featuring these packrafts. They seem to be pretty capable and robust. Good tool for exploring places Like the Ba etc.

[arawa]

I think I'd be packing a puncture repair outfit too.

It comes with a repair kit although apparently gaffer tape is an excellent temporary repair. But Andy Toop of BackcountryScot in Aviemore hires out Alpackas for trips on the Spey and very rarely has to fix holes or splits etc.
Alpacka used to make an even lighter version and Andy had a secondhand one that was about 1.5lb and folded up extremely small but that seemed a bit delicate to me although he assured me it was not.

[Bobfly]

Lookslike a tidy piece of kit     What price for boat plus oars etc. ?
Send us reports.

[corsican dave]

that is an excellent choice. these items aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for; and that includes Andy. he really knows his stuff 

i'm glad you're happy and i'm sure you'll be even happier once the season kicks in  :

[corsican dave]

which model paddle did you go for, David?

[arawa]

Lookslike a tidy piece of kit     What price for boat plus oars etc. ?
Send us reports.

As Corsican Dave says, good kit but not cheap. I tried cheap and it did not work - well not reasonably safely anyway and the weight was getting to be a real problem.
I got an out of season deal on the boat for a bit under £500 including an inflatable seat. The oars were very bottom of the range (if you think packrafts are expensive you should see how much you can pay for paddles!) but seem very serviceable at £50. The micro buoyancy aid (smaller than a 1lb pack of butter) was in a sale for £75 - and was a non-negotiable item according to my wife. The 600gm anchor (I have tried unsuccessfully bags filled with stones as anchors) was £6.
As I said, not cheap but I had sold my motorcruiser last season so this was a consolation

[arawa]

which model paddle did you go for, David?

I do not intend to use the raft on moving water, or in anything more than a breeze, so simple and light was my preference. Andy thought Advanced Elements made good kit so I picked up an Ultralite 3 or 4 piece paddle in a sale. Just 670 gm, and the only drawback as far as Andy advised was that the aluminium shaft will feel cold. But I only intend to go fishing on warm sunny days so that does not matter

[arawa]

I don't mean to pry, but are you wearing a skirt and ladies slippers in that second photo?!?!?  :crap

Good spot; I'm outed! My wife thinks this whole thing very amusing and burst out laughing when she first saw me sitting in the tiny raft.