Uncategorized – Paddling Down

Tagg, My Travel Partner

Tomas Dawson — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 17:46:18 +0000

During my adventure on the Missouri River I will be traveling with our dog Taggerung. Tagg is a five-year-old border collie from Wildblue Border Collies, a local breeder in Colorado.

When you consider border collies, Tagg is not typical. Tagg is a mellow go-with-the-flow dog. I think Tagg believes himself to be human. He is happy just being with me, swimming, and chasing balls.

Tagg loves to travel and has been all over the southwestern United States. We spend loads of time driving to remote sites in search of the middle of nowhere. During these trips it is not uncommon for him to just sit and watch the world go by out the window of our FJ Cruiser.

He is always ready for a hike. He has worn his own pack to carry water in the hot southwest, and wears his boots from Ruffwear protect his feet when the conditions warrant.

When I need someone to listen or just give me a hug Tagg is there: no comments from him and nothing expected in return. He is Tagg the adventure dog.

December 18, 2018 – Sleep Log

Tomas Dawson — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 14:41:56 +0000

Last night was not a good night. Despite the medications there was no sleep to be had by me. 10 mg Melatonin, 1 benadryl and 30 mg Temazepam just did not work. A normal night on this combination has been about 5-6 hours of sleep so I am surprised that I went straight to nothing.

What was different? I was sleeping in a hotel room after soaking in a hot spring. I thought the hot spring soak would lead to a better night. I do tend to have a hard time the first night in a new bed so I hope that’s all the problem was.

For me, reliance on medications is just confusing and sometimes things just go haywire. Let’s see what tonight brings.

December 14, 2017 Sleep Log

Tomas Dawson — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 14:49:24 +0000

Well, last night missed the mark. I did fall asleep at about 10:15 pm. However, I was awake at 3:15 am. That means I slept about 5 hours. While that is good it’s not near what is really needed. I took my medication, which is now 30 mg of Temazepam. This is combined with a benadryl and 9 mg of melatonin. While this is effective at getting me to sleep it is just not keeping me there. When I wake up that’s it for the night. I continue to live in a constant state of sleep deficit. Temazepam also has a long half life which means each morning there is a hangover until 10:00 or 11:00 am. Yuck….

Boat Selection

Tomas Dawson — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 17:48:12 +0000

Considering that I will be spending two to three months sitting in the boat I decide to paddle, its selection is somewhat critical. My primary needs are; stability, easy wet re-entry or self rescue from a roll and wet exit, a place for Tagg to sit, low wind profile, and good cargo capacity. For easy self rescue it seems like an open cockpit will work best. An open cockpit also provides Tagg a place to sit. There are very few open cockpit boats out there that are for expidition travel. Klepper makes a number of folding boats, Eddyline the Shasta kayak and the Kruger Sea Wind canoe. Klepper folding boats seem like they will be to easily damaged during the harsh conditions of the trip. The Kruger has the reputation as a great boat but is to expensive for my budget. Thats leaves the Eddyline Shasta.

The Eddyline Shasta has been successfully paddled down the Missouri by a number of travelers, both skilled and not. The boat is of durable construction that can be easily repaired and has a great cargo capacity. In windy conditions having the rudder will be great benefit. So it looks like my boat desision is made. Now I just need to get my hands on one.