BWCA Canoe Shuttle Social Distancing Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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DownStrm
distinguished member (266)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/31/2020 09:40PM  
It is easy to maintain social distancing on the water. What are best practices to shuttle canoes and vehicles between the put-in and take-out? I've been out on the lakes and paddled upriver on the Cedar, but the rivers are starting to call my name badly.
Is driving those 10 miles with the windows down and bandanas on adequate? What is everyone else doing?
 
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mutz
distinguished member(1267)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/31/2020 10:32PM  
Maybe I’m missing something, but why would you have a bandana on while driving your car?
 
GraniteCliffs
distinguished member(1981)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/31/2020 11:37PM  
I think I might get what you are asking. Perhaps you mean how do you drive in your car and maintain social distance. Would leaving the windows open and using a bandanna over your mouth and nose work?
If that is your question:
Absolutely not, IMHO
I hope I misunderstood the question.
 
04/01/2020 07:33AM  
Lol. Well me personally I am not avoiding anybody. If they are ok with being near me then I am ok being near them. If a store is open I will most likely go there.
 
DownStrm
distinguished member (266)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/01/2020 07:36AM  
Obviously, I was not very clear. How do we avoid the risk of sharing Covid 19 with our fellow paddlers? It is easy to maintain distances while on the river, but not while driving and dropping off the cars and boats at the put-in point and take-out point of the river. In normal times, we pack as many people inside and canoes on top of a car as possible to minimize the number of shuttles. Lets say the car shuttle route is ten miles long. Is driving with the windows down and wearing a homemade mask sufficient to minimize the spread of germs inside the car.
What precautions is everyone else taking?
 
04/01/2020 08:01AM  
So let me make sure I'm clear. You want to take a little canoe trip but you're going with either friends or family that you do not live with and you are planning on packing everyone into the cars together?

If thats the case then the precaution I would take is to not do that.

There is no way to maintain proper distance or safety in that situation. If you are going to go canoeing either go alone or with immediate family members that you're already exposed to on a daily basis.

I know it sucks to not be able to do the things we want to do but thats the reality for everyone in the country right now. It really is a pretty small sacrifice to make when so many are getting sick.




 
04/01/2020 08:08AM  
x2jmorris: "Lol. Well me personally I am not avoiding anybody. If they are ok with being near me then I am ok being near them. If a store is open I will most likely go there. "


I would urge to you reconsider your position on this. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting sick and many are dying because this things spreads so damn easily and is often spread by people that don't even realize they have it. Seems awfully selfish of you to not be doing the bare minimum you can do in order to prevent further spread.
 
04/01/2020 08:26AM  
STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE !!!! Paddle Upstream then down stream. Stay close to shore and the low side bank on the upstream.You'll find it's a whole new river going upstream. Find a lake to paddle and work on you're paddling skills. Needlessly being around other people, is as reckless as those 2 guys in Lake Superior all those people where commenting on.
 
04/01/2020 08:36AM  
nofish: "
x2jmorris: "Lol. Well me personally I am not avoiding anybody. If they are ok with being near me then I am ok being near them. If a store is open I will most likely go there. "



I would urge to you reconsider your position on this. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting sick and many are dying because this things spreads so damn easily and is often spread by people that don't even realize they have it. Seems awfully selfish of you to not be doing the bare minimum you can do in order to prevent further spread. "


I don't get the choice whether I get it or not Nofish. I don't disagree with you but I am going to get it one way or another. If Walmart is to remain open I plan on using it like I normally would have. Or if they do what Best Buy is doing then I will use it their way.

I assume others that are using these stores either also don't care because why else are you at Best Buy during these times?
 
04/01/2020 09:20AM  
x2jmorris:
I don't get the choice whether I get it or not Nofish. I don't disagree with you but I am going to get it one way or another. "


Maybe you are going to get it, maybe thats unaviodale for you. However, what is avoidable is you potentially spreading it to others. Maybe you only spread it to other people at Best Buy that you apparently think don't care if they get it. Or maybe you spread it to the cashier that has no choice but to be there in order to pay their bills.

Or maybe you do spread it to someone that doesn't care if they get it but then that person spreads it to someone else at the grocery store who has an underlying health issue but had no choice and had to go out and buy food for themselves. You can't just think about yourself nor just about the 1 other person you think you could potentially spread it to. This thing is so contagious that every infected person gives it to on average 2-3 other people. Then those 3 people infect 9 more, then those 9 infect 27 other people and so on. If you get infected are you ok with the potential that your illness could impact that many more people? Some of those might be like you and don't care if they get sick but for sure some of them might.

Personally I know if I get sick I'll be fine. I'm young and healthy and have good insurance. However I'm distancing myself from others so that I help protect others that aren't so lucky.
 
RTurner
distinguished member (151)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/01/2020 09:26AM  
x2jmorris: "
I don't get the choice whether I get it or not Nofish. I don't disagree with you but I am going to get it one way or another. "


x2, you're thinking about this wrong. Similarly to hanging your food, is not to protect your food from the bear but to protect the bear from your food, isolating is not only to protect you from other people, it is to protect other people from you
 
04/01/2020 09:45AM  
mutz: "Maybe I’m missing something, but why would you have a bandana on while driving your car?"


Get away driver.
 
04/01/2020 10:14AM  
Perhaps I am going about this wrong. However I would place the blame on the corporations that are remaining open and not myself. That is how I see it. Best Buy in no way should remain open if it is for essential businesses only and the fact that they remain open is a bigger issue than me going to buy a few things. Menards should not be open... All these places are being in their own way defiant and I am just following suit I suppose.

Groceries.. I also need groceries. I can't stop that just the same as an elderly person can't stop it. Such is life in my opinion. Don't get me wrong though I am not touching everything in sight and coughing everywhere. I don't touch my face and I grab only what I need so I am doing what I can to further spread it in that scenario.
 
04/01/2020 10:44AM  
x2jmorris: "Perhaps I am going about this wrong. However I would place the blame on the corporations that are remaining open and not myself. That is how I see it. Best Buy in no way should remain open if it is for essential businesses only and the fact that they remain open is a bigger issue than me going to buy a few things. Menards should not be open... All these places are being in their own way defiant and I am just following suit I suppose.
."


They might be wrong for being open but if you think that then why not take it upon yourself to do the right thing and stay away? Seems awfully hypocritical to think its wrong for them to be open but then go to the store anyways. Maybe they stay open because folks like you keep going and validate their decision.

2 wrongs don't make a right, never have and never will.

I will agree that you can't avoid all stores entirely. You still need to but food but there are ways of doing it to lower the risk as much as possible. It will never be no risk but the lower the better.
 
04/01/2020 10:45AM  
Why wouldn’t you have a bandana on while driving. If you like bandanas. I like bananas while driving. With a cuppa coffee and a smoke.
 
04/01/2020 10:58AM  
scat: "Why wouldn’t you have a bandana on while driving. If you like bandanas. I like bananas while driving. With a cuppa coffee and a smoke."
Never a better time to be a train robber. You'll just blend right in
 
04/01/2020 11:53AM  
Blatz: "Never a better time to be a train robber. You'll just blend right in"


I'm more of cattle rustler myself.
 
04/01/2020 12:06PM  
I feel your pain, Jeff . All I can come up with is maybe keep it to just two people and play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to ride in the trunk.... :)
 
andym
distinguished member(5340)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
04/01/2020 01:51PM  
I'll go with this: if it is difficult to do and maintain social distancing than don't. Paddling some different way seems like a good idea.

If a store is open because it is essential then go there for things that are essential and shop as infrequently as possible.

Someday we'll have self-driving cars to solve the shuttling problem.
 
thegildedgopher
distinguished member(1659)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/01/2020 02:25PM  
This isn't complicated. If you can get your canoe to the lake and in/out of the water without coming within 6 ft of someone who is not a member of your household, then go for it, and enjoy! If not, then find something else to do.
 
Copperdog
senior member (81)senior membersenior member
  
04/01/2020 06:55PM  
Me and a buddy paddle a lot and share shuttle. He has two little girls and a wife while my wife works at the local hospital, possibly increasing my risk. So we have been paddling separately and texting photos occasionally. He lives 5 minutes from a lake. I prefer rivers too so I head out early with a bike in the truck and self shuttle 10-15 miles. It’s two hours to the river so I skottle a breakfast at the truck before setting shuttle. The closest I come to anyone is at the gas pump and I wear a latex glove for that. I really hate riding bikes, but it keeps me away from others and gets me on some class 2 rivers.

 
04/01/2020 07:19PM  
rtallent: "I feel your pain, Jeff . All I can come up with is maybe keep it to just two people and play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to ride in the trunk.... :)"


Or on top with the canoes.
 
04/01/2020 07:35PM  
I like the bike idea, or paddling a loop or up and back.

Even if it's just "one friend", you are really riding with anyone and everyone they have contacted in the past two weeks - you can see how it grows exponentially if everyone made a "one friend" exception.

THANK YOU to all who are helping slow the curve. I love a lot of people who are at risk...
 
DownStrm
distinguished member (266)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/02/2020 12:14AM  
Thanks for the replies. There is such wide variety of current practices by groups and individuals I paddle with. It is good to get a perspective from a wider group. Today, the Prairie State Canoeists (IL) announce they are cancelling everything thru 4/30. The Ozark Mountain Paddlers have cancelled all meetings and socials but are still scheduling their monthly float trips. I even know people that were still planning on going to Canoecopia up until it was cancelled. Some local QC guys are backpacking on the weekends, instead of paddling, so they avoid the shuttle. I've been invited to go again this weekend. In theory, it is safer. Just meet in the parking lot of a state forest or public hunting land that allows primitive camping, and hike in along some deer trail.
Personally, I am paddling back and forth on the local lakes or paddling upstream and back on the Cedar River. I really wish someone had a better idea than mine.
 
andym
distinguished member(5340)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
04/02/2020 01:48AM  
I think what you are seeing is the rapid evolution of practice that takes place. MN is about 2 weeks behind California. Things that seemed reasonable a couple of weeks ago now seem out of the question. I now look back and wonder at some of the things we thought were good ideas and am glad of the safe things I did ahead of the general trends.

It’s going to be an odd year. If you find a good way to be safe and get some paddling in that is great. Later we can get back to the usual ways. So kudos for thinking it through.
 
BearBurrito
distinguished member(979)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/02/2020 06:13AM  
Aren't we all just one big family?
 
andym
distinguished member(5340)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
04/02/2020 12:55PM  
BearBurrito: "Aren't we all just one big family?"


Good one. Maybe we are all just one big family that needs a time out.
 
jhb8426
distinguished member(1440)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/04/2020 11:58PM  
I generally paddle sections of the St. Croix River between Taylors Falls and Marine. Generally solo so I go upstream and down. My limiting factor is the flow at the dam at Taylors Falls. If it's 10,000 cfs or greater I don't go because the current is too strong to make much headway upstream. In that case I look for local lakes. It's currently around 27,000 cfs. If the weather cooperates in the next few days I'll be on Medicine lake in Plymouth counting the carp...
 
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