We're getting ready to take our second trip to the BDub this year. Last year on an 8-day trip, we never tied down the canoe at night, instead just pulling up the shore a ways and flipping it over.

However, after reading horror stories on this site about wind storms blowing the canoe across the lake, or worse breaking it, I'm starting to reconsider that decision. I've seen comments in various threads on here that imply some folks tie down their canoes at night.

What do you all do and why?

Flip & tie. ALWAYS. Just because--weather happens.

TZ

TrailZen: "Flip & tie. ALWAYS. Just because--weather happens.


TZ"

And other stuff. Some of it freaking hilarious – if you're not the one shrieking.

Other stuff

Other Stuff, Part Deux

I tie anytime I get out on shore. Stuff happens in a second, and it only takes a minute to put a rope around a tree.

I always have a painter line of about 10 feet tied to the bow, so that is what I use to tie my boat down after flipping it over. Just needs a quick two half hitches to a log or tree is all that’s needed to keep gust of wind from blowing a canoe away. It’s not like you have to tie down like on top of your car. I did have a late night storm flip my canoe last summer. If not tied to a big log, it might well have rolled off the beach and into the water.

It only takes 30 seconds to tie it down. How long would it take you to find it and retrieve it if it blew away?

A funny story, I'll leave out the names. A few years back I went on a BWCA trip with an old buddy from my hometown (we are now in our 50s). I take the first trip across the second portage of the trip with the canoe and set it down at the water's edge. My buddy is a few minutes behind me with a large pack so I meet him on the portage trail.

I get back to the start and grab another pack and the paddles and meet him again on the trail. All he had to do now was grab the last pack and the PFDs and fishing poles. I come up over the hill and head down towards the lake to the landing to where the canoe was supposed to be. He had set the pack down in the front of the canoe and "floated" the canoe. Luckily enough the wind was blowing at an angle towards the shore but the canoe was about 100' feet east of the landing.

I set my gear down and bushwacked through the brush to retrieve it. The water was fairly deep so I was balancing on rocks and slowly guiding it back to the landing. My buddy gets to the landing and sees what I am doing just as I am almost done. Being helpful he grabs the end of the canoe just as it comes into his reach and "splash" I dive in head first. I now either leave the canoe well away from the water or throw a rope around a tree always.

After stumbling around on the rocks one night trying to secure the canoe on our first trip as a storm blew in, we've always flipped and tied the canoe at least at night. We usually pull it a good way up and try to find a hollow or low point to put it in during the day. If I feel like it might catch wind I will tie it then too, which is most of the time. I'm paranoid and OCD, so I usually think about what is the worst that can happen, and then tie it down.

I used to be a tie down for the night guy. But now I get daily weather forecasts on my Garmin InReach unit. If a storm is approaching I move canoes way up and tie down.

We always bring the canoe up and flip it over. I'll admit being lazy on occasion and not tying it down, but we do more often than not.

We always always always use a painter line to tie the boat when we get out to explore, eat lunch, or survey a campsite. Canoes will take off on their own in about a nanosecond. I once turned my back for a couple of seconds on the portage from Lizz Lake to Caribou Lake (when the dock was still there.) Like 10 seconds...and the canoe had drifted off into the lake. That was a cold lesson!

Mike

I tie my canoe at night. Also, always use guylines on tent.

Is there a reason not to tie?

MikeinMpls: "We always bring the canoe up and flip it over. I'll admit being lazy on occasion and not tying it down, but we do more often than not.

We always always always use a painter line to tie the boat when we get out to explore, eat lunch, or survey a campsite. Canoes will take off on their own in about a nanosecond. I once turned my back for a couple of seconds on the portage from Lizz Lake to Caribou Lake (when the dock was still there.) Like 10 seconds...and the canoe had drifted off into the lake. That was a cold lesson!

Mike"

Mike, that's exactly where my incident happened. We were just finishing the portage from Lizz into Caribou. The good thing is that it's a relatively busy portage and there was another party that was coming around the point that could have assisted had it floated out into the lake plus there was someone occupying that campsite across the bay up on the rock that we could have yelled across to if needed.

I bring up it on shore to sheltered tree line. Flip and tie both ends to close trees. I have been in a group were the other canoe was up in camp in tree line, but only tied on one end. It ended up being swung around and hit the ground hard enough to put a hole in the bottom.

Northwoodsman: "

MikeinMpls: "We always bring the canoe up and flip it over. I'll admit being lazy on occasion and not tying it down, but we do more often than not.

We always always always use a painter line to tie the boat when we get out to explore, eat lunch, or survey a campsite. Canoes will take off on their own in about a nanosecond. I once turned my back for a couple of seconds on the portage from Lizz Lake to Caribou Lake (when the dock was still there.) Like 10 seconds...and the canoe had drifted off into the lake. That was a cold lesson!

Mike"

Mike, that's exactly where my incident happened. We were just finishing the portage from Lizz into Caribou. The good thing is that it's a relatively busy portage and there was another party that was coming around the point that could have assisted had it floated out into the lake plus there was someone occupying that campsite across the bay up on the rock that we could have yelled across to if needed."

Mine actually happened on the Lizz Lake side. In the 80s, there used to be a floating dock-like structure there. At that time, it was fairly solid. I turned around to chat with my then-girlfriend, and in 10 seconds the canoe decided to venture on its own.

But you're right about being busy. Somebody would have eventually come to assist, and then I wouldn't have had to jump in the water...with the associated physiological response(s).

Mike

I always tie, even if I'm only a few feet away in the daytime. At night I tie both ends, so if a wind comes up it can't bang around. My 17 ' long solo weighs 24# naked. It wouldn't take much of a storm to turn it into a kite.

Some people are scared of getting cold, running out of food, bears.....My #1 fear is losing the canoe (excluding a serious injury, of course) . I always secure it to a tree. When I wake up in the morning first thing I do I check to to make sure it is still there, even though it was secured. I know there are plenty of folks around and the chances of actually needing to walk out are slim but my thought is that it takes just a few minutes to secure but the consequences of losing the canoe are a disastrous

I don't flip my canoe. Instead, I place a few large rocks in the bottom of the canoe and then tie it off. It might fill with a little water. but it's an easy flip in the morning.

All canoes get flipped and tied at night. Took just one night when a storm rolled in and we busted out of our tents running around in our underwear tying canoes down and clearing off the clotheslines. Never again...

I have painters bow and stern. I use one during the day. Both at night. It doesn't take much for an empty or lightly loaded lightweight canoe to drift away.

I remember reading a few years ago about a guy on an island - somewhere in Quetico in October, I think - whose canoe blew away. A long way away, possibly out of sight, maybe with the PFD in it. He ended up hitting the SOS button for a rescue.

Flip and tie both ends. Not up high as to cause tripping hazard but it's one of the last things we do before it gets dark. Tie one end to a root that's sticking up and another around a rock or whatever is nearby. We already have those short ropes on the canoe(s) and they get BDB'd when not in use so they're out of the way for portages and such but always in easy reach if needed at any time. If that's anchor or whatnot

We never tie. We just carry the canoe on shore, at least 10-15 feet, and flip. We also use aluminum canoes, so I'm less worried about them blowing away.

We were camped on the north shore of lake nipigon, a huge lake by any standard. We had 17’ chestnut prospectors, wood/canvas canoes that after three weeks of tripping had become very heavy. We always carried the canoes far out of the water and flipped them. We got slammed by a thunderstorm during the night. The wind had blown the canoes thirty feet from where we stored them. Fortunately they blew into some jack pine and weren’t lost. Since them I always tie my canoe.

We were on the bufallo river in Arkansas. We had crappy river canoes that we weren’t careful with. Pulled the canoes up on the beach and tied them off. During the night the river came up five feet. Found both canoes floating in the now strong currents. Turns out that is a thing down there. Good rope with good knots attached to something solid is essential.

I pretty much try to never put the canoe down flat! Always on the gunnels. Our Northern Tier guide a few years ago had that hard wired into him and it’s pretty much hard wired into me now. If it’s up on land it’s always flipped and on the gunnels. I don’t tie every night since I also check weather with an Inreach but tie if it’s even marginal.

I’ll be in the Quetico this year and with 1 canoe on that trip and far fewer people in that park I’ll definitely tie it up every night. Hate for a canoe to blow down Agnes or Kawnipi! You’d never find it.

Ryan

Never once have tied our canoes down and have, on more than one occasion, regretted not doing so.

A1t2o: "We never tie. We just carry the canoe on shore, at least 10-15 feet, and flip. We also use aluminum canoes, so I'm less worried about them blowing away."

Yeah, and all of that banging on the way down to the shore will probably wake you up, anyway... :-)

I tie. Always. Learned the hard way. Some quizzical looks notwithstanding.

Yep, I always tie them off. The action is easy and saves a trip from potentially being ruined.

But, if you're into memorable trips or stories, then don't tie down. Let that ultralight canoe, your main mode of transportation, become like the Flying Dutchman forever lost on the wind, only appearing as a ghost in rumors and stories told around campfires.

At night pull up from shore and flip and tie.
During the day (lunch, portages, checking campsite, other site seeing) depends on all the other variables, like weather, is someone staying with the canoes, is it way up on shore, do we have more than one canoe, etc.

I solo, my ride comes back in the trees with me. It’s a no brainer.

We leave a painters line attached for the whole trip so we tie a quick Siberian hitch each time we pull into camp. The rest of the time the painters line is attached, but wrapped up in a BDB so it is out of the way.

Always

Tie it up. My Itasca tried to fly away when a waterspout came to shore. It was entirely up on shore. It was picked up vertically in the air just like a tornado. I was able to grab the stern thwart just as it was getting picked up. It was midday, nice and sunny. One of our tents did get picked up. Staked down and full of gear. If we hadn’t been there we would have wondered what happened.

I keep fixed blade knives in their sheaths, ax in it's sheath, tackle in the tackle box, the zipper on my tent shut, and yes, I flip and tie the boat over at night.

We now flip and tie at least 1 end down, 2 if the weather is questionable.

Years ago we were camping with an alumnacraft and a bell. Both heavy canoes. We pulled them well up on shore, flipped them, went to bed. You guessed it, overnight the wind picked up and I woke to the sound of the canoes rolling over the stone beach -aluminum on rocks is pretty loud. Managed to wake my husband (deaf when he takes off his hearing aid at night), raced down the hill and managed to get both canoes before the blew too far. The 2 teenage boys with us never heard a thing.

Always.

Flip. Tie both ends. Every night. Tie one end at portages.

When I was young and invincible (ha ha) and using aluminum canoes, I didn’t tie them. Now that I am older and wiser, and using a Kevlar canoe, I always flip and tie the canoe at night.

We always tie, takes two minutes and helps me sleep. Weather patterns continue to be more unpredictable and fronts seem to come out of nowhere that far north. You have one way out, tie it to a tree. And mind your carbon paddles!

Never tied canoes down, just up to camp site, flipped, and maybe between trees or in bushes. No problems so far.

We flip the canoes and tie down the bow so they don’t blow away. We tie down the sterns so they don’t get blown around and bash into trees. Then we sleep well. Because losing a canoe is one step worse than being up a creek without a paddle. If we are just leaving a canoe for a few minutes at the end of a portage, I might just tie the bow if the weather is good.

I know a great story about someone whose canoe blew away in Quetico. But it’s not my story to release on the internet. So I only tell it around campfires. If you want to have your own great story leave your canoe untied near the shore.

Traveled for decades with 80-100 lb. canoes. Never tied them down. Now with lightweight canoes, I always tie to a tree.

I just read "The Twenty-Ninth Day", about a bear attack in the Barrens of Canada. After the attack, they lost one of three canoes, and substantial gear, by not tying it up, so they had to finish the trip with 6 people and 2 canoes. That's pretty easy to avoid. Don't be them.

Never have tied em up. I have been in some wicked weather up there and only had one canoe take damage from a falling tree at camp. Thank goodness is was a heavy ass aluminum canoe and during our last night camping. Duct tape held the leak long enough to get back to the EP. I am now likely to tie off both ends at night after reading through this. Thanks everyone for getting me all worried! Lol Have a good day! Cheers!

PF

Absolutely. Always. And sometimes during the day as well if windy. We always pull our boats up into trees if possible and roll them, tying them together and to a tree. We've had a boat get blown off our site before. Only once. You never know. Better safe than sorry.

ALWAYS tie and flip. Both ends if a storm or high winds are expected.

I'll never forget the moment on my first trip, when I realized the canoe was quite literally my life line. I was loading it while it was floating and it started floating away. not enough to be a problem but enough to make me realize how critical a piece of equipment it is.

Now I keep lines on bow and stern and always have one tied around something at a landing (or in my hands) and always flip and tie down at night.

My first few trips, nothing was tied down.

One night on Tuscarora, after cleaning up dinner, a big thunderstorm came out of nowhere. Our aluminum canoe was by the water, right side up(see picture)

We flipped it upside down, and ran to the tent. We heard what we thought was a strange boom of thunder. It was really our canoe getting tossed and flipped out of our site. It was a heavy duty michicraft aluminum so it was fine, and we found it floating in a nearby bay.

Our group transports farm fresh eggs by taping them underneath the seat. The durability of this method was tested, and surprisingly enough, more than half the eggs survived this ordeal taped under the seat

We have kevlar now and canoes are tied down every night, been that way since this trip.

One year we were in the Gunflint area. We pulled the canoes up on the shore and turned them over. The next morning, one of them was gone. In the middle of the night the wind came up, caught the canoe, rolled it over and over and in to the water, then blew it across the lake. We were fortunuate we were a 4 canoe group.

We learned that year to pull the canoes out of the water, pull them on shore out of the wind, turn them over AND tie them up.

Not always...if weather forecast is good overnight...or if I'm just too dang tired and lazy....

Finnboy: "Tie it up. My Itasca tried to fly away when a waterspout came to shore. It was entirely up on shore. It was picked up vertically in the air just like a tornado. I was able to grab the stern thwart just as it was getting picked up. It was midday, nice and sunny. One of our tents did get picked up. Staked down and full of gear. If we hadn’t been there we would have wondered what happened."

Whoa, a random water spout in the middle of a sunny day? And you were hanging onto the canoe while it tried to suck it up? That must’ve been insane, like one of those, “Did that really just happen?” moments.

If the boat is in an exposed area (rare) I’ll tie it off.

More often than not I find a good sheltered “garage” and turn it over. Has worked well so far.

As a solo tripper I always tie the canoe, even when I leave it at the start/end of a portage. Rapid weather changes take place.

Years ago, we were camped on a beautiful peninsula site on Cummings Lake. I always flip & tie our canoe down, bow and stern. A storm blew in that night - bad - high winds - broke one of our alum tent poles, with the jagged ends protruding into the tent, held together only by the internal bungie. The rain was blowing through the tent wall. We dawned rain gear and my partner kept her back against the wall to hold the tent 'in place' while I switched out the broken pole with a spare. We had standing water in the tent .... in the morning we discovered that our friend's aluminum canoe was picked up by the wind, blow up hill and into a smallish red pine tree. It somewhat kinked around the little tree, however, the tree gave/uprooted enough such that the canoe wasn't severely damaged yet kept it from completely blowing across the point and beyond. Our canoe was A-OK.

SummerSkin: "

Finnboy: "Tie it up. My Itasca tried to fly away when a waterspout came to shore. It was entirely up on shore. It was picked up vertically in the air just like a tornado. I was able to grab the stern thwart just as it was getting picked up. It was midday, nice and sunny. One of our tents did get picked up. Staked down and full of gear. If we hadn’t been there we would have wondered what happened."

Whoa, a random water spout in the middle of a sunny day? And you were hanging onto the canoe while it tried to suck it up? That must’ve been insane, like one of those, “Did that really just happen?” moments."

Absolutely! We saw it coming and wondered if it would actually come on shore. When I realized it was I went directly to my canoe and grabbed the end as it was picked up. Lasted a couple of seconds and it settled back on the ground. The tent ended up 50 yards out on the lake!