His kayak carries his BIKE across water, then his bike carries his KAYAK across the land!

Gary carries his collapsible BIKE in his inglatable Sea Eagle BOAT. “Lake Asnen was our favorite lake in Sweden’s Smaland province, filled with trout, perch, and pike for sustainable fishing, great bike tracks to explore the wild and scenic waterways to enjoy crossing in the 465. We used a BBQ cover to protect the base and sides of the kayak from all our bikes and luggage. “

Gary carries his inflatable BOAT on his collapsible BIKE. “Touring across Sweden with the ultimate setup – Birdy Bike, Oxtail trailer and Sea eagle FastTrack 465 in tow. It’s easy to pack this bike-and-boat combination and it’s comfortable to ride.”

The ingenuity and innovation of many people came together to make possible it possible for Australian adventurer, Gary Muir, to take a memorable trip across parts of Scandinavia on his Bikes & Kayak Expedition. This is a story of how his go-anywhere boat-and-bike combination came to be.

“In 1994 I had been involved as Project Leader in the planning of the remarkable Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk situated in the fragile Tingle Forest of Walpole, Western Australia. This 40-meter high walkway through an ancient forest soon became an internationally recognized ecotourism icon allowing people a unique way to enjoy and protect some of the largest diameter trees in the world.  This attracted some planners from America who were impressed with the walks’ eco-engineering and became inspired to plan for one in their own forest – home to the greatest trees in the world – the might coastal redwoods.

A bright idea: boat and bike combo

I was honored to be invited to America from Walpole to consult on the planning of a Tree Top Walk near Brookings, Oregon by the Curry County Canopy Walk Team in 1998.  It was on this trip that the idea of traveling using both a bicycle and a kayak in combination as mode of travel first came to me.

I offered to look for potential sites for a walk in the coastal redwoods and I was given a mountain bike to explore with. I rode through the wilderness from Cape Blanco in Oregon into northern California. To do this, I needed to cross and explore a number of rivers including the Rogue, Chetko, and Klamath. At the Klamath I met some new American friends who offered me the use of a canoe. Boating was a great way to travel – but as I went down the river I worried about my bike being left back at the launch area and wished I could bring it with me.

I then started to dream of a way to link the two modes of travel together – biking and boating – so I could explore land and water together on the same trip!  I bought a cheap orange canoe to put my mountain bike and gear in, and raced down the river with very little room to spare. It was very unsteady and I nearly lost everything. The bike-and-boat combination was a good idea but I had the wrong bike and the wrong boat.

Right bike, right boat

The bike was far too big for the boat, and trying to carry the canoe on the bike was even worse. It was unstable, far too heavy, uncomfortable, and dangerous. After falling down on a misty road in the redwoods I abandoned the canoe and gave up the idea, but with every yearly trip I did, I wished I could work out the dream set up – the right bike and the right boat.

I needed a sturdy stable kayak that could be folded or deflated down small enough to fit on a bike, and a bike small and strong enough that would, in turn, fit in the kayak. The revelation finally came when a friend and I tried to be the first to cross the harsh Mongolian Gobi Desert on a tandem bike. Customs fees to get the tandem into China proved far too expensive for us but inspiration struck when we saw everyone in that area on folding bikes.  We bought a couple and tried them in Mongolia. Fantastic! Don’t ever underestimate the performance of a folding bike.

Mongolian inspiration

As I was going across the Mongolian steppe and having to cross rivers, my American dream came back to me – I could see that a folding bike would easily fit into a kayak. But one issue was still nagging me: could a folding bike carry a kayak?

I began to search for the perfect kayak-and -folding-bike combination. Another issue with the folding bikes was the lack of suspension but I found the ultimate – a front and back suspended Birdy folding bike from Germany. Now I needed a kayak! Inspired by folding bikes, I wondered if anyone makes a folding kayak.

It doesn’t get any better than this — day’s end and a beautiful sunset in a Sea Eagle FastTrack.

Chatting online around the world, I found the most highly recommended inflatable kayak was the Sea Eagle. When I went on the Sea Eagle website it just jumped out at me – the new FastTrack. I first thought of getting a couple of the smaller 385 FT’s for my next adventure – crossing the Scandinavian wild with a friend. And then I saw the 14′ 2″ Sea Eagle 465 FastTrack – Crickey! We could both fit in along with two bikes and gear, all in the same kayak instead of needing two. The online reviews of the 465 were all great. I noted Sea Eagle delivered to Australia and ordered a Sea Eagle 465 Fast Track straight away.

My dream was coming together as long as I could find the right bike trailers that could carry the kayak behind one bike and another trailer that could take the camping gear behind the other bike!  The Sea Eagleʼs weight would be around 25 kg with paddles. There are heaps of bike trailers out there – most of them connect onto the bicycle’s rear axle. I tried the Wilderbeast trailer from our Mongolian trip but it was too wobbly when riding, especially downhill. Undaunted, I kept looking for something better.

Trailer, too

Finally, I found the Oxtail trailer from Portugal. Instead of attaching to the bikeʼs axle, it attaches to the seat post and has the capability to take the kayak’s weight and more.  Reviewing the online videos of its performance, I knew it was the one, especially as it, too, could be folded small and would fit in the kayak with the bikes and camping gear.

The exciting day arrived in our little town of Walpole, Australia – the post office rang to say my Sea Eagle kayak had arrived. That night I set it up in my coastal shack with some Swedish and Belgian friends and tested it at night in the bioluminescent waters on the Nornalup Inlet – a perfect vessel!

Gary’s biking-and-boating expedition was very challenging at times. “The storm shot from my iPhone was while Steven and I were crossing Lake Immein in southern Sweden.”

The 465 would easily fit our gear and folding bikes. I bought another Sea Eagle FastTrack kayak and had it sent across to Europe where I was to pick it up with the two trailers and join my two best Dutch friends – Yashna and Steven. Yashy had come across Mongolia with me. We first tested the kayak without the bike.  We kayked in our 465 following most of the watercourse used during the Elfstedentocht – a famous 200km, 11 city speed skating course in north Netherlands’ Friesland. The Sea Eagle 465 FastTrack kayak was the perfect, comfortable vessel and performed well though we got very cold in the wild wind and rain.

Over a decade after the idea first sprang to mind back in northern California, Steven and I were ready now to test the ultimate bike-and-boat setup exploring the Scandinavian wilderness and lakes using our German and Chinese bikes, Portuguese trailers, and the legendary American Sea Eagle 465 Fast Track inflatable kayak!

Folding bike, folding boat, folding trailer

The bikes handled the weight of the kayak and luggage with ease even up hill. Best of all though was rocking up to a Scandinavian lake, pumping up the SeaEagle in no time, whacking in the bikes and trailers with our camping gear and be kayaking across the spectacular waterways in minutes, trawling a lure behind for dinner.

The international ingenuity that made this trip possible was due to the passion of inventors and engineers who were dedicated to produce unique bikes, trailers and kayaks that would ultimately work together as one allowing adventurers to experience the world’s wilderness by water and land.  This parallels the team who planned and built our Tree Top Walk which, like the Bike and Kayak together, allows eco-tourists new means to appreciate the wild that promotes interaction without impaction on our environment.

Though the American Canopy Walk is still to be built, I look forward to coming back over to the US and doing my dream tour with my folding bike and SeaEagle 465 Kayak combination to explore the  wild Redwood forests and rivers and one day enjoy a tree top walk there.  That really would be the ultimate eco-tourism experience.

— Gary Muir, Sea Eagle owner & outdoor adventurer.

Gary Muir currently runs his own ecotourism company, WOW Wilderness EcoCruises,   in Walpole, Western Australia. He was nationally recognised in 2002 as Australia’s top EcoGuide. He worked as an environmental manager for 12 years specializing in Nature Conservation and Recreation Tourism and Planning. He held the world record for running the 1000 km Bibbulmun Track  raising money for an invertebrate biodiversity project, researching ways to manage fire in the environment. Gary continues to combine his eco-projects and outdoor adventures around the world with his international team of friends.  

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Inspired by the Backs, their friend, Dave, uses his Sea Eagle Sport Kayak as a yacht tender and for pleasure kayaking.

The Back’s friend Melanie, her daughter Lilka, and canine companion Zeus enjoy Sea Eagle kayking in Julian Bay off Stockton Island in Lake Superior. Daughter, Helena, swims.

Marge and David Back, of Brule, Wisconsin, live what many boaters would consider the ideal lifestyle. They moved to northern Wisconsin to be minutes from the shores of the world’s largest freshwater lake (largest in terms of surface area); they sail regularly and for extended periods in their 28-foot sailboat; and they have a Sea Eagle 330 Sport Kayak to explore nearby sea caves…and to use as a yacht tender, too.

What’s a yacht tender? It’s the small boat the owners of a large boat use to go from shore to their larger craft and back again. Or as Marge puts it, “We sail on Lake Superior for weeks at a time in our 28-foot sailboat. Our Sea Eagle 330 is our main transportation when we’re at anchor.”

Many yacht and sailboat owners choose a larger, wider yacht tender specifically designed for hauling tons of gear, groceries, and guests between ship an shore – like the Sea Eagle Yacht Tender. But Marge and David, like their 330 just fine.  “We love our Sea Eagle kayak,” says Marge. “It tracks well, it is light enough for me to handle, and is easy for us to carry. We can tie it on board inside the bow rail. When we’re at anchor, just put it over the side and go.”

Marge explained further. “A bigger yacht tender can require ‘dinghy davits,’ she said. Dinghy davits are a hoist system that lift your dinghy out of the water and secure it while you’re underway. Marge and David don’t need that hardware: they simply lift their 26-lb. 330 on board and lash it down.

Sea cave exploring

There’s another plus, says Marge. “We explore the shoreline of Lake Superior and the sea caves on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in our kayak.”

There are 22 islands in Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands group — the “Jewels of Lake Superior.” All but one are part of the National Park Service. The islands, particularly Sand and Devil’s Islands, are famed for their outstanding sea caves.

Marge and her friends own 3 sailboats and 4 Sea Eagle Sport Kayaks. The Sea Eagles double as yacht tenders and kayaks for exploring sea caves and shorelines along Lake Superior.

Sailboating friends got Sport Kayaks, too

Picking up on the Back’s yacht tender-and-sport kayak idea, their friends John and Melanie went the Sea Eagle route, too. “We encouraged them to come up to Northern Wisconsin to sail with us in their 35-foot sailboat,” Marge told us. “They thought our Sea Eagle solution worked so well that they bought two of them – a 330 and a 370 Sport Kayak.”

More sailboating friends – Dave and Leslie – joined the crowd with a 330 of their own to go to-and-from their 30-foot sailboat….and to go exploring, too.

The Back’s Sea Eagle is 10 years old and “looks pretty much like new,” she says. Marge knows boats. She’s sailed for over 30 years and runs a boating-related home business in Brule, Wisconsin. “Brule Acres Sewing Loft” manufactures sail covers, docking covers, and boat upholstery.

David and Marge frequently sail on Lake Superior from Duluth, Minnesota to Knife River, Minnesota; and from Cornucopia, Wisconsin to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. “Weather permitting,” says Marge.

Only five months ‘til boating season!

David and Marge Back enjoy exploring Lake Superior. Their Sea Eagle 330 Sport Kayak is their “full time transportation” while their sailboat is at anchor. Other times, it’s their “exploration kayak” as they kayak into sea caves. In the background is Lake Superior’s Sand Island Lighthouse.

You’ll find the Backs farther afield in boating seasons to come. “Next year, we want to explore more of Lake Superior,” says Marge. “We may go to Canada and around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

At this writing, winter’s closing in. But Marge, like all avid boaters, looks at the bright side. “Boating season’s only five months away!”

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