As part of our last minute preparations for the River with Two Names expedition, we took our new WaterLily 12v turbine out yesterday for a test spin. We walked over to the Rennies River and placed in in a few spots to get a sense of what it can do in terms of output.

Last year on Paddling North we had the USB version but the 12 volt version is more versatile for our needs since it will allow the direct charging of our sat phone as well as a few other photo & tech items. In the picture above, it looks like the waterlily is my heart-it may end up being the heart of our power generation depending on our water conditions and camp sites. The Waterlily seems to work best where there is a constriction in the current so here’s hoping we camp beside a few of those while on the river. The idea for the Waterlily actually has roots in our Kanairiktok River expedition in 2015 where we needed to make some sat phone calls for end of trip logistics and watched our sat phone drain and there was no sun to be had to generate power through our solar panel. This prompted the Waterlily folks to adapt some tech for the needs of outdoor adventurers.

The folks at WaterLily gave us this nifty device that will assist us in maximizing output from the Waterlily as well as our solar panel. We ill have both on this trip so we can generate power from either or both depending on conditions. In order to provide daily updates, captures photographs and video along the way, and maintain our ability to have emergency communications, I appreciate the redundancy in electricity generation systems. I’ll do a longer blog post about how our systems worked out after the trip.

Along with WaterLily testing, we’d had the solar panel out. I’ve just reactivated my Garmin Inreach and will send a test message later today or tomorrow. You can see the map and where we are at this link. We’ve been fitting our gear and food into barrels and waterproof bags and attending to what seem like hundreds of details in both putting life here in St. John’s on pause and making our Labrador expedition a reality. Please follow along and send us good thoughts as we adventure amid the bugs, bears, and wonders of the River with Two Names. You can also keep an eye on us through Facebook and Twitter. Catch you next from Labrador.