Most packrafting problems are planning problems. The paddling is usually the easy part of the day.
A packraft trip has a walk, a paddle and a way home. Each one can go wrong on its own.
Pick the water first, then work backwards
Start with a stretch of water you want to be on. Then work out how you get to it, where you leave it, and what happens between those two points.
Trips built the other way round, where you find a nice track and hope for water at the end of it, are the ones that turn into a long walk carrying a packraft.
Access and exit are the two hard facts
You need somewhere you are allowed to start and somewhere you are allowed to finish. On many Australian rivers the water is public and both banks are not.
Check land tenure before you commit. National parks, state forests, reserves and private land all run different rules, and some need a permit or close seasonally. The land manager is the source of truth, not a forum post.
Work out the exit properly. Walking out with a packraft is straightforward. Walking out through blackberry and a fence line is not.
Levels and weather
River level decides whether a stretch is a paddle, a wade or a bad idea. Many catchments publish gauge data. Learn what the numbers mean on your river by watching them against what you find, because a gauge height means nothing until you have matched it to conditions you have seen.
Rain upstream changes a river hours later. A clear sky above you is not the whole story.
On lakes and inlets, wind is the deciding factor. Afternoon sea breezes and valley winds are predictable enough to plan around. Go early.
Budget time properly
Add up the walk in, the time to inflate and load, the paddle, the take-out, and the walk or ride out. Then add the stops nobody plans for.
Packrafts are slower than the hulls most distance estimates come from. A short wide hull on flat water does not cover ground quickly, and against a headwind it can slow to a crawl.
Know when it gets dark and work back from it with an hour to spare.
Find your bail-out points before you go
Look at the map for places you can stop, climb out, and reach a track or a road. A trip with three ways out is a different proposition from one with none.
Mark them. Know roughly how long you would walk from each.
Hazards to check for
Strainers: fallen trees and branches that let water through and hold anything solid. They are the most common serious hazard on the small rivers that otherwise suit packrafts.
Undercut banks, low bridges, fences and wire across the water, weirs, and rapids beyond your ability or your craft. Rural rivers have fencing across them more often than people expect.
If you cannot see around a bend, get out and look. Scouting from the bank costs a few minutes.
Tell someone
Leave your intentions with a person who will notice. Where you start, where you finish, the route between, and the time you will call to say you are off the water.
Include what you are paddling and what colour it is. Yellow is easy to see from the air, a small advantage worth having.
In remote country, carry a personal locator beacon and know how to use it. Mobile coverage in a gorge is not a plan.
The pre-trip check
Inflate the packraft at home a day or two before, load it, and leave it. A slow leak shows up overnight in a shed and not on a riverbank an hour from the car.
Check the repair kit is in the pack and that the tape and glue are still usable. Check the vest fits over what you will be wearing.
Where a Seeka fits
Seeka packrafts are built for lakes, inlets, estuaries and easy rivers reached on foot or by bike. Solo, Tourer and Duo, all self-bailing. Every order ships by tracked express to Australia and New Zealand. Made to order, with 3–4 week delivery from purchase.
Open coast and fast whitewater call for a different craft. Matching the trip to the hull is the first planning decision, and the one that matters most.
Every Seeka self-bails and carries a two-year warranty on materials and welding. Or hire one for a weekend first.