Lining Harness?

[Alan Gage]

Interesting to note the excessive trim in the Mason screenshots - akin to poling, though some might say that's too much trim for poling.

I'm very inexperienced with lining and have had mixed success. None of my hulls have a lot of rocker and most have less rocker in the stern. I normally put packs farther back to lighten the bow for lining upstream but a couple times ran into trouble when the bow got away from me and I couldn't pull it back inline without risk of swamping so I'd let go of the bow line and keep hold of the stern line.

Now I only had control of one line and the very heavy and unrockered stern was suddenly facing upstream. Thankfully, because the bow swings out into the river when released, the canoe is set to ferry back to shore as the bow swings downstream. But it always makes me nervous that if that stern were to bite into the current pointing away from shore that I'd be in big trouble.

Alan

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah, one of the key points about bow control going upstream against the accelerated current dropping off a ledge is that lifting the bow off the water allows control and avoids unwanted ferrying or pearling. Attaching the line to a bridle under the hull makes that possible when tracking. The more extreme the ledge, the more you must raise the bow to keep it from hooking up and fighting you. The stern becomes a virtual skeg and helps to keep things pointed upstream.

These points apply to poling and tracking, as well as lining - keeping in mind that for the purpose of discussion, whatever end is pointed upstream is "bow".

 

[recped]

I've done a lot of lining or tracking in my paddling adventures both upstream and downstream. I find that going upstream while more physical is usually much less risky/dangerous that going downstream.

"lining" when going downstream
"tracking" when going upstream
"wading" both upstream and downstream but you are in the water and holding/directing the canoe by hand rather than with ropes or in conjunction with ropes.

The part of Waterwalker where I borrowed the images is Bill going upstream, mostly wading with a bit of tracking thrown in.

I have never used a bridal which is probably a bad practice on my part because I have had the "oh crap" moments where I have lost control of the boat using ropes attached to the bow/stern grab loops.

 

[Keeled Over]

I've used a bridle rigged for tracking as demonstrated bi Bill Mason. IMO, on of the first two videos above has the bridle too far forward (carry thwart attachment). The other has the bridle too snug. The third video has the bridle too far back. Just my opinion based on my trial and error.

Mason had this figured out IMO.

A bridle (aka harness) on the upstream end is definitely the way to go vs grab loop attachment when tracking or lining if the water is even a little bit pushy. I like to keep a bridle pre-rigged and ready to attach to the forward thwart (or bow seat if available) when I know I might need it.

I like the idea of keeping one pre-rigged. Do you attach one bow and stern or just bow?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I like the idea of keeping one pre-rigged. Do you attach one bow and stern or just bow?

Neither. I keep it in my bag of small gear. One end is pre-looped so I can quickly secure it on one side, pass it under, and tie it off on the other side. If I end up using it and think I'll be using it again quickly, I'll leave the looped end attached where it is and bundle it.

 

[ppine]

The old timers have it right. We line boats a lot in the West. If your lines are attached to the gunwale or a grab loop or mini thwart it makes boats top heavy. In calmer water it doesn't matter that much, but in a lot of current you want the low center of gravity for an attachment point. Out in the Barren Lands with no help you want to be really careful about swamping a canoe and losing any equipment.