Portaging ideas

[daveo4]

I have been experimenting a bit with a strap yoke on my solo canoe. It was discussed on another forum by Mike McCrea so I take no credit for it. It seems to work well for short distances. haven't tried it on anything over 100 yards. I did discover something accidentally that I like about it. It is rigged a little forward of my fixed seat. One day I was rigging the foot brace bar and I sat in the canoe to get the bar adjusted without unbuckling the strap. It was a lot more comfortable having a bit of support under my thighs from the strap than just sitting on the seat alone. I haven't figured out a downside to just leaving it rigged all the time. This may not work with all seats. It depends on the seat height and the slack in the strap but in my canoe it works for me.
Dave

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Does anyone portage the traditonal way with two paddles lashed, each to the seat and the thwart in front?

I suppose if you had really, really strong (and hence heavy) ash beavertail paddles you might try that. I say "you" because it wouldn't be "me".

Shhhh, don't tell Robin, but I've gone all ZRE carbon for my tripping paddles, one bent and one straight. So, no, I don't think I'll be lashing almost $600 worth of carbon paddles as a carry yoke.

Back to wheeled portaging.

It's quite a learned skill on steep mountain goat paths littered with boulders, roots, gullies, logs and other obstructions. At the beginning of my first wheelie journey I dumped my wheeled boat on a class 1 obstruction due to inattention. Many miles and hours later, I was pretty good at maneuvering around class 4 obstacles. Sometimes you have to pull from the bow, sometimes push from the stern, sometimes stand next to the middle to stop an anticipated tip. And you have to rig the straps with just the right amount of fore-aft and side-to-side tension.

I'll show lots of pix when I get organized.

 

[Guest]

I portage to and from the water to my house. I built a two wheel collapsible cart. The canoe is center loaded and with 20 inch bike wheels, it rolls easier than a shopping cart. Sometimes I just pull out and portage a mile or so back to the house, just to get a good walk in. I usually take the cart just in case the wind comes up (I live on Long Island Sound) and I have to go to shore. When I'm in the bush, I put it on my shoulders.

 

[Guest]

Does anyone portage the traditonal way with two paddles lashed, each to the seat and the thwart in front? Aside from potentially lopping off ears, and maybe taking a while to get the position right, there is an advantage of less "stuff". I really don't much like jamming in the yoke. I don't personally have pray to my boat to get the yoke on but its a bit of a PITA to fit in the boat.

For the first year or so in my Wilderness I had it rigged up to use the two paddle technique stretched between both thwarts with my head just in front of the seat. It worked but the problem is/was that the paddles stretched behind me to reach the thwart so when carrying a pack (or in my case, barrel), the canoe was perfectly horizontal, if not tilting down in front due to the pack restricting my ability to lean it back to see what's in front of me.

I eventually just rested my head on the webbed seat and balanced the boat with my hands, but after a KM my neck really gets sore.

This year I'm adding a yoke and was thinking of using this setup http://www.wenonah.com/products/template/product_detail.php?IID=57&& to attach a Teal deep dish yoke rather than use one of those bulky and slippy clamp on systems or systems that attach to the seat. The only issue I foresee is that tall packs will hit the seat and I can't portage it backwards since my head would be exactly where the seat is.

Has anyone used this or a similar system or have any advice?

 

[oldie moldy]

Hi mcthiel, First Welcome and then about the Teal Yoke; I bought a Teal Yoke to replace the issue center thwart in my Old Town. What an improvement! Then when I purchased my Swift Canoe, it came with a Teal Yoke but it was a "Teal Yoke II" same yoke but made for the more chunky, it works ok but I wish it had been the original one. I doubt I'll ever change it, it isn't that bad but just something to be aware of.
Best Wishes, Rob