Portaging kayaks

[wendy80]

A friend and I are arriving in IR on Sat July 10 for a 7 night paddle through the inland lakes - McCargoe Cove to Chippewa Harbor (through chickenbone, livermore, le sage, richie, intermeidate, siskwit, wood and whittlesey). We haven't much experience in portaging so we don't have the process down to a science just yet. No doubt we'll be very familar with portaging after this trip.

My question is related to the process of portaging - especially when one of the two people is significantly stronger than the other. When we've portaged around dams in the river I've had a hard time carrying my end of the kayak. It doesn't seem like it's because it's too heavy but more because the handle cuts into my hand and I can't find a way to carry it without banging in into myself a bunch and nearly falling over. I'm not sure if I'm not doing something wrong, or if my 5'0" frame is just more compact than most and I'll have to deal. I've thought of trying some kind of over the shoulder strap to ease some of the pressure on my hand but that will likely result in more leg bashing and tripping. My friend is super and knows what he's in for when we portage but I'd like to be as low maintenance as possible

Help from the portage experts, PLS!?!

[moss13]

Wendy,

That is one heck of a route for kayaks. I like to canoe and kayak. Not to discourage you but I would only portage a canoe on that route. Plus portaging a canoe or kayak with 2 people is very awkward and clumsy. It is hard to get into a rythym when you have to rely on the other person. They do have kayak yokes out there that I would highly recommend on a route like this. Those are some pretty significant portages you will be doing. You have your work cut out but should feel very rewarded when you are finished. I wish you the best of luck and please write a trip report when you get back. Would love to read about and see some pictures of course!

This is a kayak yoke and would help to portage with one person and then the other person can carry a pack and whatever else.

[moss13]

Ooops. Here is the link.

http://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/br ... ,4180.html

[Ingo]

Hey Wendy,
Welcome to the forum. I'll second everything moss13 said! I've never portaged a kayak, but if I were going to I would definitely invest in a yoke like that one. I know at least one person on the forum that's made one similar to that--I think there's a pic somewhere. I think it's harder and takes more energy for 2 people to carry a boat than one--because it's so awkward unless you're totally in sync, something that's hard to do on a rocky trail. The good news is that you're doing a great route and 7 days is more than enough. I've done it in 5 and it was a pretty relaxed trip.

[johnhens]

I made a portage yoke for my kayaks. I took a canoe portage yoke and put padded blocks on it and used a tie down strap to hold the yoke on the cockpit comming. It made portaging much easier. Make sure you get the yoke adjusted (which I had not done) so the kayak can be balanced.

[Ingo]

I knew you'd come through, Hens

[johnhens]

I knew you'd come through, Hens

[wendy80]

I'll pass the info along to my friend - he's pretty handy and can probably fashion something based on your picture and the link. Thanks for the advice!! I'll be sure to let you know how things work out for us

[porter]

oh boy...me and a buddy took 17' yaks over the indian portage trails through those interior lakes a couple years ago....memories.
If you carry the boats side by side you get banged up thighs and torched shoulder muscles, carrying one boat at a time with two guys is still a cumbersome ordeal, plus then you're not balanced which will take its toll. wendy80, you're right about the handles sometimes digging into your hands, first off is to wear your paddling gloves to extend your palm life. Or look into using webbing from the kayak handle to your backpack shoulder strap padding to dissipate the load (assuming you're bringing along a backpack and not just drybags). johnhens, that yoke may be worth a try, nice job making it! the drawback is you have to stow it somewhere, as canoe yokes are usually built into the boat.
The method I now rely on is to unload ALL gear into my backpack and put the yak on my shoulder so the cockpit combing is resting on the padding of the backpack shoulder strap. Hold onto the boat inside the cockpit with one arm and keep the other arm free to grab the boat and readjust as you are hiking. Set it down every 100 yds or so and switch shoulders. Your paddle can be clipped to the hull or bungeed down somewhere so you're not devoting an entire arm to carrying it.
It takes strength, but it is a one way trip to your next campsite.

[johnhens]

johnhens, that yoke may be worth a try, nice job making it! the drawback is you have to stow it somewhere, as canoe yokes are usually built into the boat.
.

The blocks were throughbolted, I was able to twist them tight enough on the thwart so that they didn't move.
The yoke sat under the webbing on my rear deck, the pads went behind the seat in the cockpit. It definetly made portaging easier particularly when thery were balanced.

[Kevinl]

Wendy, I see you live in Saint Paul. I bought a kayak yoke at Midwest Mountaineering a few years ago. It's very similar to what John made, although I don't remember the price.

I've done that route a couple times (once solo and once with my dad when he was nearly 70 years old) and you will have a blast. We had recreational kayaks, 12 and 11 feet long. You should expect the portages to wear you down some, but don't let that stop you. If you do handle carry the portages, definitely consider bringing a glove for your hand if the strap bites into you.

In this trip report http://www.isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=355 of your route I describe the portages and our carrying styles. On that trip I forgot the yoke at home and regretted it. I would have gladly portaged both boats and let my dad carry the rest because I was happy to have him along. But on some of the portages we tried carrying the boats by handles, and it worked although we took lots of breaks and switched hands often. We never carried both boats at the same time, beside each other, although I will do that for short trips and find that if the boats are of similar length it can be easier, for a while. Don't be afraid to try different ways of carrying things and you'll quickly learn what works best through trial and error.

You will have a great trip.

[moss13]

Wendy,

Well how did it go? Patiently wating for a trip report.