Paddle Tips

This is a page where we will gather some tips that can ease our everyday paddling, focus on some small and forgotten details, or even teach us a couple of tricks we can use out there. This is a page that you can all contribute, with ideas, hints or articles.

Tip no 1: LIFT & CARRY
posted on 06.10.03

Lifting your kayak and carrying it along a portage, a put in or take out trail, can be a pain in the "back" exercise. So, here are a few tips and details, we should all remember:

Lifting the kayak.

Empty from any water and if possible, remove any loose stuff that you can hang on your PFD, like your rope or your camera.
Start lifting from one end, standing the boat up until you can place it on your shoulder without lifting with your arm, to protect your shoulder.
Lower yourself, bending your knees to place the kayak on your shoulder and slowly raise yourself using your legs and keeping your back straight.

Another way to quickly initiate your lifting, is using your foot, placed underneath the boat and pulling up.

For loaded boats, or longer portages, it is better to have a removable foam padding available, to place it over your carrying shoulder, using a velcro strap for example.

Portaging.

Everyone in the team, have to know if there are any mandatory portages along the run and where these are. The leader must have them marked on the map, together with the portage trail and check from time to time as they approach.
When at the portage, we make sure that everyone have seen the take out point and get out removing the boats to the side of the trail. We always stay there, to check that the next paddler has reached the take out and help if necessary.
If in doubt, the first one will go on the trail to check if this is the right spot and to make sure that the trail is free of obstacles. The last one must make sure to reinstate any signs, marking the take out or the trail, for the future teams.

Some more thoughts:

If at the one side of the trail is a rocky wall or obstacles, like trees for example, it is better to carry the boat on the opposite shoulder, being able to see the obstacle while passing by and avoid any stack or loss of balance.
In wider trails over an exposed slope, we stay far from the edge, carrying the boat with the inside hand, to avoid any accidental slip down the slope.
Wherever we can, we choose to drag or lower down the boat from boulders, using the grabing loops, or help eachother in a tricky spot.
We can use our paddle to support our steps, especially at sloppy and loose ground. During the portage we should pay attention not to stumble on low branches, slip on wet rocks and before we start walking we should check our shoes to be clean from mud and our laces well tied.
(*) If there are no official signs at a take out or a portage trail, we should establish some, making a rock pile or some other mark. In case of an extremely dangerous spot, we should provide a proper informative sign table.

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