Re: [Paddlewise] Our trip in Quetico P.P., gelcoat repair and next summer trip

At 12:02 PM 12/3/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>	On the first day we knew we had a long 880 metres (~half a
>mile) portage, first portage of the trip, full load. We each had
>a hip and shoulder strap which supported the kayak on our side,
>we used one arm also to support the kayak.  In this manner we
>could shift the weight from the arm to the strap on the shoulder
>and rest one muscle or the other.  Good thing we are in good
>shape and fairly strong. We usually split the portages into
>small trips of 150 to 300 metres for each kayak and one trip
>with as much as we could carry in our backpack and hands (for a
>total 3 trips, therefore a 100 metre portage demanded 500 metres
>of walking). We were well organized for packing and it did not
>take long to put what was needed in our backpack. We were sore
>the next day, especially some bruises on our hips, but after a
>few days it got much better.
>
>
>Dominique Berube
>Val d'Or, Quebec

Dominique, thanks for the very interesting trip report.  
	For some time I have been trying to find a good method of portaging with a
sea kayak, and your description above has intrigued me.
	Could you please describe more about the strap arrangement you used?  Was
each person carrying one kayak, or were the two of you carrying both
together?  Did you purchase the straps already rigged for this purpose, and
if so, where?  If you rigged the straps yourself, please supply enough
details to enable others of us to give it a go. 
	I gather that the hip bruises were from the kayaks bouncing against you;
would strategically placed pads (for example, paddlefloats) help prevent
these?

	Cheers,
	John

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