Outdoors

Properly Portaging Your Canoe

By Stephen Jermanok
Illustrations by Chris Lyons
From the February 2008 Boys' Life magazine

Technique is more important than sheer strength when lifting your canoe.

• Standing at the canoe’s center, rock the boat to generate enough momentum so that it’s sideways, with the top facing away from you.




• With your right hand, reach over the boat and grab the center of the yoke. Then spin the canoe completely around toward your thighs.




• As the canoe comes up, grab the top gunwale with your other hand.




• Using your thighs to support the canoe (which is now facing you), move your other hand from the yoke to the bottom edge of the canoe.




• Push the canoe up with your knee and snap it around your head.




• Settle the yoke on your shoulders—not your neck—and go on your merry way.

On the first portage, Michael Jokl was wearing sandals and almost twisted his ankle in the thick mud. Michael learned the hard way that while sandals are ideal at home, they don’t provide the necessary ankle support for doing a wilderness portage.

When carrying upwards of 80 pounds over mud, rocks and roots, you need sturdy boots with good traction. Matt Hidding’s swamp boots — or any jungle boot with a vulcanized sole — are ideal.

Read 5 comments about “Properly Portaging Your Canoe”

1. 1 - mace says:
   March 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 am

   I always thought the portaging of the canoe was hard. Thanks for the tip!

2. 2 - Survivor12 says:
   March 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am

   Phew! It was nice knowing that the way that we usually do it is not as safe as it is this way! Thanks for saving us!

3. 3 - oldscout says:
   April 29th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

   You will know you have portaging down when you run the portage one way with a canoe and Duluth pack on your back and then return carrying a strangers canoe to help them out. Of course I was 18 the last time I did it!

4. 4 - stephanie says:
   May 5th, 2008 at 7:22 am

   it was cool how lo learn how to do that cause i came on this web site for a project and i got a 85% on it thanks for who did this web site.=)

5. 5 - heyy says:
   May 6th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

   sweet! also when setting the canoe back down at the end of the portage, walk right into the water so the canoe doesn’t have to go right down to the ground. its easier.

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