JULY, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
301 
HOW TO SHOULDER YOUR CANOE 
RIG A PAIR OF PADDLES ON THE THWARTS FOR SHOULDER RESTS. 
AND YOU WILL FIND THE OLD GIRL THE EASIEST DUFFLE TO PACK 
By R. C. W. LETT 
Figure I. Getting the Grip 
M ANY a time I have watched a man 
struggle desperately to get his canoe 
up on his shoulders for a portage. 
And before he succeeded he would ex¬ 
pend enough energy to move a whole out¬ 
fit over, and have enough to spare to tote 
the canoe if he had known the trick. 
But I would rather carry my canoe than 
any other part of my camp outfit And 
as for a two-man carry: Not any, thank 
you; unless the canoe is a veritable Jumbo. 
Two men under a canoe can not step in 
unison. Consequently one or the other is 
always getting a jerk or a pull which nearly 
takes his head off. 
The method I use for shouldering a canoe 
is quite simple. As to where the paddle 
straps (which I will describe) shall be 
placed, one must be guided by the number 
and distance from each other of the 
thwarts. For instance, if there are three 
thwarts—one in the middle and one to¬ 
wards each end—the centre thwart should 
be used for the paddle-blade strap. If 
there are but two thwarts, as in most can¬ 
vas-covered canoes, the paddle-blade strap 
will be on the thwart nearest the stern. Not 
all canoes, by any means, have their 
thwarts in a position that makes the bal- 
Figure IV. Let Her Slip Down Easily 
Figure II. Grasp the Two Thwarts 
ance just right when the paddles are in 
place. Some have a particularly nasty way 
of trying to get their sterns as near the 
ground as possible, which means that your 
arms get very tired pulling down on the 
front to keep the beast on an even gunwale. 
Now then, for the “fixin’s.” Place your 
two paddles across the two thwarts, blades 
to the stern and about seven or eight inches 
apart. The handles should then be ten or 
eleven inches apart on the front thwart. 
Mark with a pencil the position of the 
paddles. With screws and copper washers 
fasten a leather strap, about three-quarters 
of an inch wide, on top of the black 
thwart. Use three-quarter-inch round- 
head screws, and the washers which come 
with copper rivets. With only four screws 
two loops can be made for the paddle blades, 
which should fit just snugly. For the other 
thwart, where the handles will rest, screw 
on two straps eight or nine inches long, 
fastening them, this time, on the under 
side of the thwart. These will come up 
and buckle around the handles, wrist-watch 
style. 
Nothing can be more ship-shape than 
these fittings. And once you have them, 
they are there for keeps. 
N OW we have come to the portage, and 
I hear my old canoe say: “Turn about 
is fair play; I have carried you, now 
you carry me.” And so I reach down 
(Figure i) and with my left hand grasp 
the front thwart close to the gunwale, at 
How to Place the Paddles on the Thwarts 
Figure III. Then the Opposite Gunwale 
the same time taking hold of the other right 
between the paddle blades (Figure 2). 
Now, all together!—and I throw back my 
shoulders to help me with the lift and at 
once bring the canoe on to my bended 
knees. I then release my left hand and 
take a new grip with it on the opposite 
gunwale (Figure 3). Next, without 
changing the position of my left hand, I 
draw the far gunwale towards me, and at 
the same time slip my right arm down be¬ 
tween my knees and around the canoe—at 
least as far as it will encircle the old girl— 
and up, over and down she goes (Figure 4) 
into the right position for carrying 
(Figure 5). 
Seeing a man perform this little feat, 
the average canoeist is apt to remark: 
“There goes a strong fellow. See! he never 
let the bow jab the ground.” It is not a 
question of strength, but of knowing how. 
Last season I was down at the north end 
of lake Nipigon, that greatest of all brook 
trout waters. I watched my Indian guide 
shoulder my canoe—an eighteen-foot can¬ 
vas-covered Chestnut — and I felt like 
scalping the beggar, he scratched up the 
nose of my favorite so badly! 
Figure V. The Right Carrying Position 
THE FOURTH ARTICLE IN JULE MARSHALL’S SERIES ON “SAILING THE OPEN CANOE” 
WILL APPEAR IN AN EARLY ISSUE OF FOREST AND STREAM. WATCH FOR IT. 
