Foam block pad for one-shoulder carries

yknpdlr said:

I don't think I have ever seen a canoe carried by a lower down gunwale. With that but sail up there I hope there is not any, or much crosswind, and your path is free of low hanging branches. Not recommended for a woodsy bushwhack I suspect.

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Nope, it's for short carries on moderately level ground, no steep hills. If the wind is really blowing I drape the canoe on my shoulder. On longer carries I use a removable yoke, the one Northstar sells. It's fairly lightweight and works well with wood gunwales.

And you can store the pad right behind you on a seat rail or a thwart. I typically kneel in my solo canoes with bench seats so don't knock the pad off while sitting, but using a thwart works good too.

yknpdlr said:

I don't think I have ever seen a canoe carried by a lower down gunwale.

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It's described as "The Overhead Carry" in Lou Glaros & Charlie Wilson's book "Freestyle Canoeing - Contemporary Paddling Technique".
I use a modified technique, which uses different hand holds and is more comfortable to carry in my opinion. I call it the shoulder carry. And I don't carry our heavier tandem canoes this way, it's just not stable enough with the additional length/leverage and weight.

Well I trust Charlie, but stil, I do not recall ever seeing that technique done where I have been in canoe carry areas. Others, like myself, I carry by the upper gunwale.
I am fortunate to usually have a couple of young strong landscape worker guys when I paddle the Adirondack 90 mile canoe race in a C4. Although I have offered wheels, and mount pool noodles bow and stern, they prefer to carry the 23' Wenonah at a full run with the boat fully upright on their shoulders bow and stern, at times switching it overhead to the other side. Paddles and PFDs remain inside, personal food and water in individual small backpacks carrieed by everyone.The fourth older paddle partner and I occasionally spell one or the other guys carrying for a short time (a very short time) where the ground is somewhat level.

When not in such a hurry with lesser boats, I prefer a clamp-on style carry yoke or my knupac backpack system with a bow/stern hand line.

I just got an Advantage. The distance between the gunwales is narrower than on the similarly-tractor-seated Rendezvous and the clamp-in carry yoke I use for the Rendezvous won’t fit. While the clamp-in yokes are way better than nothing, I find attaching the yoke tedious to annoying. I sometimes use pool noodle padding on the seat mount structure, which makes it considerably more comfortable when using the .

Before I do anything else, I’m going to try carry the Advantabe with a simple webbing strap, with the cam-lock buckle, tightened amidship around the canoe. I used to carry my Chipewyan with a strap belt that way, which didn’t work overly well. The Chipewyan was about 70 pounds and had no center thwart. The strap would squeeze the gunwales inward enough that the strap would slack and the hull would sink around my shoulders and bounce on my head. It’s always good when carries conclude, doubly so when the boat is knocking you in the head! The Advantage is 34.5 pounds, and the gunwales only separated by 22”, so i have reason to hope a carry strap will be effective. I’ll try that soon.

tketcham said:

So here's how the modifications work with a solo carry...

With the pad in place it's fairly easy to hoist the canoe up on my shoulder and grab a thwart or the gunnel:

View attachment 147429

Here you can see how I cut the thicker section of the pad so it fits up against the hull in the tumblehome and the strip I cut from the thinner section is added to fill in the original gap. The pad isn't snug but it doesn't move around all that much as you set it up on your shoulder and once there it stays in place under pressure. You get a feel for where to place the pad along the gunnel but just in front of the seat seems to work consistently:

View attachment 147430
(If you try a steep carry it doesn't work as well because the canoe and the pad try to slip off your shoulder.)

So here's how I typically rest the canoe in the palm of my hand. You can lock your elbow and it's fairly comfortable to carry:

View attachment 147431

If there's a bit of breeze I just raise my arm and keep the canoe from tipping into or with the wind. You can adjust the angle of the canoe on your shoulder to compensate. I also tend to grab the thwart for added leverage.:

View attachment 147432

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Thank you for the pics and explanation!