Good smaller tandem for solo?

[revcp]

Steve, If you look at the 1st photo that I posted you'll see an additional set of bolts just forward of the kneeling thwart. Wonder if these are for a carrying yoke. You might call Will and ask him for his thoughts. You'll find him to be quite receptive to the conversation.

Peter

Peter,
Yep, I was assuming those were for a yoke or a center thwart. I will certainly be contacting Will. I had planned to do so simply to let him know that he has a canoe in the hands of someone who will appreciate it and treat it well, but now I have more reason to be in touch. I will ask what he recommends. I might try the paddles and tumpline rigging. My paddles are a bit mismatched, however, a '30's vintage ash beavertail and a 1990 Grey Owl whitewater paddle, so that might be a bit odd. Am I understanding correctly that the tumpline should be tied a few inches forward of the balance center of the canoe? Why would it not go at the center? The other challenge I see with using the kneeling thwart for tumpline-paddle rigging is that the kneeling thwart is--as it should be--dropped down from the inwales instead of being bolted tightly up under them. With a 13" depth I would be concerned that would put my head right up on the bottom of the canoe. When I get the canoe I'll have to measure how far the kneeling thwart spacer drops it toward the hull.

 

[robin]

Portable carrying thwart pic

Nice Canoe REVCP, glad you found it.

I used this on my 1st 15 ft Chestnut Chum a while back. The canoe got new inwales and I made it into a solo for tripping.





Without the original center thwart I needed a place to mount my shoulder pads and I made this


It works, but it's just another item to have laying in the canoe, which I ended up really disliking.
When tripping I enjoy the beauty of the wilderness and a wood canvas canoe makes it all the more enjoyable, a couple of canvas packs, spare paddle and a fishing rod is about all I want in the canoe, otherwise it seems like cluter and then I might just as well go with a kevalar and plastic cup holders on the gunnels...
Anyway, this portable thwart is easy to make and works, so it could be an option till you figure out what you want to do.
BTW, I mostly trip with a 16 Pal and I don't mind the weight of the canoe, but found these pads to be the only way to easy the pain on the shoulders, but thats just me.
I had a carved yoke, it looked nice but I never got used to it, too hard on the lower neck.

Nice canoe you got there, enjoy it on the trail.

 

[MGC]

Not to disagree with MGC....but Steve, personally I think you're better off not switching the kneeling thwart for a yoke....carved yokes do not normally 'fit' one's shoulders as well as as they can....JMHO....but I think you'd do better with just lashing in paddles..

This is like a discussion about keels........
Anyway, perhaps I was not clear.
I do not recommend or use a carrying yoke although they are (IMHO) a better option to tying a bunch of ugly old paddles to gorgeous wood so that they can slide around, mark things up and act as a guillotine on the chance that you happen to slip or lose your balance.
I simply use a thwart to carry and prefer that.
You can hit the portage running without any fuss or fiddling.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

From my experience the best portage is done using the thwart

You said it best way back. Any canoe I ever acquired with, as Rob put it, "a wrench for breaking necks" i immediately removed. I prefer the thwart, easy on easy off, if its a really long portage just wrap it with a shirt or towel.

 

[revcp]

A lot of very strong and interesting opinions. I don't share everyone's antipathy for yokes. If well made I have found that they have the desired effect of putting the yoke pads inside the shoulders and avoiding contact with the cervical vertebrae. That being said, however, a yoke will not be practical for the Ruch canoe because of the nearness of the kneeling thwart, and because I used a removable yoke for several years on a Mad River Traveler, I learned, like an earlier poster to hate having it rolling around in the canoe. I'll probably try to make the tumpline work sans paddles. My wife will be embarrassed by me portaging around the neighbourhood, but that will be the only way I will be able to test it before the trip , and I would be a fool not to test it.