: Way to go John!! You've got them thinking.

: When John mentioned that he was going to post the Yak-Yoke on the board I
: said "go for it because by the time Mick et. al. were done with it we
: may very well have a kayak yoke that will walk behind you by itself across
: the portages". Now that Mick and the other brainiacs are on the
: job......to infinity and beyond!!

: Some thoughts that I had were: -Increasing the height of the spacers above
: the shoulders may make it easier to see, especially if the trail was
: steep.
: -If you cockpit is not in the centre of your kayak(like with the Shearwater
: Baidarka I am building)this system may not work at all.

: Happy Portaging!

: Ken

hi Ken,

for myself I think a variation on the drawing John posted will suit my needs and just carry the yak backwards looking under the much lower rear deck.
although this method has the disadvantage of you having to turn your boat around
when you get to the put in ,which is no problem if you have the room.
otherwise pushing the boat out and turning it around and inviting Murphy to work his magic when you are on a greasy clay river bank .
but usually my portages are less than a 1/4 mile (they just seem longer).
If I wasn't so cheap.. and did some hiking and camping I would probably look at the Knu-pac , american made ,well constructed and designed , it also puts the weight on your hips instead of your back . Possibly modifying an existing (cheaper) backpacking system to suit your style of boat..hmm needs more searching an researching , its not garage sale season here yet! at least the snow thrower is getting a workout.
good luck

later Bill