How to Safely Portage a Kayak Around Weirs and Blockages

Every river paddler meets the same moment eventually. You come round a bend and there it is: a line of broken water across the whole river, or a sycamore lying clean across the flow with branches sifting the current underneath. Sometimes a weir is runnable. Sometimes a fallen trunk has a gap you can thread. When neither is true, the trip doesn't end — it turns into a portage, and portaging well is a skill in its own right.

Most portage injuries come down to three things: getting out of the boat too close to the hazard, lifting a hull that is half full of water, and relaunching into a spot nobody bothered to check. Sort those three and the rest is just walking.

Scout before you commit

Scouting starts upstream. The moment you see a horizon line, a concrete wing wall, or a canopy of leaves where the river should be, eddy out and get onto the bank while you still have room to manoeuvre. Thirty or forty metres of clear water below you is a luxury; take it every time it's offered.

Walk down and work through it in this order:

1. Where does the water actually go — over the crest, through a sluice, down a fish pass or a purpose-built canoe chute?
2. What is happening at the base? A weir can look almost gentle from above and still hold a boat in a recirculating towback.
3. Is there a recognised portage point — steps, a ramp, a signed path, a gate you can get a boat through?
4. Which bank gives you a low, solid landing and a walkable route back to the water below?

Portage arrangements vary enormously from river to river, and access rules differ between countries and sometimes between neighbouring stretches of the same river. Read the local navigation authority's guidance and any signage before you plan a trip around a particular weir. If a bank is fenced, planted, or clearly part of a working yard or garden, don't assume you have a right to cross it.

Choose the landing and the whole route first

Land where the bank is low and firm, ideally in an eddy, not on mud, not on undercut earth, and not on weed-covered concrete. Step out into shallow water if you can rather than launching yourself at an unknown bank.

Then walk the entire portage before you move anything. Look for the things that ambush groups: a kissing gate a kayak will not pass, a stile with a barbed wire fence beside it, a steep flight of steps, a footpath that crosses a field of livestock, a bank so overgrown that carrying a boat through it becomes a wrestling match. If the route is impassable, you've learned that while your boat is still on the water — which is the cheapest possible time to find out.

Getting out without a soaking or a slip

Bring the boat in parallel to the bank, hold the bank with one hand and the cockpit rim with the other, and step out one leg at a time. Keep contact with the boat. Rivers are good at taking unattended kayaks for a ride.

Empty it properly before you go anywhere. Pull the drain plug, tip the stern or bow up, and let it run dry. A drained touring kayak is a manageable weight. The same kayak with twenty litres sloshing around inside is a different proposition, and that's when backs get tweaked. Keep your buoyancy aid on if you're anywhere near moving water, and keep your footwear on — riverbeds are full of glass, wire and sharp stone.

Lifting and carrying

For short carries with a light boat, lift the bow, walk into the cockpit, and bring the hull up onto your shoulder, holding the rim or a deck line for balance. Keep your back straight and let your legs do the work; bend at the hips and knees, not the spine. On wider or heavier boats, or if you're carrying gear, two people using the bow and stern toggles is far kinder than one hero.

For anything longer than a couple of hundred metres, a kayak trolley is worth the space it takes up. On firm towpaths and gravel tracks it turns a grind into a stroll. On soft ground, sand or rough stone it will bog down or skid, so don't count on it.

Working as a group

Agree the plan and the order before anyone picks up a boat. Give each other space; nobody should walk underneath a hull being lifted. Keep fingers clear of toggles, grab handles and any gap between boats. If the group is strung out along a bank, keep everyone in sight, and put the least experienced paddlers in the middle of the line rather than out front.

Weirs and blockages are not the same problem

Weirs

Carry well back from the crest. Wet concrete and algae are genuinely treacherous, and a slip at the lip of a weir puts you into the one place you were trying to avoid. Metal sluice frames, broken rebar and protruding bolts are common around older structures. Don't walk along a weir crest to scout the far side — walk round it.

Fallen trees and strainers

Trees and logjams shift. Don't climb onto one to peer over it; the current is still pushing debris underneath and the whole pile can move. Portage further upstream than feels necessary, and when you wade, watch for submerged branches and roots. Always look up as well as down: low cables, overhanging limbs, pipe bridges and footbridges all have a habit of appearing at head height when you're carrying a boat.

Relaunching cleanly

Pick a flat, clear spot with a small eddy, then check the twenty metres downstream before you commit — you want to be starting in calm water, not drifting straight into the next obstacle.

Float the boat part-way, hold it steady with a hand on the bank, and climb in one leg at a time with the hull parallel to the shore. Facing upstream, push off and paddle immediately to get steerage. If the bank is steep, a seal launch from a seated position works, but make sure the water below is deep enough and clear of rock.

Then stop, count heads, and check that nothing was left on the bank. Groups lose more kit at portages than anywhere else on the river.

Final checks before you move

• Boat drained, gear secured, nothing loose in the cockpit.
• Buoyancy aid and helmet on if you're near moving water or rocky ground.
• Route walked and confirmed, including gates, stiles and the put-in below.
• Everyone knows the plan, the order and the meeting point.
• Downstream landing checked for hazards before the first paddler launches.

Portaging is rarely the highlight of a paddle, but it is the part where a good group shows its quality. Take the extra five minutes to scout properly, carry sensibly and relaunch deliberately, and a blocked river becomes nothing more than a short walk between two good stretches of water.

Photo: 931885 / Pixabay