Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Portage

SaltyFrog and LiliPad caught up with Team Kruger / Team B&B on their 40-mile portage from St George, GA,  to Fargo, GA.   Here is the wonderful video he made. 






They took the boat out of the St Marys River on Monday March 19 at 9:56 am to begin the portage.
They put the boat in the Suwannee River on Tuesday March 20 at 12:20 am glad to be finished portaging.


Preparing to tow

Moving out toward the highway

Starting point near St George
West                                                                                                    East
Map and Elevation Profile
The portage from the St Marys River in the east toward the Suwannee River in the west begins with an uphill climb.  At the top of the hill is a cellphone tower. 

SB and SOS reported that the weight of the loaded boat on the cart gave the cart a degree of rolling resistance that made towing it with the bike more difficult than expected;  "a lower gear would have been great."   The bike is a 3-speed.    

Consequently, they took 30-minute turns on the bike;  one on the bike,  the other one walking.   Going up the hill they had to get off the bike and walk it.   On the downhill,  the biker would go a mile and then wait for the walker to catch up and trade places.  

Eventually they decided that pedaling and walking were about equal in degree of difficulty and they found that 30-minute turns worked well.  


Resting in the Shade

The first day was a hot day for this activity, with a high of 85 degrees F. In the hot afternoon they stopped for a few hours at the Kountry Store.  Later, during the night, they stopped for a while to sleep near a side road. 

They were very glad to reach the put-in on the Suwannee River near Fargo, GA.

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