We hugged the southern braids and eventually slid our packrafts the last 200ft to the Canning River. Eric was sold on the idea keeping our gear in the packrafts and just walking on the shore and towing them upriver. I was... willing. I don't know what the trick was exactly, but he was much better at it than I. My packraft kept wanting to beach.
We made it almost exactly a mile before I said screw it and started to unpack my packraft. I was slipping on the rocks and stubbing my toes and smacking my ankle on rocks. I was done.
We made it just under a mile before we decided to cross the Canning River. Back in the packrafts! Since it was just a crossing, we only stored a few items in the body of the packraft and just threw our packs in the raft and sat on top of them. As having the most paddling experience and packed up first I went for it. There were a few spots where the current changed, pushing up on the side of the packraft. You had to react without overreacting, especially with such a high center of gravity, and if you flipped chances are you were losing gear.