I'll explain.

If you leave from the put-in on the southern shore of Crane Lake, you can either paddle yourself north toward Sand Point Lake and then take a u-turn and head sort of south/southeast along the Loon River to Little Vermilion and the portage you are mentioning ( I Think).

Or, you can take the Andersen tow boat which is pricey but worth it.

Another way, a more strenuous way is to paddle almost due east from the south shore of Crane to a portage about 381rods long, give or take. This will dump you in the middle of Little Vermilion, thus negating the looooooong paddle north to Sand Point and then turning south.

Check out paddleplanner, you'll see what I mean.