Canoes?

No secret that I love my canoes and love using them to silently slip into places that bass boats can't go, places that people don't normally go period, but has anyone thought of a canoe bug out?

This country was explored and settled by courier de bois in their long canoes as much as the coon skin cap wearing over land explorers. Setting right here typing this I am very close to a navigable creek that flows into the Cape Fear river and from there, there are tons of possibilities even when I 95 is closed are completely clogged with traffic. Plus it is quiet, my prospector carries a good amount of weight, and I need no fuel. I know it is not for everyone, but here it is an option I have thought about and might explore further.



Yes my son in his long hair phase. LOL but this pics show that you don't really need much water to get around in a canoe.

 

My old beat up canoe this summer at a swimming hole, near the house.

 

I like canoes, but prefer my rowboat and 5 hp Evenrude. It gets me anywhere I need to go by water, carries at least 5 times as much gear, and my old evenrude, just sips gas. I could most likely, fish all weekend, and never need more than a gallon. The oars are a backup if needed.

 

Me too kellory but I can't carry all that on my back for a mile or so.

 

That would be why mine has wheels too.

 

Sounds like a cool outfit, got any pics? Where do the wheels go when it is on the water?

 

Wheelchair wheels on an axle that drops into the thule pin holes and secures with a clevis pin. Boat is upside down until you reach the water. 14' aluminum rolls and then rolls over pretty easily. My wheels detach with no tools needed, and can come within three loose pieces.

 

Don't think that is real common here actually. Sounds like a good system, especially for nice terrain.

 

I've seen jon-Boats, with 6" permanent wheels at the stern. Raised up above the gunnels.

 

Something like this? I can for sure see the usefulness of this but for what I like to do it would not help much I am afraid.

 

No, inverted. That would have to be removed to be used. Flipping the boat would make it wheels down.

 

Ah I see said the blind man.

 

Sorry, pics are not possible right now, computer is dead. Access by phone only right now.

 

Yeah I have seen those, I haven't seen too many portages where they would work.

 

I like my zodiac. It has an 800lb capacity, and is good for shallow water. I never measured the draft, but it has to be about three inches with just me aboard.



It is a semi-rigid inflatable boat with a fiberglass bottom. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten the air floor, as the whole boat would deflate and fit into a large duffel bag. As it is right now, it folds up into itself and slides into a large carrying bag that kind of looks like a fat surf board.

I recently sold the 8hp motor (used to go 21 mph!) and bought a heavy duty salt water rated trolling motor; our local river is worthless (too shallow, but 1/2 mile wide) and I haven't traveled to the Cape Fear River in the past 5 years or so. Many of our local lakes in PA have a HP limitation or electric motor only designation. I'm working on getting a dual battery setup in my vehicle with quick connect forklift plugs so I can always have a fully charged battery for the trolling motor ready to go.

I haven't gone to Florida since the maiden voyage of Goliath, which was about ten years ago. A funny story about how she was named, but that would take a while to type. Let's just say that there is a BIG difference between the fish commission in PA and the fish commission in FL and NC! In PA, they only come over if they want to fine you; in NC and FL, they come over to chat. I wasn't prepared for a friendly conservation officer! In NC, they actually taught you how to go crabbing and helped you cook them, too. Great place, I love NC.

Yup, a RIB can last quite a while if taken care of, and not used too hard. If you ever get an inflatable, get one made of hapylon instead of PVC. I use Aerospace Engineering 303 Protectant twice a season. I also continuously deflate it if I'm not using it to keep it out of the sun- PVC's biggest enemy. It is a very tough material, though.

I have a set of wheels that flip up out of the water and are permanently attached to the transom. We usually use them when ascending or descending a boat ramp, but they work well on wide dirt trails. If you don't fold them up, you get a set of large rooster-tails when you take off with the gas motor, but can't quite get on plane.


I thought about canoes many times. They are definitely more portable than when my Zodiac is inflated. When deflated, they are about the same, but setup time and effort- it takes energy to inflate the tubes to 3.5psi!

I wouldn't want to fish out of the rib, though. I usually don't fish- I prefer to catch them honestly by spearing them- but I could imagine that one bad cast would cause you to have to reach for the repair kit. On that note, there are a ton of new products out there for hole repair in a rib. When I looked through the West Marine catalog last month, there was a plethora of new chemical and mechanical devices to temporarily and permanently repair tears and holes.

I went with the RIB because we can scuba dive out of it. My wife sewn up a dive flag for it, and I found an old fiberglass rod than I can attach to the transom. I also have a boarding ladder made of webbing and rigid plastic rungs that attaches to the opposite side of the boat from which you enter.

The boat works well for us, but since we've had children, we haven't gone anywhere out of state. Unfortunately, all of my pictures of my family with our boat were taken before the digital camera age, and are on Kodachrome somewhere.

 

That thing is stinking cool as all get out!!! Always wanted to try one of those Navy Seal models that haul butt. LOL

 

My wife and I have a Meyer sport Pal 16 foot ultra light canoe. We use to go where other boats cant go. It is our main boat for early season Blue Gill fishing. We have an ultralight trailer so we can pull it with our little Chevy Aveo to several very shallow Blue Gill Lakes. W e also have a 14 foot Jon boat which we do most of fishing from. This boat is 1448 Sea Ark with the old faithful 9.9 hp Merc 2 stroke. Our big boat is an 18 foot Starcraft Superfisherman powered by a 115 hp Merc 4 stroke. Here on our lake we have an older fiberglass 12 foot pontoon pedal powered boat. Its a 2 person pedal powered 4 seater. Yup we like boats.