hole in the water
So like 5 years ago my loving mother saw a deal on a square back canoe at wally world and acquired it for me.
At the time, I was working full time, plus teaching 2 classes 2 nights per week plus taking 3 classes per term to finish a degree. Got the boat out on her pond twice in the first 3 days of ownership, been way too busy since.
Degree finished last December ... and now I'm only teaching one class one night per week, and so I have time. Got it registered, dug out my 30 year old trolling motor, got a new battery, and have spent quite a few hours on the local river in the past 3 months. Put in, motor upstream for an hour or so, then drift and paddle down stream... nice relaxing afternoon.
But my son is kinda big - 6' 3" 320lbs and still growing up. He can barely move in it, simply because of the amount of weight he is shifting from side to side and how far out it sticks
So in the interest of preventing guns and fishing rods and such being lost overboard in a future boating accident, down the rabbit hole of youtube I go....
The plan -
Remove existing seats, replace with supporting cross members and add new seats that are a little bit lower but closer to middle of boat
Add outrigger pontoon/stabilizers, possibly "gull winged" to lift up and out when under way
Add steering wheel system - hey with outriggers, etc. I may as well go in style right?
Add battery box and other storage near middle of boat , probably use as support for steering system
Lights, etc. as required for night time use
Modify motor to use a PWM for speed control instead of the speed coils/resistors/"waste it as heat" method of reducing motor speed most trolling motors use
Already acquired a trailer on c-list for a 15' wide jon boat ($100), need to get a hitch installed on the wife's car and add some cross members to support the canoe, possibly add floor so I can use it for other things (lawn mower, etc) and check the lights, etc. on it
So I'm looking at the "deal" on the canoe ($400, down from $600), the paddles and life vests I've already gotten ($100), the registration ($20/year), the battery ($90), $100 for trailer, $350 for trailer hitch, $100 for out riggers, $100 for new seats etc, $30 for steering system, etc etc etc.
Truly a hole in the water you throw money in.
At the time, I was working full time, plus teaching 2 classes 2 nights per week plus taking 3 classes per term to finish a degree. Got the boat out on her pond twice in the first 3 days of ownership, been way too busy since.
Degree finished last December ... and now I'm only teaching one class one night per week, and so I have time. Got it registered, dug out my 30 year old trolling motor, got a new battery, and have spent quite a few hours on the local river in the past 3 months. Put in, motor upstream for an hour or so, then drift and paddle down stream... nice relaxing afternoon.
But my son is kinda big - 6' 3" 320lbs and still growing up. He can barely move in it, simply because of the amount of weight he is shifting from side to side and how far out it sticks
So in the interest of preventing guns and fishing rods and such being lost overboard in a future boating accident, down the rabbit hole of youtube I go....
The plan -
Remove existing seats, replace with supporting cross members and add new seats that are a little bit lower but closer to middle of boat
Add outrigger pontoon/stabilizers, possibly "gull winged" to lift up and out when under way
Add steering wheel system - hey with outriggers, etc. I may as well go in style right?
Add battery box and other storage near middle of boat , probably use as support for steering system
Lights, etc. as required for night time use
Modify motor to use a PWM for speed control instead of the speed coils/resistors/"waste it as heat" method of reducing motor speed most trolling motors use
Already acquired a trailer on c-list for a 15' wide jon boat ($100), need to get a hitch installed on the wife's car and add some cross members to support the canoe, possibly add floor so I can use it for other things (lawn mower, etc) and check the lights, etc. on it
So I'm looking at the "deal" on the canoe ($400, down from $600), the paddles and life vests I've already gotten ($100), the registration ($20/year), the battery ($90), $100 for trailer, $350 for trailer hitch, $100 for out riggers, $100 for new seats etc, $30 for steering system, etc etc etc.
Truly a hole in the water you throw money in.
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That's sounds like a lot of fun though. Money spent for things that give you peace in life is always well spent. 0 -
I have one of the little 8ft plastic basstrackers, sorta like small 2 man pontoon boat. I drilled holes and put about 4-5 cans of squirt foam in each side, still weighs around 100 lbs. perfect for what you are doing go up with trolling motor then float/fish down. grandkids love it though they get bored and want to "drive" . and I don't worry it could hit rock and make hole but with all the foam in it, it would never sink. yet light enough to drag up/down a bank and put in stream/river about anywhere. plus I can haul it in truck and load/unload it myself. you may consider something like this over the canoe just because of your sons size, or even a small 10ft johnboat. it would be more steady. you could sell the canoe and use that money and the money you are gonna spend on upgrades to get a slightly larger flatbottom johnboat. 0 -
Just a suggestion from a long time kayaker/white water canoeist. My partially decked WW canoe has a couple "saddles," mounted in it. It is/was extremely squirrelly when sitting in the stock (mounted too high) stock seats.
These saddles are made of 3 sheets of 2" thick closed cell foam bonded together. (Hydrogrip?) Shaped similar to a half an 8 on its side, flat on bottom. You somewhat sit/kneel on these pedestals. (Which end up having your butt, about 5-6" off the floor.) I also have thigh straps mounted running through the pedestal and attached to the bottom of my 15' fiberglass WW partially decked canoe, via D-rings. (Tons of rocker, can spin on a dime.) The whole idea with a WW boat is having the boat respond/connected to your body movements.
Have been all over the Country in this boat. (Seda Explorer.) Probably unavailable any more. A boat made for backcountry multi-day Exploration.
Just giving you some additional thoughts and ideas Sir.
As Mike often says, "Apropos of nothing."0 -
got one ram-x plastic boat 10' long and 5' wide with molded seats...stable craft ..used to be called Coleman crawdad and later it was sold and called a Pelican now ...back made to clamp a trolling motor....also have one 10' long and 4 ' wide with two seats that slide back and forth on rails...to tippy setting up higher so only used it once...the Pelican with the lower seating seems a lot safer 0 -
Google Whitwater Canoe Saddles. I am sure a plethora of information and images will come to light.
Some saddles (plastic/nylon/zytel) are sold commercially. Some have the advantage of having a screw down (4-5" wide rubber O-ring sealed) dry zone inside.
We sold them at the shop I used to work for/manage.
Campmor. Call 1-800-Campmor, and as for the store, then ask for the boating dept. They will have anything you want.
Just trying to give you options/ideas Sir.0 -
I believe you'd be money ahead and in a much safer boat if you sold that one and bought a 14 ft. Jon boat like the one I use on small shallow rivers and creeks. 0 -
Smitty500mag wrote:I believe you'd be money ahead and in a much safer boat if you sold that one and bought a 14 ft. Jon boat like the one I use on small shallow rivers and creeks.
Or that. :roll:0 -
I wholeheartedly agree.......Smitty500mag wrote:I believe you'd be money ahead and in a much safer boat if you sold that one and bought a 14 ft. Jon boat like the one I use on small shallow rivers and creeks.
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Take son for a walk 0 -
Here is what I use:
And here it is inflated:
The cow Moose that lives at the lake is in the black circle. With her permission you can fish the lake.0 -
I used to canoe with a fried who was about your son?s size. He and I had Blue Hole canoes equipped with saddle seats. Puts your center of gravity lower. Kinda sorta what Ken describes. 0 -
Smitty500mag wrote:I believe you'd be money ahead and in a much safer boat if you sold that one and bought a 14 ft. Jon boat like the one I use on small shallow rivers and creeks.
Probably, though if I were to just drop a few thou on a boat I'd go for a 15-18 foot very wide jon boat, just based on experience diving off a 18 footer forever ago - SUPER stable, very shallow draft when you don't have 10 divers and gear in it.
TBH if the boy really ends up liking getting out on the water, I'll simply buy a second canoe and rig a bracket to attach the two together into "one boat". Make it a catamaran type. Or take what I end up doing to mine and refine it and duplicate on his.
Canoe is fine for him IF he is the only one in it so he can sit in the middle. With two of in it, one at each end, he's at a narrow spot so he doesn't have as much water support to prevent tilting/rolling.0 -
I second the light weight jon boat idea. I have had and fished out of canoes and aside from pack trips or very remote areas, I won't ever go back. I have a fairly narrow 14' jon that has a trailer. A couple years ago I had tires go bad during one trip so my nephew and I just put it in the back of my truck. It was a bit of a pain to load it up, take out the battery and gear, etc each time we moved (fishing small mining strip pits in SE Kansas) but even at nearly 50 and with lots of back issues, with him taking the heavy end, it wasn't bad at all. We still had a good time. I do want to get a wider jon just for fishing lakes as this little one could get kind of iffy in white caps on larger lake. 0 -
llama wrote:Probably, though if I were to just drop a few thou on a boat I'd go for a 15-18 foot very wide jon boat...
I just paid $1,000 for my 3 year old Alumacraft 14' Jon Boat which included the trailer, fish finder and battery, anchor and rope, paddles, swivel seats, 4 side rod holders, 2 life jackets and 2 throw cushions.
I inherited the old Johnson outboard motor from an uncle back in the 80s that I rebuilt. The only thing I bought for it was the trolling motor.0
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