Me and a buddy fish almost everyday, we heard about guys going to a spot we fish and putting kayaks in the river and taking them downstream a ways fishing.
I started looking at kayaks and canoes and decided on a canoe because I wanted something I could build a motor mount for and add a trolling motor.
I found this 14’ aluminum canoe on craigslist and bought it yesterday for $140, it came with foam blocks and all the straps to secure to a vehicle, flotation vests, 2 paddles, anchor, and a whistle.
He assured me it doesnt leak and said him and his wife took it out on the lake all the time. I dont know if im that brave, lol.
Anyway, I figured an all aluminum canoe should hold up better than new plastic ones that are a little pricey. Did I make the right choice?
Anyone have any idea who made aluminum boats in 64?
Heres a picture…
http://s9.postimg.org/jr0z23wrz/canoe.jpg
Would a couple 200lb guys have problems fishing in this thing?
Im planning to hit the bottom with a wire wheel and clean good with vinegar/ paint with olive drab rustolium oil based rattlecan paint. Then build a motor mount for trolling motor, add bleacher seats, and come up with some outriggers for stability.
Just wanted to make sure this thing is worth the effort.
Thanks!
I wouldnt
get to excited about outriggers, or even cleaning and painting the outside that much. Fish dont care.
One thing you want to do is hit the INSIDE with some flat tan rattlecan. The inside of a AL canoe is like a reflector oven.
I am a firm believer in backrests, get or make decent ones.
Try it Out
That boat is a bit shorter than what’s typical of “short” tandem canoes. A “short” tandem is usually closer to 15 feet. I can’t tell how wide this boat is, and it may make up for less length by being a bit wider than normal. In any case, two 200-pound people will definitely make it handle like it’s “loaded” and it will be kind of sluggish. However, if you’ll mainly be using an electric motor for propulsion, that may not be a big problem. On the other hand, you’ll be adding 80 to 100 pounds of additional load simply by using an electric motor and its battery, and you’ll feel the effect of that.
Canoes tend toward less stability when heavily loaded, but I’d say try it out before committing yourself to adding outriggers. You may find that it’s fine without them, and since it appears you are new to canoes, this would be especially true once you get your sea legs (more accurately, a sea butt, but that sounds funny). Canoes seem more tippy to beginners than to those with more experience.
Who made canoes in 1964? Lots of companies. I’m no expert and all I can tell from the photo is that it’s not a Grumman or an Alumicraft (two of the more popular brands, both of which are still available today). Plaidpaddler might recognize the brand. The builder didn’t use as many rivets as they could have, but on the plus side, they used plenty of ribs (many 17-foot aluminum canoes have just three ribs, and this one is shorter yet it has five).
I agree with the above advice about paint. Don’t bother painting the outside (it’s not clear if that was your intention). As old as that boat is, painting the inside isn’t all that important either (the surface is already quite dull), but any neutral-color paint applied to the floor will make things a bit more comfortable.
Looks good to me! But see if you can’t
get comfy paddling it, and skip the motor.
I have a feeling looking at it that…
Two 200 hundred pound paddlers are going to have to do a balancing act to fish out of it.
I hope I am wrong though.
Jack l
Things went great!
Me and my buddy launched it at the dam and rode down river 5 miles with his brother and his brothers buddy in kayaks. I think the canoe did great, i was standing fishing and it wobbled a bit but at no time did i feel it would flip, my buddy will tell you a different story though, lol, first thing he did was put on his pfd and plant his butt on the bottom of the boat for the whole trip, anytime I moved or stood he freaked out but it seemed safe to me lol.
There was a couple hairy situations when the river got pretty fast and threw us into some trees but it was great.
Found a great backdoor access to a great little fishing lake off the sangamon and caught a turtle and a couple catfish.
Oh… and i made a mistake, the boat is 15 feet long and 36" wide.
He WANTS outriggers on it but i feel they will be more of a pain then what they are worth. I have an idea to run nylon rope from the eyelets that are front and back… and have poolnoodles on the rope, to keep it from just floating above the canoe ill run rope below the width of the boat to secure the noodle and keep it submerged… it might not be as stable as true outriggers but should help a bit and be easy to do and give my buddy a fasle sense of security lol.
I really would like to just rattlecan the bottom green drab, nothing expensive or fancy, just a quick clean with metal brush, whipe down with vinegar, quick primer of rustoleum self etch primer, and a couple coats of green… you think that would hold up for a while?
as for the motor… i would love it but then would have to liscense the boat…still undecided on that.
thanks everyone!
You sound comfortable as-is
I’d also skip the motor and especially the outrigger/pool noodle contraption.
A line running sideways underneath the boat? Can you say snag and flip? It will grab an underwater branch, the current will spin you sideways, and then the current will swamp you, and you will be absolutely helpless to do anything about it. That line will be way more dangerous than any old “plain” canoe.
You sound plenty comfortable already. Take a few rides with your buddy, without fishing, and let him build his confidence. If he’s concentrating on the boat and not you standing up fishing, he’ll gain trust in the canoe.
After he’s more comfortable, then the two of you can enjoy canoeing and fishing again.
bad idea
Yea, i didnt think of that… scratch the rope and noodle idea. Lol
We wanted a motor to get back upriver.
If we go in at the dam… we only have to paddle maybe 1/2 mile to get to the mouth of a great little fishing lake.
but we couldnt paddle back upstream where the car was, so we went the other 4 1/2 miles downstream and got out at a nice canoe ramp they have down there.
It was a fun paddle, but i dont know if we will always have the luxury of having someone there ready to pick one of us up and drive back to our car to come back and get the canoe/gear.
its just a relatively slow class 1 or 2 river but fully loaded we couldnt paddle upstream, im wondering if a 30 lb minn kota would handle it or if i would need a 50 lb.
He
will get used to it. Ropes hanging all over will snag everything, trees, brush, hooks…
Let him get a good seat, then kick back and fish.
Richline
I found out my canoe is made by Richline.
I know this because my buddy just bought a canoe off craigslist and its identical to mine except his is 16" mines 15" and his has a flat stern.
we took it out on its first voyage tonight and got caught in the dark in a storm with the battery on his trolling motor going dead. Had to paddle our buts off upstream just to get to civilization.
we are doing it again in the am. Lol.
i have mine painted with new 30lb trolling motor and outriggers.
cant wait to see how it handles.
any info on these old richlines?
Sponsons
Instead of outriggers put sponsons on the hull. Look up Sportspal Canoes and look at the floatation attached to the hull just under the gunwales along the sides. Basically its foam like pool noodles attached to the hull using machine screws and fender washers.
Bill