Hi there guys, I am a complete newbie to this. I am from central pa, and was talking to someone at work, im a male nurse he was a patient of mine. And he was telling me about his canoe and how he has a motor on it. So this sounds like a great time, and what i want to do is get into a canoe, for as little money as i can, with a trolling motor on it. I want to fish a river with an average flow of 2-4mph. I want to beable to motor up the river 2 or 3 miles and then just let myself coast down the river and fish. I want it to be light enough i can load it onto my car and into the river myself. I want it to be atleast a 2 seater so if my daughter goes she will beable to(after i get alittle experience with it). Im a young guy i can lift atleast 80-90 lbs over my head, was looking for soemthing in the 50lb range. I dont have a local shop around, the closest ones are over an hour away. all i have to work with is sears/dicks, and the 1 boat at dunhams an Old town guide 147. what do you guys think, can you give me alittle input. Ive been researching alot and have been learning alot. so if i can have alittle guidance that woudl be great, i know dick’s cant give me much.
Mitch
A real male nurse
would paddle his craft upstream :+)
Check the classifieds on this site and be prepared to drive a bit and test a bunch of different boats. My canoes are decked ( aka kayaks) so I can not do much more than jerk your chain. Lots of canoe folk in your neck of the woods though.
haha
I wish i had the ability to paddle my canoe up stream. i checked the classifieds, little mreo than im looking to spend, i dont really want to spend much over 350-400 i will if i absolutley have to but like i said, not doing anything extreme here, not going to deal with any rappids or anything. just floating down the river.
thanks
Mitch
"Motor Boatin"
You shouldn’t have any trouble paddling upstream and floating back down. We do it all the time. If you are on a river that you won’t be able to paddle upstream the motor probably won’t take you up it either. You will be taking away from the canoeing experience (peace & quiet/minimal stuff to be concerned with/simplicity/etc) with the motor and all that goes with it. You also need to check your boating regs to see if the addition of a motor changes your classification.
You would also have the option of a clamp on side motor mount that goes on a standard canoe. That way you don’t need a square stern to put a motor on.
A word of caution though. My brother uses an electric motor on his canoe (OT Guide). He went with us on a day trip on the Wisconsin River a couple years ago. That little motor really let him zip along at a good clip. We fished about 4-5 miles downstream from the put-in. My bro was having so much fun he zipped past us and went out of sight even further downstream. As the day was getting late and wind was picking up we decided to head back. Bro was nowhere to be seen even though we paddled a half mile further down stream to look around the bend. Turns out his battery died and with all the extra weight towards the rear of the canoe his bow was way high and caught the wind like a propper sail. He paddled his butt off til almost dark to get back and hasn’t gone with us, or paddled anywhere since.
Tom
Blue Mountain Outfitters
I’m not sure where in central PA you are, but I’ve dealt with the folks at Blue Mountain Outfitters a couple of times. They’ve treated me well.
http://www.bluemountainoutfitters.net/
A Different View
It’s fine to dislike motors because they disturb the peace and quiet, but to each his own. If a person needs a motor, I have no problem with that.
When you say that if you can’t paddle upstream the motor probably won’t take you upstream either, that’s just plain wrong. A medium-sized electric motor can probably push your canoe at 6 mph or more. Even the smallest gas motor can do better than that. Nobody can solo-paddle a tandem canoe that fast.
This makes a huge difference for going upstream. In a typical quiet but swift river which flows 3 mph, the average solo paddler with a cruising speed of 4 mph can only go 1 mph upstream for an extended time (maybe 2 mph for short sprints). At that rate you’ll spend four hours paddling upstream for every hour you fish coming downstream. That’s not a good ratio of fishing time to non-fishing time. Now, with a motor, you can go faster upstream than you will be drifting downstream, so you spend more time fishing than boating, and that’s a good thing.
When it comes to actual travel speed relative to dry land, upstream travel amplifies any difference in actual speed through the water, while downstream travel reduces those differences. For paddlers, this means that ANY improvement in equipment or paddling technique will have a significant effect on how fast they go upstream, but for going downstream, those same changes won’t matter nearly as much. Thrown in a really big speed change like you get with a motor, and the comparison is off the chart. I could do the math here in more detail to clarify that if necessary.
For people who really can put a motor to good use, I always recommend a very small gas outboard instead of an electric. They cost more, but even carrying enough fuel to cruise for a few days, the overall weight will be only one-third to one-half the weight of an electric motor plus its battery (depending how big a gas motor you use). Besides being unnecessarily heavy, an electric motor can only run for a few hours at high output.
Guide 147
It’s a great boat for an electric motor boat I’d try it as a row boat first. I’ve set a guide up as a mini river dory an I can row it upstream just fine. Oars atre cheaper than a motor and a battery and a bracket.
Just email me if you need help seting it up to row.
Watch out
They frown on anything that makes noise on this site. I learned that the hard way.
More power to you!
Sokoki
by Vermont Canoe (I’m bias of course). www.vermontcanoe.com for detailed specs.
14’
Vee bottom (versatile)
50lbs
Kevlar (meaty layup)
Jim Henry design for fishing, hunting, and general paddling enjoyment.
Blue Mountain Outfitters can get one (if they are out of stock)
Goes great with a motor mount and electric trolling motor.
Noisy Electric Motor???
I don't have any issues with someone else using an electric motor. I don't think they are noisy in the least bit actually. To each his/her own. Just wanted to relate my experiences with the use of one. If someone has a physical reason that requires the use of a motor, or if they just want one, my point was to make them aware of the trouble they could potentially get into (writer did say they were a newbie).
Mitch most likely won't be able to get much of a motorized canoe with the $350 or so he hopes to spend. Start adding up electric motor, deep cycle battery, deep cycle charger, motor mount, battery case, canoe, pfd's, paddles,and ???. Might be better off putting it all towards a decent canoe & paddles if that would work out.
On the upstream issue, we attempted to paddle up a section of a nearby river in a tandem canoe a couple summers ago. We went from deep water to gravel bar, to sand bar, to mud bar, to sharp zig zag turns, etc,etc, and could not make it. No motor or paddle would have allowed us to navigate upstream in those particulars.
On the issue of gas outboards, I don't believe the really small sized ones are being made anymore-could be wrong though.
Tom
How much
How much do one of those canoes run. cant find much information on cost.
thanks
Mitch
As dsetzer said…
Blue Mountain Outfitters is a great shop. Depending on where in Central PA you are, I would also check out Tussey Mountain Outfitters in Bellefonte, PA or McCracken Canoes near Woodland,PA just off of I 80 near Clearfield.
Sokoki cost…
$2,225.00 Life time warranty