Canoe Propulsion.

[Coen Cameron]

Hello everyone.
I was wondering about canoe propulsion.
Obviously there is paddles (duh), and electric motors, and small petrol engines, but what other options are there? I'm looking for cheap here, it may seem silly, but is there any way of adapting, say, a lawn mower engine into a small outboard for a canoe?
Any suggestions, or ideas would be really helpful.
Thankyou.

[Shortytheyakker]

Not a lawnmower motor a whipper snipper mounted on the back,with a propeller on the end,,you have cables running to the back so you can turn it plus accerator cable.

I have seen u tube footage and i can tell you they fly along :)

[lewa]

What about a sail:D

[Coen Cameron]

Hmmmm.
A whipper snipper sounds pretty good. only a couple of questions about that, Firstly, would the whipper snipper be able to handle the extra resistance caused by the water on the blades? and secondly, To my knowledge, whipper snipper engines are air cooled, would that be a problem on a boat? and would it be able to handle being run for extended period of time (say half an hour) without blowing up?
Hehe, I like the idea of a sail, I have actually considered fitting a small sail to a small canoe I have, just for the hell of it, but I don't think it would quite work for a fishing canoe.
Thanks.

[CHUNQX]

I was looking at this very thing a few years ago to power a basic sit-on-top that I had. The motor had to be small and light for obvious reasons and I found one that fit my description. It was a Sevylor 12V electric motor which was purpose made for the Sevylor inflatable boats. If you shop around, you can get one for around $120+. I gave up the idea for a couple of reasons:
1. In VIC, if you have any motorised propulsion, it is considered in the boat category which means I have to have all the safety stuff required in a boat (fire extinguisher, flares, boat licence etc) which is ridiculous for a basic sit-on-top kayak because I have hardly enough room to put my fishing gear let alone all the extras. (Goes to show the dimwits we have in the Marine Legislation Dept... probably a prerequisite for a job there is you have to demonstrate a high level of stupidity and lack of common sense)
2. The battery you need to keep one of these going for a reasonable amount of time will be pretty heavy.

Ended up going the Hobie Mirage instead.....

[Coen Cameron]

Hmmm, i like the idea of an electric motor, but i think it will be a little out of my price range, and heavy batteries aren't a good thing. I would love a hobie mirage drive angler or pro angler, but I don't have any where near enough money to get one, I think If I had enough cash to buy one of them, I would spend it on a little tinny instead.

[-Pivot-]

If you wanna go cheap just grab a couple of branches and paddle like hell.:D
And on a serious note, I'm pretty sure if you buy canoe the paddles should be free with it anyway. Also You can get some electric motors for arond about $400, what is your budget?

-Pivot-

[CHUNQX]

You might find a second hand Hobie very affordable. The Pro Angler is the top of the range and is expensive but if you look around, a second hand Hobie Sport's price may surprise you.

[Crayfish]

A 2nd hand Hobie Sport is still going to be atleast $1200 and most completely kit them out so they sell them for even more

[Coen Cameron]

Mmmm, i think a hobie is out of the question unfortunately. I really would like to get my hands on one of those big plastic canadian canoes, and deck it out. I thionk it would fit my purpose pretty well. But even they are fairly expensive for what they are.

[smicko]

The Quokka is your friend

INFLATABLE 2.1m Ventura, with wooden floor, near new 2hp Yamaha outboard, c/w oars & current lic $900 ono. Lmng. 0450-077-160

14FT RED SPEEDBOAT!!! $1200 ONO!!! Lightweight fibreglass boat. 25HP outboard motor. comes with registered trailer. good to go and a great boat to do up. live in Rockingham

Dinghy, Finn Spindrift, 3.3hp Mercury TwoStroke - $1950/best offer, Mandurah, more info www.BuyABargain.com.au/dinghy or call 0424 094 286

CANOE vgc $250. Wlrd. 9419-6672

CANOE 8', with paddle $100. Kwna. 0403-662-725

DINGHY 3.35m, Johnson 9hp, with trailer, all fully lic $1600. Crlsle. 0415-369-505

DINGHY alum, 3.6m car topper, HIN, lic, 7.5hp o/board, lic trailer $1000. Byfd. 0410-123-844

DINGHY 3.2m, 6hp Johnson, all safety gear, hull lic 12 mths, on unlic trailer $1000 ono. Wkiki. 0405-055-930

DINGHY inflatable, Scirocco, 2.2m, used only once, optional Parasun motor, 2.5hp $800 or optional Mercury motor, 5hp $1000. Strlng. 0419-042-149

etc etc

[Coen Cameron]

Aaaahhh yeah! I have a current quokka siting around, I will have to have a look at that one in kwinana for $100, i'll ring em today.

[Hazell]

How did you go? Find anything decent?

[Coen Cameron]

Uuuum, not really. I have placed a wanted ad in the quokka this week, so i'll see where that takes me. I do actually have 2 of those "adventure kayaks" which might b good for fishing from (but i'd need to do some work to them), but I just reckon a sit in boat, that I can stand in would be better than a sit on boat where I can't stand. Ideas? suggestions?

[crusty]

Uuuum, not really. I have placed a wanted ad in the quokka this week, so i'll see where that takes me. I do actually have 2 of those "adventure kayaks" which might b good for fishing from (but i'd need to do some work to them), but I just reckon a sit in boat, that I can stand in would be better than a sit on boat where I can't stand. Ideas? suggestions?

If you already have the adventure kayak floats might be heaps cheaper to modify it to do the job for the moment and make do, while you save your cash to get what you want first up. It may not be a Skeeter or Nitro but its a start.

Its is generally cheaper in the long run to buy well once rather than buy and then upgrade later.

Post a pic and ask for suggests.

[Coen Cameron]

Hmmm, ok I will put some pics up and see what you all think. Would it be better to post the pics in this thread, or to start a new one?

[Hazell]

This one will be fine for those who are following it.

[Coen Cameron]

Hi again.
Here are a few photos of the kayak.
Please let me know whether you think it is suitable for fishing or not, if so, let me know what modifications/additions I can make to make it better for fishing.
Thanks.
Fox terrier included for scale.
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4500/kayak003small.jpg (http://img525.imageshack.us/i/kayak003small.jpg/)http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3536/kayak002small.jpg (http://img694.imageshack.us/i/kayak002small.jpg/)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/9205/kayak001small.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/i/kayak001small.jpg/)

[CHUNQX]

Some rod holders will be handy, also if you could find a clip of some sort to keep the paddles away from you to free up space to fish otherwise you'd find you have a balancing act trying to keep the rod in the yak, trying to make sure the paddles don't fall off all the while trying to make that perfect cast and do the twitching thing....
Depending on how heavy the yak is, I find having a kayak trolley helps A LOT!

[shufoy]

She'll do the job mate, get a rod holder fitted, mount an esky or crate on the back and get out there. Just be sure to wear a decent PFD1, and be careful. Wouldn't go out of sheltered waters on it mate, get used to it first, and make sure you have a half decent paddle.

Or alternatiley, get yourself something like this!:)

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m134/shufoy/1-53.jpg

[crusty]

She's fine (as long as it floats).
There is a fishing kit available at my local camping shop to go on the viking nemo kayaks which are similar to your one. I consists of a couple of the cheap rod holders (cut a hole glue and screw them in) to sit behind you ($10each maybe), an elastic cargo net for the back section to hold down a tackle bag, a paddle clip for the side ((bit of the elastic rope screwed down and hook to clip it into to hold the paddle in place, and slightly fancier rod holder for the front (adjustable angle and direction). the kits $150 which seems on the high side for me considering whats in it.

Saw a pic on another forum where a guy had shaped some pvc tube into an arch, added t sections at the bottom of each leg of the arch and put it under the ropes running around the kayak. It was removable and he had his rod holders mounted on it. Looked effective.

do a search on kayak fishing. there are forums devoted to it now. shouldbe heaps of ideas in there.

[Coen Cameron]

Thanks for you're suggestions guys. I will only be fishing the upper reaches of the swan, so I don't think i'll have any problems with waves or anything like that. Hopefully i can start to work on it and add some features in the next few days, i'll start a new thread and put pics of my progress.
Btw, is it a silly idea to add a small chair to the kayak, just to get me off of the water a bit?
Thanks.

[Shortytheyakker]

The first thing i would do is secure a milk crate in the back,you can put your gear in there place if you have two or three pieces of PVC pipe sticking up you can carry two rods and a small net,,a small net is important as when you land bream etc they could be jumping around in your lap, trebles in your balls do not add up to a fun day on the water,,

I would not add a seat it will affect the center of balance and you will tip over,,,

[Hyper Tackle]

There's a company in Aus that makes a prop that fit's onto whipper snippers, can't remember the name but pic attached

Mark

[CHUNQX]

[QUOTE=Shortytheyakker;275442], trebles in your balls do not add up to a fun day on the water,,
QUOTE]

:D:D This brought a big grin to my face reading this! Oh yes, back to the subject, you might find it harder to balance without tipping with a chair. No chairs unless your yak's name is Hobie Pro Angler....

[Coen Cameron]

baaaahahahaahaha trebles in the balls doesn't sound like much fun, thanks for that mental image! lol.
Would a chair be OK, if the boat has small outriggers?
Also, thanks for the milk crate idea, that sounds pretty good.

[Shortytheyakker]

Its not the trebles on your donger or balls thats the problem,,

Its the size of the fish on the trebles that makes life a bit interesting i have heard,,:eek:

[Coen Cameron]

hahahahaha yeah I see where you're coming from, A 40-cm bream, attached to you're tackle via a treble hook really is going to ruin you're day, and probably you're tackle as well. lol.

[kayakbream]

Hi there,

I bought my old kayak for $150 including the paddle- I've since done all sorts of crazy things to it, but the first thing I did was fit two $5.00 rod holders, and caught plenty of bream from it.. I've even taken it out off Hillaries but it was a bit scary!! I guess my point is that you don't need to spend a lot to fish, all that extra stuff just makes it easier...

[Coen Cameron]

Hello again everyone.
I have spent some time fiddling with the kayak, It is nearly ready to go, i just have to add a rod holder and she will be set.
I will start a new thread in the kayak/canoe fishing forum with pictures of my progress soon for anyone who is interested.
Thanks

[anselmo]

why not check out www.akff.net/forum
loads of kayak related fishing info there

nice bunch of guys too

[kayakbream]

Hey man, how's the canoe/yak going?

[Coen Cameron]

Hey, It's going great, I still need to put some rod holders and other bits on it, which I am struggling to do, because it is fiberglass and I don't want to go drilling into it, but there is nowhere else to attach things.
But anyway, I have taken it out on the river, and I landed my first (and second) bream on lure from it. It does everything I wanted it to, I can even stand up and cast a fly in it. I took it out in into a protected bit of ocean and it handled the little swell really well, but I don;t think I'd go much further offshore with it.
But yeah, its great!