Pirogue on the Lay Away plan

[islandpiper]

Keith and Seedtick, What i'd like is something about 15-16 feet, maneuverable but not a "teacup" in the water, should track decently but not be welded to one line in the water. Helluva carrying capacity for my lard-butt and cast iron things....and gear, and guns and bows, and clothes and a folding chair. Decent reserve bouyancy so my heart won't stop if i peer over one side or the other while underway. Capable of living outdoors, inverted, in the weather, winter and summer since i don't have a boat shed like yours. Easy to maintain, no $300/gallon marine paints here. Heavy enough i can ram a cypress knee and light enough i can load it on my Suburban. Affordable. Faster than anything Jdupre' owns........no, never mind scratch that last item.

?????

piper

 

[seedtick]

come by and talk a bit

and be ready to compromise

living outdoors in the weather with cheap paint and easy to maintain don't exactly go hand in hand

neither does heavy enough to ram a cypress tree and light enough for you to put on the suburban ........... how 'bout in the suburban?

think about something 15' long, 28" bottom, 1/4" marine ply on sides, 3/8"marine ply on bottom, cypress trim, duralux paint

similar to this

 

[islandpiper]

Seedtick, that's not the boat you had Kayak (Peerow) Jack paddling a couple years ago is it? Looks longer.

I could build a cover over my boat rack to keep the sun and bird poop off it but i really don''t have a place to hang it right now inside. I have always thought that letting a boat dry out completely was not a good thing, either I've seen lots of otherwise great old OLD TOWN canoes about ruined by sitting in the attic of the garage for twenty years and turning to big potato chips.

What do you suppose the empty weight of a fine vessel like the one pictured might be? I could build or buy a roof roller so i could load the boat from the end and not the side of the vehicle. If the bottom were flat, across the beam, then it could ride right side up and when i get EVEN OLDER it would be easier to load and unload, no inversion needed.

I understand compromise. It's like having a new fishing catalog in hand, and a six pack in the fridge on a sunday afternoon when the Colts are going to whip some would-be team from a south-western state and the cat isn't hogging the sofa.......and we compromise and go to Target to look at new bathroom curtains instead.

piper

 

[seedtick]

The "loaner" pirogue that Jack used is a 12 footer

we don't usually weigh our boats - folks here on the forum are the first ones we've run into that worry a lot a weight.

But I'd reckon a 15 footer like i just described would be in the 100 or so pound range

get a hitch extender and put it in the suburban instead of on the top - lot shorter distance to pick up
you could even modify the end of the extender to include a roller so it would roll into the suburban

 

[islandpiper]

Seedtick, I'll look in the surplus sites for a CO gas mask that I can drive in. Leaving the back doors open sucks exhaust directly INTO the vehicle.

I don't give a hoot what it weighs in pounds. Let's measure it this way: could a 65 year old geezer with a worn out right hip and old knee job pick it up after spending 4-5 nights sleeping (somewhat) in a hammock and toting all his other gear up and down a muddy bank lift it?

Maybe I'll look at trailers from Harbor Freight and see if one could be modified to work. The Suburban is only 14-years old, but someday i may need to trade it in on something newer, like a 2001 or so.

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

Loading a boat on a trailer is a lot easier then car topping it. There is no weight lifting or pressing the 100 or so pounds to shoulder or over your head routine.

Any small boat trailer can be modified either for the inverted carry or the normal open side up carry. With the trailer there is no necessity to unload the boat , for storage , just walk the trailer under a small cover and both the boat and trailer are protected from the weather.

Getting it to the water is also really simple if it is on the trailer in the standard configuration. Get there unstrap the boat , load your stuff in it and back it into the water or unload the boat , then pack it and paddle away.

A small roller on the end of the trailer makes it even easier , just put the bow on it , lift the stern and push it on... heck that can be dome with just some well placed ( carpeted ) bunks on the back half of the trailer.

There are a multitude of ways to set a trailer up for paddle boats and a lot of folks use the painted ones from Harbor Freight... I like the galvanized ones from the boat dealers due to the salt water surrounding this state ( Florida) .

 

[islandpiper]

My first idea was to replace my current UJ with a new one, less rocker and a bottom that is not rotting away. Or learn to swim with a dutch oven under one arm.

It was not my best idea to add a trailer, registration, tax, license, storage space and insurance to the mix. Plus a hitch ball different than the one the travel trailer uses.....etc and more etc. KISS

piper

 

[Kayak Jack]

<SNIP> Let's measure it this way: could a 65 year old geezer with a worn out right hip and old knee job pick it up after spending 4-5 nights sleeping (somewhat) in a hammock and toting all his other gear up and down a muddy bank lift it?<SNIP> Or learn to swim with a dutch oven under one arm.

That particular geezer is doing good to pick HIMSELF up after a few days in camp, let alone a load. :roll:

And, can I watch whilst you try this English Channel swimming event? Tickets oughta go for at least $25 a crack. I could finance a new toy with my profits. (already counting anticipated monies, gazing into catalogs, making wish lists) :wink:

 

[tx river rat]

This thread is prime example of the phrase ,location sensitive. Chuck needs light weight for his doctor , I need it for the places I put my boat in,100 lb boat would kill you putting in and taking out,unless you had several young bucks to handle the chore. Seedticks boats are awesome and reflect the location they are used in.
Ron

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

Piper-I replaced all my 1-7/8" couplers with 2" to match the largest of the three trailers. No need for switching hitch balls that way. No good ideas about the registrations though. LA as bad as MI for trailer plates? $75 for a permanent trailer plate after I paid $8 a year for for the previous 30 years. :evil: :twisted:

 

[oldsparkey]

I have one hitch and the different size balls for it can be changed just by removing a pin then the ball and inserting a new one of the correct size and replacing the pin.
As far as the registration fee , take into consideration the chiropractor visits to get your back , back into shape when it gets thrown out , the days or work missed for those not retired. Then toss into the factor the cost of the overhead rack and later when trading the vehicle in the cost of the new rack.
Not even thinking about the time the camper is just sitting there not being towed down the road. Most larger camping trailers are used a few weeks ever year as far as camping from home. Compared to a light weight trailer and boat for personal camping.

"O" Well different strokes for different folks........ I still use both the rack ( so well named from medieval torture times ) and the trailer.

 

[islandpiper]

It's been dry here, no rain in over a month thanks to AlGore........so the money tree is not in full bloom. I may be able to pick a ten-spot here and there but the big bills are not hanging there this year. Still thinking about the best way to go.

piper

 

[jdupre']

Piper, build one of Chuck's 1/8" ply boats with a bit extra glass on the bottom.......... 35lbs is doable. That should take care of the lifting and the cypress knee part. A couple of brackets on the shady side of your shed with a few sheets of galvanized iron should take care of the weather part. $400.00 +or - total should take care of the cost part.

Joey

 

[islandpiper]

I've built three UJs and always liked them. I'd glass the inside this time, too. I've always just glassed the inside corners and not the bottom. That's where the trouble starts. And, there is no scarier sound than the bottom creaking when a cypress knee goes by and there's a gator on the left and a moccasin on the right and my paddling partner is a quarter mile away.......( Joey ) and the dutch oven and rifle don't float and it's a mere three miles back to the landing, the only place a man can WALK ASHORE on the whole dam lake. Yup......glass on the inside, too.

piper

 

[dawallace45]

Since I told my doctor that I wasn't prepared to give up paddling and archery she reckoned that I'd end up needing cortisone injections in the shoulder just to be able to use the arm at all , well it hasn't come to that because I've had a enforced rest from it all because of the back being so bad ,

Well because of a different supplement I'm talking the back is feeling better and so are most of the joints including the shoulder [ but only slight improvement in shoulder so far ] , doc has been monitoring improvements and says I may be able to keep using the bow if I stop paddling , so the plan is for the Hobie Mirage Outback
http://www.hobiecat.com.au/fishing/outback.html
to be my next kayak , just need to sell some more bows to pay for it

Got to admit that seeing the different boat builds makes me want to start building some thing all over again ,

Hell even seeing Pipers ideas for a Pirogue makes me want to build one , I'm just too suggestible for this forum

David

 

[oldsparkey]

Glassed all the way around sure stops any problems...... Take a little extra time to have something that will last. Not saying that folks not doing it that way are making a mistake. It is your boat so do it your way and we have a lot of good boats on here built the way that person wanted them. After all that is the main idea.

I like a light weight boat and one that has protection all the way around to keep it the way I made it.

Chuck.........

 

[Kayak Jack]

<SNIP> Hell even seeing Pipers ideas for a Pirogue makes me want to build one , I'm just too suggestible for this forum

As Eliza Doolittle's Daddy sang (in My Fair Lady) "When temptation comes, I jumps right in!"

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

<SNIP> Hell even seeing Pipers ideas for a Pirogue makes me want to build one , I'm just too suggestible for this forum

We all are, Dave. But we enjoy yielding to temptation.

 

[Kayak Jack]

<SNIP> we enjoy yielding to temptation.

OHHhhhh do we EVER! That's where I get my most fun, yielding to temptation. Plus, I gave up guilt for lent - that one, simple, step opened up a WHOLE NEW WORLD!

 

[dawallace45]

No more temptation for me , bugger it ! I'm only building bows from now on , I figure to spend more time using my kayaks than building more of them

David