Thread: Powered Canoes? Many questions.

I am still using human power for my canoes and kayaks, but I have thought for some time that if I became too decrepit to paddle that I would fit an electric outboard to my canoe.

A canoe with a flat transom may be slightly easier to fit the motor, but it isn't particularly difficult to fit a bracket that mounts the motor on the side. In fact you can just use the clamps on the motor to clamp it to the side of the canoe with no extra brackets.

I wouldn't consider a petrol motor for two reasons. There are places you are allowed to use electric motors where petrol motors are banned. A good canoe moves along at quite a respectable pace with an electric motor, so you don't need anything more powerful.

I believe that if you are thinking of sometimes having two people on board, then about 15ft or 4.5 metres is the size you should be looking at. Much shorter than that and it becomes slow and has to be wider to get the necessary volume and stability and that makes it awkward to paddle.

if you are by yourself, I think you could put the battery right up at the bow and the canoe would then be trimmed reasonably well.

There is a bit of a discussion on this site about the size motor needed and there is quite a bit of information on other sites if you do a bit of a search for "electric motor canoe" or similar.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...tric-for-canoe

You might be surprised how little power you need for comfortable cruising and good range.

Hi, we are talking open decked Canadian styles canoes rather than the decked in kayak type?
I have seen an outrigger across the gunnels, braced on the inside with the motor (probably 2hp) hanging over the side.
The advantages over a flat stern would be that you could keep the weight more central, and possibly a more natural sitting position for hand on the tiller motoring.
Disadvantage would be a bit of skew when motoring, but it is easily counter steered.

One disadvantage I have with my 2hp honda outboard (I use it on an inflatable beaufort) is having to refuel after about 30 minutes or so. I would go for one with a separate tank that holds a good supply of fuel and has a gauge.

One of these days I would like to build a pvc pipe boat, similar to below.

[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF6pcWjctSA]Link[/ame]

cheers

One of my mates has an electric powered one and the rangers seem to be more lenient towards using them in areas where your supposed to only row. He also uses 2 large batteries and a few solar panels to recharge them for the return trip. I don't know much else.

Yep the Canadian style canoe is what I had in mind (not a kayak).
Would be using it for 2 people the bulk of the time, I'd think..

ENGINE

The issue of speed.... as I said I can relate to those BBQ boats - how would an electric powered canoe compare?

I'm thinking a salt water electric one would give me the most flexible use.

CANOE

Given for 2 people, and that the lighter the canoe the better - are there particular brands / styles etc I should be looking at?

I can't help a lot with recommendations of particular brands as I have built every canoe or kayak that I have owned (about 16 of them).

However, I can tell you that several friends of mine who are also old enough to be retired quickly became tired of the weight of their plastic sea kayaks and either built a lighter strip built kayak or bought a lighter kayak.

The weight on the water is not a big problem, but lifting the kayak or canoe in and out of the shed and onto the roof rack becomes a problem as you get older if it is too heavy. So weight is an important consideration.

As I mentioned before, length is also important. If a two person canoe is much shorter than 4.5 metres, there has to be too much compromise in other dimensions that will make it inefficient. In fact if you can find something fairly light that is a bit over 5 metres, it will probably move through the water more easily with two people on board. Unless you carry a lot of extra gear, there probably isn't any advantage in going over about 5.5 metres.

Hi Vlad, if you go with an electric motor, depending on how often you are planning to use the canoe, and how much you are prepared to spend, but this is one area where lithium batteries would be a good substitute for lead acid batteries.

Just a suggestion.

I looked at the logistics of adding an electric motor to my wife's fishing kayak. I think the laws are fairly consistent around Australia (others may know the specific rules for each state) but in WA once you add a transom mount the canoe or kayak has to be registered even if it has no motor.

Something you may need to consider.

I currently have a Finn kayaks Reflection canoe with their optional outboard motor bracket and use a 2hp Yamaha outboard, when I'm 2 lazy to paddle. Works nicely, noisier than electric but easier to carry extra fuel for additional range. Motor mounts on the left side.

Cheers

Steve