Sandy, I won't attempt to answer all your questions, but I haul
canoes on the roof of my slide-in camper. If the camper already has
some sort of rack, you may be able to utilize those by bolting 2x4's
to them, and if necessary build up a few inches so you can straddle
some of that hardware that is on the roof. This is what I did. If
there is no other choice, then build a T-bar on the roof, (or a
slope-bar over the air conditioner) like you see on kayak carriers,
and carry the canoe on its side. As for loading/unloading onto
the roof, put two rollers made from 2 inch PVC pipe as far to the
rear as possible. Carry the canoe up to the rear of the camper, and
place the point on a roller. Climb up the ladder and stand on the
roof. Grab the point and pull the canoe up over the rollers and
position it for tie-down. I don't know a better way.
For you and your dog, a canoe of 15 feet or thereabouts is
adequate. If you are really concerned about weight, that limits your
choices to kevlar or carbon fiber boats, and both are expensive. A
side-mount motor bracket is available, and a very small motor is
really all you will need.
It can be done, not overnight. Good Luck. Tom McCloud.
On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:53:24 -0800 (PST), sandy <fossilnut@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>I want to buy either a canoe or a kayak and I'm hoping you can help me
>make a decision. My needs are:
>
>1. It must be able to accommodate me and my (65 lb.) dog Princess.
>(Hubby recently passed away and Princess and I want to go travelling/
>fi****ng/messing around.)
>
>2. It must be fairly light and ****table. I'm 63 and have noticed
>that canoes that we had a few years ago kept getting heavier & heavier
>as the years went by!!! I'd really LIKE to be able to carry it
>somehow on my slide-in camper but can't quite picture how that would
>work (the roof has AC & 2 solar panels, etc. Not sure how well an
>inflatable would work with Princess. Haven't looked much at folding
>canoes but the ones I've seen on the web didn't look that impressive.
>I might tow a car that I could put the boat on or get a small boat
>trailer.
>
>3. It would be nice to be able to put a small outboard on it (for
>those times when I'm too exhausted/lazy or just want to troll)
>
>I want to use it mostly for fi****ng/exploring on lakes but I'd also
>take it down to Baja (Bahia de Conception).
>
>Right now I've got a Windrider 17 sailboat that I LOVE but it's pretty
>impossible for me to rig by myself and I'd like to be able to easily
>launch a boat by myself.
>
>Really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!
>
>Sandy
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