:?:
i have a 17 ft grumman whitewater model canoe from the early 1970’s that i have decided to rig for fly fishing. i have studied and agonized over the anchor system article for quite some time, just as joe mentioned doing in his process of inventing the system. i have aluminum decks fore and aft on my canoe and can’t access the inderside to attach u-bolts for fairleads but think i can overcome that obstacle. my primary question for joe and or rick is this: i transported my canoe cartop in the inverted position way back then and assume you do likewise. if you do indeed transport your canoe inverted, what do you do with the anchors during transport and how do you avoid damaging your camcleats ans u-bolts and all that protruding stuff while racking and unracking???
I carry all the other stuff in the back of my pickup. I carry the canoe inverted on the pickup with a rack made of PVC pipe on the back over the bed.
It takes a few tries to load and unload the canoe, but you can easily figure out how to do that.
Depending on the weight of your canoe, and your strength, you could just pull it off the side and then lay it down.
Hope this helps.
Rick
Same here as Rick. With a wooden canoe, though, I just drilled holes to insert U-bolts for the anchoring system. MOturkEE had a tremendous idea in that for his weights on the anchoring uses those ankle weights. I’ve been using plastic laundry jugs filled with sand, which tend to list the canoe one way or the other. One of the canoe catalogs I receive has an idea for setting up your anchoring system that would work for any canoe you don’t wish to compromise the deck. A 1 x 4 is rigged with a small pull wheel at the end with a U-bolt guide at the aft, all of which is no longer than 18 inches in length. This is then clamped to the deck. This is completely removable and should work just great. One for the bow, another for the stern. I’m guessing you could make the entire thing for less than $10. In our canoe building we use the large spring clamps, which would work well for holding the anchoring boards in place. JGW
thanks for the info guys, the 1/4 sounds like the ticket for my situation.
rick, what size pvc do you use for your canoe carrier? how is it affixed to your truck bed?
Let me see if I can explain this.
I think it is 1. 5 inches. I put four pieces down in the holes on the side of the bed of the pickup.
I have two pieces of PVC with “T” connection on the end that go across the pickup bed and fit on top of the pieces coming down. I have this set up so it is about 2 inches higher than the cab of the pickup.
I then run a piece of PVC the length of the bed with elbows on each end, with a little piece of pipe out of the end to fit into the “T” of the piece running across the bed.
The pipe is alittle above the bed of the cab so that when I put the cuushions under the cane they turn out about the same height.
If this is not c lear let me know and I will put it back on the pickup and take a couple of pictures.
Rick
jlm,
Two quick suggestions:
- Unless you’re married to the idea of using that Grumman, sell it ASAP and apply the money toward buying a much lighter boat, preferrably one made with a hull material like Royalex, fiberglass or kevlar. Grummans are durable boats, but a 17-ft. Grumman Standard weights 82-lbs. empty. I owned own one for years before someone stole it. Unless you are a professional body builder, humping 82-lbs. of weight overhead increases your risk of severe back injury, taking bad falls when carrying, etc.
Plus, aluminum canoes of any brand are extremely noisy boats on the water, which I feel robs you of the most important tactical advantage: stealth. “Iron boats” also become extremely hot or cold to the touch depending on the prevailing weather conditions.
One reality of canoeing that seldom gets mentioned is that the less a canoe weighs the more its owner will use it. So if your intent is to fish a lot, you’re better off not using a canoe that’s so heavy its weight crushs your spirit for taking lots of fishing trips.
- Invest in a serious canoe rack system, such as Yakima or Thule. For pickup trucks without bed shells I personally like the Oak Orchard rack system (which utilizes Yakima crossbars; those crossbars enable the use of adjustable gunwale brackets that cradle your canoe and keep the boat from yawing while the vehicle is underway).
Ideally the rack you build or buy will enable boat loading while you are standing at the SIDE of your vehicle. Loading and unloading from the side lets you lift the boat up onto the rack bars and slide it laterally across into its final carry position.
As a rule, the cam cleats in the 2-anchor system (which typically stand a bit higher than the gunwales) are only vulnerable to damage if you slide the canoe lengthwise onto the roof racks. A lengthwise slide causes both gunwales to rub against the crossbars down almost their entire length). Side loading onto the crossbars eliminates that risk.
As for what to do with the anchors: NEVER lift your canoe with the anchors attached, and NEVER car-top your canoe (driving down the road) with the anchors rigged and ready. You should be stowing both those anchors in your vehicle and waiting until you get to the lake. Lift the canoe down off the rack and set it on the ground. Then thread the anchor line backwards through the bow and stern fairleads, life the anchors and cam them off in the “up-locked” prior to launch.
Later, once you’re done fishing and have paddled back to the put-in point and pulled out onto dry land, uncleat each anchor line and pull it out through the bow and stern fairlead. Re-stow the anchors inside the vehicle prior to lifting your canoe onto the rack.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
I’ve no problem loading my canoe with the anchor system. I bought a self loader which attach?s to a rear hitch bar, then I just swivel the canoe to my roof rack and tie canoe down. By the way the anchor system works great on my 13 foot Sports Pal Canoe.
Hobo,
Curious: when it’s up on the rack does your canoe ride right-side-up, or upside down?
I’ve noticed those pivot loaders a few times but never looked closely into how they work. Sounds pretty cool.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”