How many take boats with them?

NYCgrrl,

Yes, OK, Both my wife (female) and I (male) are only 75 now and still kids yet and been married for 56 years now but she is slowed some by her disability but sure doesn't stop her and she says it's not going to either! Was told in 1999 that she'd be in a wheelchair by 2006 and she said "NO I WONT" and she's not even after having had 19 surgeries so far. I don't care if I have to carry her, she will be going if she wants to.

RV'ing and Boating to anywhere we want to. Impossible to be able to experience things in life with giving/using excuses for giving up or not doing!

Taking a boat along when camping is certainly not limited to kayaks, canoes, or Porta Boats as the boats on trailers behind or pulled with another vehicle easily have outnumbered these carried boats more than 3 to 1 over our over 5 decades of RV'ing. All depends on what is planned, possible, and where!

colliehauler,

I understand and know about this 25HP max motor allowed as we have several of the small inland lakes here with this law. Big enough to plane off the Rebel when needed or wanted and still be legal. Having a 10 HP kicker is very smart too when venturing distances or long trips on open waters. Motor problems only seem to happen when you don't have that backup luxury! Murphy's law!

Some lakes even have a 10 HP max. Makes sense as a 200 HP on a suitable sized boat would just get to top speed before needing to slow down so you don't find yourself high on the beach on the other side. The right tool for the task at hand or planned rules!

However, 90 miles with just a 10 hp motor on the Rebel with a couple passengers or stuff onboard would be taking one very long day to get to your destination and the whole next day just to get back and hope the weather stays good!

travelnutz wrote:
NYCgrrl,

Not going to get any younger and there comes a time you can no longer be able to do it physically. Don't need a big boat to do it, just inside sleeping, food, and easily emptied toilet capabilities. A trip of a lifetime that will never be forgotten.

Outboard engines are golden for this long trip as they tip up and over any submerged obstructions or floating objects and prevent the costly repairs. We've done many sections of it but not the entire thing yet.

An alternate route variation is to take the Tombigbee Waterway when reaching Tennessee and go south to the Mobile River and on to Mobile Alabama and the Intercoastal Waterway thus avoiding New Orleans area.

Hehehe....I get younger everyday since my mother canna recall how old I am :B but that doesn't change the man's age;). The reality is together we're up to picking and choosing favored bucket items. I accept that there are somethings we won't be able to do together.

NYCgrrl wrote:
Somewhat on topic I recently read an article on "the Great Loop".
Sounds like relaxing fun and I wondered if anyone here has done it.

Now I doubt that I'll have the time and knowledge for it but the idea piqued my interest.

That sounds like a fun trip, never even thought about a trip like that.

Travelnutz- the reason I went with a 25hp is the lakes I would like to explore have a 25hp limit. The boat is rated for up to a 45hp motor. You are allowed a smaller 2nd motor 10hp and under.

Before we decided on a porta bote, we looked into the boat loader racks. The Australians have a bunch of really cool ones, they call aluminum boats "tinnies" if you google it. There are usually some us made ones for sale on Craigs List. We decided against that route because we have a canopy (topper for East Coast people), and most of the racks won't fit with the profile of the canopy we have.

PA12DRVR wrote:
"TW, if anyone is using a boat hauler that mounts on a truck, I'd like to hear your experience. I have a '14 Alumacraft that needs to travel on the truck."

Ditto this ^^^^

Sourcing a 14' boat for going on the truck either by itself or when towing the 23' "big boat".

FWIW, any given summer weekend, there are dozens of folks camping (equal mix of RV's and tents) at many Southcentral Alaska lakes with boats along, powered, canoe, kayak, even SUP's lately.

We had a 12' Alumacraft boat that we took with us when we had a travel trailer. I built a frame out of 2x4's with legs that slid into the truck bed pockets. I carpeted the top of the cross bars where the boat rested and used tie-down straps to hold the boat in place. I could manage it okay but 2 people were better to load/unload. With a 14' boat you would need a couple of people I'm sure. We had an extended cab truck and the front of the boat covered about half of the cab roof so I imagine that a 14' boat would come forward to about the windshield. We had 8' beds on our trucks also.

NYCgrrl,

Not going to get any younger and there comes a time you can no longer be able to do it physically. Don't need a big boat to do it, just inside sleeping, food, and easily emptied toilet capabilities. A trip of a lifetime that will never be forgotten.

Outboard engines are golden for this long trip as they tip up and over any submerged obstructions or floating objects and prevent the costly repairs. We've done many sections of it but not the entire thing yet.

An alternate route variation is to take the Tombigbee Waterway when reaching Tennessee and go south to the Mobile River and on to Mobile Alabama and the Intercoastal Waterway thus avoiding New Orleans area.

NYCgrrl wrote:
Somewhat on topic I recently read an article on "the Great Loop".
Sounds like relaxing fun and I wondered if anyone here has done it.

Now I doubt that I'll have the time and knowledge for it but the idea piqued my interest.

Go for it or even a portion of it. The US rivers are very much an unused recreational dream. A large portion of different rivers are untouched and exist in almost a wilderness condition. Of course, there are other areas that are well developed or have commercial enterprise but I've found a large part of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee, are truly beautiful.