Attaching porta boat to camper

JD5150 wrote:
We use to have a 14 foot Porta-Bote with a Game Fisher 7.9 hp. We had a travel trailer at the time so we carried it on the pickup ladder rack. I do have to say we never owned the 8, 10 or 12 foot Porta-Bote but the 14 foot was a very good boat and handle rough water very well. We were quite surprised on how well it handled in rough water. 14 footer is suppose to handle better in rough water than the smaller ones. Boat never leaked a drop of water and highly recommend it. We moved on to a bigger boat but if we ever needed a portable boat again the 14 footer would be on our list.

Wife and I got into a situation while on the lake with the wind coming up unexpected. When waves crashed against the boat the boat flexed and absorbed the shock of the wave. It was quite interesting but made us believers on how well it handled. I guess we are still alive to talk about it:B

We'll second that.
I run everything from a 17' Classic Whaler to a 42' Post to the off-shore canyons...I have been in a LOT of boats.
We have been very impressed with our little porta-bote.
Takes a little getting used to the flex...once you "get it" you will see they are very stable/versatile craft.
We run our's on the big lakes up North as well as around the bay here at home. We have taken it to islands 3 mi off shore to go clamming.
It is a very cool little boat...

B

We use to have a 14 foot Porta-Bote with a Game Fisher 7.9 hp. We had a travel trailer at the time so we carried it on the pickup ladder rack. I do have to say we never owned the 8, 10 or 12 foot Porta-Bote but the 14 foot was a very good boat and handle rough water very well. We were quite surprised on how well it handled in rough water. 14 footer is suppose to handle better in rough water than the smaller ones. Boat never leaked a drop of water and highly recommend it. We moved on to a bigger boat but if we ever needed a portable boat again the 14 footer would be on our list.

Wife and I got into a situation while on the lake with the wind coming up unexpected. When waves crashed against the boat the boat flexed and absorbed the shock of the wave. It was quite interesting but made us believers on how well it handled. I guess we are still alive to talk about it:B

Vic R

That is a standard 60" Yakima rack. I simply kept adjusting and moving it forward as far as possible. There is also a boat loader bar on the driver side for loading/unloading.

I raised the camper about 2 inches in the bed to provide space for the tail of the (12 ft.) bote hull. Note the wood block on the T bar is to raise the front hull slightly so it will align between the camper and the truck roof.

I also had to make some anti-rattle components for the T bar/hitch connections.

If you do this, do not be surprised if your mpg increases when carrying the bote due to better aerodynamics.

RickW - I'm contemplating the exact same set up you have. I already have the front hitch and I just picked up one of the T-Bar units at a yard sale. The part that has me stumped though is the rack on the cab. Is that yackima/ thule and if so, how far back are you from the windshield and how did you mount on the cab? At least on my Dodge, I have a pretty good curve a ways back from the windshield. I figure I'd do a permanent rack on the cab and put an air deflector on it when I don't have the boat.

thanks,

-Vic

Might add that more and more reservoirs that are used to provide drinking water for communities are banning the use of 2-stroke outboards.

I attached our 10'8" Porta-bote as previously mentioned by using 2x2 inch 1/8" stainless steel angle and making two sections an inch longer than the jack mounting brackets. I removed the two side jacks and used the brackets as templates for drilling the holes. I was able to use the original mounting bolts again. Next made longer sections of angle steel to bolt to these short sections and fastened them using stainless steel security bolts and nylon insert nuts.

I made a 5/16" stainless steel wire rope bridle for the boat and ran it through the two holes at the bow and crimped on a copper sleeve. I lock the boat to the camper using both the bridle and the rear lock on the rear mounted bracket. The rear bracket alone provides very little security as a thief would only need to slide the boat forward a foot, pull out the rear of the boat and slide the boat back again to walk away with it.

There are some drawbacks to using the Porta-bote with a camper. Everything needs to come out or off the boat (motor, rod holders, oars, anchor, fishing rods, wheels, and other gear both at the start of the day's use and after a day's use. The assembly and collapsing of the boat is minor compared to the loading and unloading. This is doubly a problem with the limited space inside a truck cab and tiny amount of storage space with a slide-in camper.

We have also decided to stop dealing with the 6HP outboard and gas can and instead take the much lighter trolling motor and a small battery. The 6HP provides plenty of power but needs to be carried along inside the cab of the truck. Going to a 8-10 HP means going from 57-60 lbs. to a 90lb. motor and a 15HP takes it up another 20-30 lbs. in weight.

The Porta-boat is not a great vessel when there are water skiers around throwing up large wakes. We avoid lakes that allow water skiers and personal watercraft. Fortunately there are lakes in the Western US where they have either a 5 MPH speed limit or require the use of an electric motor.

I have a 14' bote that I carry beneath my RV (Sorry I know that does not apply to a TC)
I use a 8 hp Nissan 2 stroke to power the bote.

Hi Rick, i had to go completely across the country to finally find it .

bobndot wrote:
A set of roof racks or as one of our members did......

HEY!

That looks exactly like mine! :h

Thanks Skipp, Bob, and Bill, hope to add a porta boat to the camper. Like the idea of having it everywhere we go.