a 3hp outboard will move the canoe at hull speed. any larger motor will
just waste gas as the canoe tries to climb over its bow wave. my father
had a 3hp outboard on a 16 ft canoe which he loaded down with lots of food
and equipment when prospecting.

its true that running a motor on a square stern 16 ft canoe is
uncomfortable due to turning around to hold the handle. stern mounted
motors are better on 20 ft and longer canoes.

I've found a sail a very good solution to strong head winds on the small
boats I've built specifically for paddling and sailing. I can stay out
when other paddlers have given up. Although sailing is a lot of fun it
would not be as practical as a motoring for most people. At one time,
before motors were available, sails for canoes were quite popular.

"Ronald Donahue" ) writes:
My wife and I have been paddling canoes for the past 30 years and kayaks
for the last 3 but sometimes the places we want to go are just too far or we
get tired of fighting the wind so I'm thinking or getting a square stern
canoe or maybe one of those brackets that you can put a small outboard motor
on. Anybody have experience with this type of set up or a better idea, any
suggestions?

Thanks

Ron Donahue




--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned