Kayak Stabilizers On A Canoe

[Felix77]

All,

 

Have any of you used these or other stabilizers on a canoe.  I have a 12' pointed Radisson canoe and was considering buying these for it.

 

I have seen pics with them mounted on the front, middle or back so I assume it doesn't matter all that much where they are placed.

 

Thanks

[Darren.]

Absolutely!

 

But I made my own - used Scotty holders, PVC, and lobster buoys. Easy to make, extremely stable.

[Darren.]

In fact, if you hit the myriad of kayak forums (better yet, Google "DIY Kayak Stabilizers"), you'll find a LOT of ideas.

 

Some are fantastic, giving you the ability to lift your stabilizers out of the water for when you need speed.

[J Francho]

I believe Goose has them on his boat.

[Felix77]

In fact, if you hit the myriad of kayak forums (better yet, Google "DIY Kayak Stabilizers"), you'll find a LOT of ideas.

 

Some are fantastic, giving you the ability to lift your stabilizers out of the water for when you need speed.

 

Thanks for the tip ... I love all the ideas out there and it looks relatively easy to put together.  Just need to get creative at Loews or Home Depot again.  LOL

 

This one is particularly interesting.  This combined with using buoys is something I have in mind now.

 

http://paddle-fishing-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=269222

[Goose52]

We have the same canoe and I run outriggers on mine. As Darren said, there are lots of ways to make these yourself if you want to go that route.  Mine are store-bought  (Spring Creek Outfitters). The crossbar for my outriggers forms the foundation (one-stop shopping so to speak) for not only the floats, but also the motor mount, rod rack, and anchor mount. Clamp on the crossbar, plug in the floats, and you've got all 4 of those features in place in about 2 minutes rigging time.

 

On location of the outriggers - if you are going to paddle, you have to experiment with finding a location that doesn't interfere with your paddling stroke.  I motor about 98% of the time so for me, the logical location was aft.  This is not only best for motoring, but with the floats behind me, I don't have anything in front of me that would interfere with fighting/landing a fish. 

 

Another consideration is height of the floats. Some people rig these to touch the water. That gives you LOTS of primary stability, but also LOTS of drag.  I set my float height so they are several inches above the water when you have the boat trimmed on the roll axis.  When motoring, neither float touches the water. When you want to stand up, just lean a bit one way or the other to get a float on the water (in essence, secondary stability) and you're good to go.

 

They look funky, and canoe purists hate them, but with my outriggers I can stand nearly the whole time I'm on the water and only sit down when making  a run to another spot, landing fish, and eating lunch...

 

[webertime]

I have the same model as goose. Very stable, I'm a big dude and have no problem with feeling like I'll dump the canoe.