14 HP not enough for HB

[North61]

Got beat to the kill by the boys in the Jet Boats again. Closest I came to moose was a black bear defending a gut pile. The 14HP Copperhead drives my HB Freighter 10-12 Kph max upstream (6-7.5 mph) and 24-25Kph downstream (15mph) In really shallow water I need to do a bit of ferrying to hit the foot+ of water my rig prefers. Thus it took me 2 days to get 60 river kilometers upstream. If I had it to do over again 20+ HP would be my choice.

You can see our trip here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMCs...r7OAnV0ceWlkmw

[Sid]

enjoyed the trip better luck next time SID roud:

[Amigo Will]

Did you take the bear?

[North61]

No I don't usually bother with a bear tag. Interestingly enough two weeks ago I was 70 yards away from a Grizzly who also didn't seem to worried about my presence either. Guess I ought to think about a couple of 10.00 bear tags next year.

The Griz Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkM...r7OAnV0ceWlkmw

[North61]

Here is a still of the bear challenging us. Getting near sundown so the long shutter speed and boat movement didn't help much




Earlier that day the sun poked out and I did some dream hunting



800 yards from the big bad bear we had our camp set up..Too dark to move

[tboehm]

Nice video, Just wonder about what you think the weight difference vs benefit of going with the bigger motor and do you think that the HB would like and handle the weight difference in the rear.

[North61]

Nice video, Just wonder about what you think the weight difference vs benefit of going with the bigger motor and do you think that the HB would like and handle the weight difference in the rear.

That's a good question. I think 18HP would be a good compromise. Hard to say without trying them and of course I haven't. Not even sure how much faster a bigger motor would be on a semi-displacemnt hull. I do know I'd love a bit more speed.

[Sid]

I know what you mean about speed, but with a 19 FT Grumman SQ an a 15 HP 2 cycle, the captin can put his hand on the gunnel
when setting , going full speed your fingers [ tips ] will be in the water that I know , it is not so much faster it is, the power you need
in turning the canoe when you need it , then it is you trying to bend the canoe with all the power on the back end ,
I don't know how much power you can have on the back end over time an have the canoe stay in good shape,
just remember in big water you don't zigzag the way we do in small streams so you should not have a problem as we have in
south central Alaska MY 2 CTS an what I think SID roud: PS I hope a made sence I ramble on some times