Anybody with experiance with Porta Bote's?

MTboatguy

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My wife and I have been thinking about selling our current aluminum 14 foot fishing boat and picking up a Porta Bote so we can fold it up and hang on the side of the 5th wheel and do some traveling, our current set up works fine, because we can tow the fishing boat behind our 5th wheel as a dual, but we can't legally leave the state as the states that surround us, do not allow double trailer towing. I am looking at a 14 foot porta boat that weighs about 100 pounds and can handle a motor that weighs up to about 90 pounds which would cover my Mercury 9.8 motor.

I don't see anyone mentioning them on here, and was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

Thanks.
 

roscoe

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Dad had one about 10 years ago, only used it a few times, was a 12'er, old design.

Last year 3 of us went out in a new 14'er, with a 6 hp outboard.
It did fine, except for taking on a little water as we turned into a couple bigger waves. The water came over the bow. The bow is rather low.
We fished in it 2 days, probably 6 hours total.
It is a much better design than the older ones.
Durable as heck.
The guy drags it behind his Argo on old logging roads

Should be fine for 2 people as long as the waves are not too big.
 
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I bought a 12' PB in 1998 (old style) and loved it.($1200 -ish, a bundle back then.) 5 hp Merc. Maiden voyage on a lake included my 2 youngish kids, me, my bride, and little dog Sadie plus giant ice chest. Gas tank. Probably overweight, but no problems all day, or ever. While it seems "squishy" or flimsy, it's really very stable - like stand-up-to-fly-fish stable. Handles rough seas/wakes wonderfully; the hull seems to squish and slide through it all. Once I actually took my 75 y.o. mother (who doesn't swim) out in the ocean out through the Dana Point jetties. That's how much I trusted it. Riding solo, that Merc 5 really got it moving, maybe 12-18 mph? It skipped over the top of the water. Very low engine noise. No water-slapping noises like aluminum. Folding open to the launch (due to my mods with many wing nuts) took about 20 mins. Rode on top of my Tahoe, tied down like a 12' surfboard.

Used it until 2014 (16 years) when I sold it while trolling on a lake, when someone yelled out and offered me $200, yeah, I took it! Never any leakage. Bummers: The stock wimpy aluminum transom scared me, so I made a steel one. Brackets holding the seats were breaking, and assembly was hands and knees cumbersome, so I thought I'd get a 12' Lowe aluminum - my big mistake -- loud, unstable; tipsy, heavy. Wife and I actually got capsized by a wake in the rolling alumi! That would've never happened in a Porta-Bote. Wanting to sell the alumi now... and get a new 10' Porta ... BUT crap, PBs today are $1899 on sale!!! factory direct ; I can't afford one any longer. They're now a rich man's toy, if you axe me. But I absolutely recommend the old PortaBote. Can't speak for the new style - read about some unrepairable leaks in "the bellows" whatever that is. Check into it and see if it's a valid complaint. But if you ask PortaBote Co., they'll just blow smoke up your skirt about it.
 
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One thing more... with a 9.8hp, my opinion is you're overpowered times 2. A 5er would definitely be my max, IMHO, and I even thought THAT was hairy at times. I also have a Merc 2.5 I tried on the alumi, and it puttered me along quite effectively.

But if you go with the 9.8, call me so I can come video tape you; (America's Funniest Home Vids. needs material!)
 
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MTboatguy

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One thing more... with a 9.8hp, my opinion is you're overpowered times 2. A 5er would definitely be my max, IMHO, and I even thought THAT was hairy at times. I also have a Merc 2.5 I tried on the alumi, and it puttered me along quite effectively.

But if you go with the 9.8, call me so I can come video tape you; (America's Funniest Home Vids. needs material!)

Well by your name, I am guessing you live in the same state as I do, the reason I ask, is I have seen a guy last summer and saw him last weekend on Middle Thompson lake in his Porta Bote and he runs a 9.8 merc on the back of his and after talking, he has stated he has never had any problems with his set up. As far as motors, I have a 5 hp as well as a 3 hp, so I am engine poor to say the least, but the wife and I want to travel some and be able to go fishing, figured the PB would be a good way to do it, when we leave the state.

As far as America's Funniest Home Videos, after almost 30 years in the Military, a good amount of it in combat zones, there is nothing that could be worse that I could do in a boat than I have already done!
 

jbcurt00

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I don't know what motor Barato2 had on his porta-bote, or which length he had, but he regularly fished for sport fish that were bigger then his bote, in the Baja gulf, many miles off-shore. I don't think I'd go that far out w/ a 5hp motor.... To long to get out and come back. I'd bet it was a larger HP outboard.

It's been a long time since B2 posted or logged on, not sure what's up w/ him now.....
 
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MTBoat Guy - sorry I didn't notice your location during my responses. BTW, thanks for your Military Service.
The only reason I guess I'm cautious about bigger motors:
I never mentioned it above, riding solo with my 5, WOT, I learned to increase my speed and plane by moving off the rear seat to the floor, getting on my knees with my chest on the middle seat. moving that weight forward really made that PB skip over the surface -- until that (one time only) event when the entire front of the boat forward of the middle seat started to fold upward WIDTH-wise a few inches, plowing through the water. Yipes. Guess I crept a little too far forward at WOT... I only did that once! After that Fruit Of The Loom soiler, I've figured I discovered "my own" maximum for HP on the PB. Your mileage may vary!
 
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MTboatguy

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Well I will know this afternoon if I am the proud owner of a Porta Bote! If I win it, then I just need to figure out how to ship it to me!
 

MTboatguy

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Well it looks like I own it! ye ha, now just figure out how to get it to me, I might be taking a quick trip to California to pick it up! Lots of place to camp and fish along the way!

Got it for quite a good buy!
 

GA_Boater

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Ya know we need pics. LOL

That will open up the out of state areas for you since you can't double tow. No worries now. Good deal, MT.
 

MTboatguy

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Ya know we need pics. LOL

That will open up the out of state areas for you since you can't double tow. No worries now. Good deal, MT.

Should be fun, now if I could find one of the iBoat members that is heading N from Southern, CA it would be great!
 

Sea Rider

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If you compare your new Origami foldable boat performance against your previous alum boat will see that rocks too much to sides and you can feel water rolling under deck at speed which slows you down. Was about to bite the bullet moons back ordering a new one, found a boater that had a 13 footer without engine and I happened to have a Mariner 5 HP 2 stroke engine. So we got together and tested the combo, awful performance due to the described issues compared to any wooden or alum deck inflatable.

Happy Boating
 

MTboatguy

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With this one, I am not really looking for super performance just access to areas I don't currently have access to, like I said, I can't double tow outside off my state, so I am limited in where we can go, don't get me wrong, MT is a big state, with lots of places, but there are other places we want to go also.

And if worse comes to worse, I can always sell it for quite a bit more than I paid for it, they are highly sought after around these parts.
 

smokeonthewater

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I have actually considered building my own oragami boat and a rack to hang it under my 5th wheel..... I Tripple tow everywhere w my jeep behind my 5er and due to length am illegal in all 50....
I have been getting away with it so far but I'm pretty sure that if I put my V20 behind the jeep pushing 100' long I'll not get away w that ... Lol

The squishy floor and more so the cost have kept me from a portabote so far but like you I love the idea of a 3" thick boat to bring along.

I have a kayak I can put on top of the jeep to haul but it's a PITA to store as it is either crammed in my living room or stuffed under the trailer tempting thieves and critters.

A lot of people strap the portabote on the side of the trailer but with how rv's are built, constructing a simple shelf under the trailer IMHO is a much better solution.

An appliance drip pan w fuel/ oil absorbant sheets is good insurance if you plan to put your motor in the basement....

Dangit now you have me thinking about this again.... Off to google to look for plans.....
 
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Sort of a bummer for Admiral Rider to **** on your parade just hours after you bought it.
With 16 years in an old PortaBote, I got so used to its flexibility and smooth ride that I almost feel
creepy in a hard bottom. MT Guy, you're gonna love it, despite the criticism you'll hear.
 

1stHound

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Mt boat guy, I have a 2011 12ft portabote works just fine. only have a 6hp 4stk on the back and it will scoot right along. Almost too fast with one guy alone.
Don't know about your 9hp could be a bit too much. If not then just slow down a little, Great little fishing boats very stable but do feel very strange at first.
 

MTboatguy

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Like I said, we wanted this boat for specific purposes, I am not going to sell my aluminum boats right now as we can tow them behind the 5th wheel as long as we stay in the state. I have had friends try to double tow and every single one of them has been nailed within a few miles of crossing the state border, unlike many areas of the country, all of our weight stations are manned at the border and then just send a car right after you. So this purchase, just gives us more flexibility on where we can go and still be able to lake fish.

I don't worry about criticism, heck the reason we have so many choices is because not everybody likes everything every time. There are so many different types of boats, because there are so many different types of people and like I said, if we don't like it, I will not have any problems selling it and making money on it, I got a really good price on it.
 
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1stHound

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Glad you don't care much about popular opinion, who cares anyway your money your boat. I also have a aluminum boat along with the PortaBote,
I cheat though in the interest of time and put my Porta on a jet ski trailer. I usually go alone so it was quicker than the set up time required.

When I need to I just take it off the trailer disassemble and put in back of the pickup and hit those rough roads to remote lakes, Glad I didn't sell it when I got the aluminum boat, We are in a drought this year and very soon many lakes will be too low to launch a conventional boat, So it will be float tubes or the Porta.
 

MTboatguy

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Glad you don't care much about popular opinion,

Heck, they have sold over 50,000 of these boats, the Brits carried it up the side of Mt. Everest, the Japanese use them in their rescue operations and all I care about, is does it float, as I said, there are many different types of boats because there are many different types of people.

And besides, I got a brand new 14 footer with all of the factory parts that came with it, for $700.00 if I had purchased from the factory, it would have cost $2900.00 so I am pretty sure I am ahead of the game. This bote has never been in the water, the guy got it for a present and has never used it.
 
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