inflatable tubes on fiberglass canoe?

[G_Sonn]

So, I had this idea to take the tubes from my sea eagle paddleski and mounting them to the sides of a 13'4 Indian River canoe that I have. The canoe is a square stern that was converted from a normal canoe at some point in its past, and the paddleski is one I got for free off cl because it needed a patch (score!). Neither one is particularly well suited to the St. Johns river (despite its proximity to the Indian river). Each boat has its own weaknesses and strengths. The paddleski is very stable and buoyant, but clumsy. The canoe is agile, relatively quick but kind of tippy for my taste. I have a set of stabilizers that I made. They work just fine, but they're just cylinders with rounded ends so I don't use them under power. Getting to the point, I was thinking that I would cut the "deck" out of the paddleski and maybe if possible leave them connected at the bow and "just" wrap it around the canoe. Like one of the walkerbay RIB kits. I figure that I would want to mount them with the bottoms of the tubes at the water line. Any thoughts?

 

[mansters]

Re: inflatable tubes on fiberglass canoe?

So, I had this idea to take the tubes from my sea eagle paddleski and mounting them to the sides of a 13'4 Indian River canoe that I have. The canoe is a square stern that was converted from a normal canoe at some point in its past, and the paddleski is one I got for free off cl because it needed a patch (score!). Neither one is particularly well suited to the St. Johns river (despite its proximity to the Indian river). Each boat has its own weaknesses and strengths. The paddleski is very stable and buoyant, but clumsy. The canoe is agile, relatively quick but kind of tippy for my taste. I have a set of stabilizers that I made. They work just fine, but they're just cylinders with rounded ends so I don't use them under power. Getting to the point, I was thinking that I would cut the "deck" out of the paddleski and maybe if possible leave them connected at the bow and "just" wrap it around the canoe. Like one of the walkerbay RIB kits. I figure that I would want to mount them with the bottoms of the tubes at the water line. Any thoughts?

Post some pics of the items in questions.
Maybee a couple tubes of 3m 5200, will get the job done

 

[Guest]

Re: inflatable tubes on fiberglass canoe?

I cant wait to see what it looks like complete

 

[G_Sonn]

Re: inflatable tubes on fiberglass canoe?

I"m going to try to get some pics up this weekend so that people can at least envision it a bit better. Foul weather and another, more pressing project have kept me at the drawing board with the RIB canoe. One thought I've had about it is that I've been thinking about replacing the bench seats with pedestal swivel chairs. The brackets that hold the bench seats up are riveted through the hull of the canoe. I could use those rivet holes (plus some others I'll have to drill) to rivet some kind of strap in that will hold the tubes in place. It would be easier to undo that way if it sucks.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: inflatable tubes on fiberglass canoe?

I have a thing for my kayak, it's a strap system with two inflatable sponsons. I remember the instructions showed them being used on a canoe as well. I strap 'em on to fish or nap in my kayak.
seawings? they're called something like that

yep - here they are: