jet powered canoe

Its funny you suggest this because on my current boat (12ft modified V) I have a 2000lb electric winch installed that I planned on trying what you're talking about. I thought I might be able to throw a grappling hook up stream and winch my way up, however this would be dangerous unless the anchor point was higher up out of the water then the boat otherwise it could pull the bow of the boat down into the water. Another problem is that the winch at top speed only pulls 6 feet of cable per minute which would make it time consuming if used frequently. I guess if I had a spear gun and shot the hook up into a tree it could work, thanks for the idea I like when people think outside the box.

 

I thought my kite idea was outside the box yet you ignored it...

 

That it was... didn't mean to hurt any feelings I just didn't think it was applicable for my situation.

 

I assume this is a shallow river, otherwise you wouldn't need a jet, so the hook wouldn't sink too deep. however, thinking though it for actual practical use, you would need two, so you can launch the second to keep the boat
from floating downriver while you pull up the first one. Would use just one winch. Indeed, a regular winch is quite slow, but you can regear it to go faster, it would just take a heavier motor with more torque to do it.
You could use a gas powered winch.
The safety issue is to make sure nobody is ahead of you that can be killed
by the projectile hook! You need to shoot it far ahead, otherwise most effort is spent is retrieving and launching, not pulling the boat forward.

 

I suspect you could just haul the line back in hand-over-hand; a canoe is a fairly low-drag boat even at considerable speed. The real trick will be releasing the grapnel with the force of the water on it. Carry several spares and a knife . . .

 

So long as there is a shallow shore line that can be walked as in the pic which he sent, towing by hand works if the boat is not too heavy and has a slick lubricating surface (roto polyethylene, etc.). Been there, done that, with lightweight hulls....

Porta

 

Looks to me that the Mokai would shoot right up that rapid. What is the class? I think 2 and the Mokai will do lots of 3s. Look up hillbilly on the mokaioutdoors forum and see if he has time to make the run. There are 12 Mokai for sale in Hawaii for cheap $750 each.

 

This is a dingy shown in a shallow rocky river in new Zealand also how to build.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yzwpWmbPDM dingy jet

 

I do think a mokai would work pretty well for most of my applications, most of the water is class II-III, however I really don't like buying things without testing them first and I have never seen/met anyone with one before. The main down side of mokai for me is that it is a one person watercraft. The New Zealand jet dinghy looks like an amazing boat. I would really love to have a 12 ft aluminum jet boat however I'm not a welder so building one from scratch is'nt really an option unfortunatly. I wish those boats were popular in the states that way I might be able to pick up someone's old project.

 

You don't like buying things without testing, but you would buy someone else's failed project?

Did I misunderstand something?

 

Just because someone sells their old boat doesn't mean its a failed project. People like to upgrade and move on to bigger and better things. Example: someone has a 12ft boat with a 550cc motor and decides they would rather have a 15-16 ft boat with a 1100cc engine.