Here in the North many of us are re-learning the possibilities of the Freighter Canoe as a work horse. A 100 pound freighter like the Clipper Mackenzie Sport can haul 1500 pounds of gear and still be portaged, by one man. For remote operations like moose hunting or gold sniping the Freighter allows you to work both up and down stream and mine goes 11 mph, with a 6HP 4 stroke Suzuki, that sips gas. However the outboards sit very low in the water and require some depth to use. Some of us have gone to long tail motors or surface drives but they are hard to portage and awkward. One potential old style solution is to lift the motor by either a simple extension on the stern transom or a more complex adjustable lift. I went old school with a non adjustable 2.5" permanent lift made of an African hard wood on my transom. Nothing difficult here and the Paduk wood even looks good. The 2.5" lift makes it possible to get in a bit less trouble in shallow water, while still avoiding cavitation problems.
Also with so much weight at the back it is pretty easy to unbalance the canoe when travelling light. It's a good idea to sit amid-ships as low as possible and steer with a tiller extension. This makes fast turns tricky and requires a sprawl to shut off or pivot the engine but adds a lot of stability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTNpqYwnQAg
Also with so much weight at the back it is pretty easy to unbalance the canoe when travelling light. It's a good idea to sit amid-ships as low as possible and steer with a tiller extension. This makes fast turns tricky and requires a sprawl to shut off or pivot the engine but adds a lot of stability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTNpqYwnQAg
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