Hi everyone. I just wanted to post a quick review on my Porta-Bote 2005 10 foot Genesis IV Series. I bought the boat used on Craigslist (very reasonable) and it came with a 3.5 HP four stroke Nissan outboard. I may also get a Minn Kota electric motor as some of the beauty of the higher elevation lakes would be ruined by the noise of a gas outboard! Also I'm sure there are times when the fish would be less spooked!! I'm amazed at the durability of the Porta-Bote. It's so easy to set up and It's awesome because I have a small car 'Subaru) and am able to take the boat with me just tied on top of the rack. I haven't launched it yet but tested for leaks as Sandy recommended, lifting the bow and pouring 5 gallons+ of water in the stern. Not a drop came out, so I'm pretty excited. There's A Porta-Bote group on Yahoo which Sandy, the company's president is great about participating and answering questions on. I'm in the midst of building a small removable bow / anchor platform with plywood and riveted 'L' shaped aluminum angles to hold it in place. I'm looking forward to getting my boat on the water and doing some fishing really soon!! Happy days to all and tight lines!
Dave from Australia - 12‘Alpha Series Porta-bote Review Hi Chris, sounds like you are set for a lot of fun. I agree, the botes are easy to transport (we tow a caravan so taking our trailer boat was out of the equation). The porta-bote is very easy to load and carry on a roof rack and is quickly put together. The new folding transom fitted to the Alpha series works very well and now has only two wingnuts to fiddle with. The folded size ends up a little thicker, and adds a little more weight when lifting, but it makes for one less thing to carry inside the tow vehicle. I had our bote out on the water for the first time recently, and was amazed at the ride and performance it offers. We launched at a small sandy beach at the river mouth near to the entrance of our local bay. It was nice to be able to step straight into the front of the boat without getting wet feet. I motored to the nearby jetty to pick up my wife and adult son then we were off to run in the motor. Out in the Bay the water was reasonably calm (a slight chop) and only a small swell, less than 0.5m. There was no wind to speak of but it was pretty chilly, around 15C. With 3 adults on board, all our safety gear, plus 20l of fuel (close 300kg if we include the 8hp motor), the bote planed easily, quickly reaching 24kph at half throttle. At one point we reached 27kph. At all times the ride was smooth, very dry and quiet. The hull made very little noise moving through the water and we did not experience any of the flapping in the hull mentioned in some of the Genesis series posts. Possibly we were not going fast enough yet as the new hull shape is rated to a higher speed than the earlier botes. At rest, the floor moves a little as you move around the bote. We sat and ate a snack, stood to cast while fishing and moved fore and aft to swap seating positions. Everyone remarked on how stable the bote remained while doing all this. Underway, the hull firmed up and two tunnels were formed either side of the centre causing the floor to rise a little in the bote. Other than that little movement was detected. On the day we did a little over 40km on the water and used only 7.5l of fuel. Very frugal. Back on the beach my wife commented that she was able to step off the front of the bote and onto the sand without getting her feet wet. Happy wife, happy life! I fitted the dolly wheels and pulled the boat up to where the car was parked. Twenty minutes later we were all packed up and driving home. The Cons: The seats felt hard after about 1/2hr as they have no padding at all, and some back support would have been nice too. Folding seats are now on our 'to buy' list. I found I had to twist uncomfortably in the rear seat to reach the tiller and so will invest in a short tiller extension.The wind chill factor while moving also needs to be considered. There is nowhere to get out of the wind in any small boat. We were all freezing by the time we got back and will take warmer clothing next time. The Pros: Easy to transport and put together. Plenty of room for fishing activities. Feels safe and stable at rest and underway. Dry ride on the plane, perhaps due to the revised hull shape of the Alpha series. Performs extremely well with the 8hp two stroke outboard (16mph with 3 adults), again the revised hull shape may have helped. Uses very little fuel even when loaded (will be cheap to run). I am looking forward to our next outing and trying the bote out in varying water conditions with one or two people on board. Five weeks at our favourite coastal fishing spot has already been booked. Can't wait..... Cheers Dave
Thanks again Dave for your review of the Alpha series Bote. It is good that you did not experience the flapping that other Alpha series botes have experienced. I gather from Sandy's post in the forum that this may be due to the fact that you had your outboard at half throttle for the majority of the time. This is what was recommended as you may recall from the Portabote forum by Sandy Kaye.
"Thanks Paul,
Every boat has a maximum speed. No matter how much hp you put behind it.
At about 1/2+ throttle, you will be traveling at about the maximum speed of the 14' hull. If you go higher than 1/2 throttle, the Bote won't go any faster. It will start to act as you describe. Much more flexing. Plus you will be burning a lot more gas (petrol).
This is in response to another Alpha series owner who posted here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PortaBote/conversations/messages/20536
Sandy's recommendation for safe boting is to keep the throttle to 1/2+ and not to exceed the maximum speed of the hull, which as he stated is around 15mph (24kph) in a 14' bote.
This does not detract from the performance of the bote, however but simply should be kept in mind.
Hi everyone. I just wanted to post a quick review on my Porta-Bote 2005 10 foot Genesis IV Series.
ReplyDeleteI bought the boat used on Craigslist (very reasonable) and it came with a 3.5 HP four stroke Nissan outboard. I may also get a Minn Kota electric motor as some of the beauty of the higher elevation lakes would be ruined by the noise of a gas outboard! Also I'm sure there are times when the fish would be less spooked!! I'm amazed at the durability of the Porta-Bote. It's so easy to set up and It's awesome because I have a small car 'Subaru) and am able to take the boat with me just tied on top of the rack. I haven't launched it yet but tested for leaks as Sandy recommended, lifting the bow and pouring 5 gallons+ of water in the stern. Not a drop came out, so I'm pretty excited. There's A Porta-Bote group on Yahoo which Sandy, the company's president is great about participating and answering questions on.
I'm in the midst of building a small removable bow / anchor platform with plywood and riveted 'L' shaped aluminum angles to hold it in place. I'm looking forward to getting my boat on the water and doing some fishing really soon!! Happy days to all and tight lines!
Dave from Australia - 12‘Alpha Series Porta-bote Review
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, sounds like you are set for a lot of fun. I agree, the botes are easy to transport (we tow a caravan so taking our trailer boat was out of the equation). The porta-bote is very easy to load and carry on a roof rack and is quickly put together.
The new folding transom fitted to the Alpha series works very well and now has only two wingnuts to fiddle with. The folded size ends up a little thicker, and adds a little more weight when lifting, but it makes for one less thing to carry inside the tow vehicle.
I had our bote out on the water for the first time recently, and was amazed at the ride and performance it offers.
We launched at a small sandy beach at the river mouth near to the entrance of our local bay. It was nice to be able to step straight into the front of the boat without getting wet feet. I motored to the nearby jetty to pick up my wife and adult son then we were off to run in the motor.
Out in the Bay the water was reasonably calm (a slight chop) and only a small swell, less than 0.5m. There was no wind to speak of but it was pretty chilly, around 15C.
With 3 adults on board, all our safety gear, plus 20l of fuel (close 300kg if we include the 8hp motor), the bote planed easily, quickly reaching 24kph at half throttle. At one point we reached 27kph. At all times the ride was smooth, very dry and quiet. The hull made very little noise moving through the water and we did not experience any of the flapping in the hull mentioned in some of the Genesis series posts. Possibly we were not going fast enough yet as the new hull shape is rated to a higher speed than the earlier botes.
At rest, the floor moves a little as you move around the bote. We sat and ate a snack, stood to cast while fishing and moved fore and aft to swap seating positions. Everyone remarked on how stable the bote remained while doing all this. Underway, the hull firmed up and two tunnels were formed either side of the centre causing the floor to rise a little in the bote. Other than that little movement was detected.
On the day we did a little over 40km on the water and used only 7.5l of fuel. Very frugal.
Back on the beach my wife commented that she was able to step off the front of the bote and onto the sand without getting her feet wet. Happy wife, happy life! I fitted the dolly wheels and pulled the boat up to where the car was parked. Twenty minutes later we were all packed up and driving home.
The Cons: The seats felt hard after about 1/2hr as they have no padding at all, and some back support would have been nice too. Folding seats are now on our 'to buy' list. I found I had to twist uncomfortably in the rear seat to reach the tiller and so will invest in a short tiller extension.The wind chill factor while moving also needs to be considered. There is nowhere to get out of the wind in any small boat. We were all freezing by the time we got back and will take warmer clothing next time.
The Pros: Easy to transport and put together. Plenty of room for fishing activities. Feels safe and stable at rest and underway. Dry ride on the plane, perhaps due to the revised hull shape of the Alpha series. Performs extremely well with the 8hp two stroke outboard (16mph with 3 adults), again the revised hull shape may have helped. Uses very little fuel even when loaded (will be cheap to run).
I am looking forward to our next outing and trying the bote out in varying water conditions with one or two people on board. Five weeks at our favourite coastal fishing spot has already been booked. Can't wait.....
Cheers
Dave
Thanks again Dave for your review of the Alpha series Bote.
ReplyDeleteIt is good that you did not experience the flapping that other Alpha series botes have experienced.
I gather from Sandy's post in the forum that this may be due to the fact that you had your outboard at half throttle for the majority of the time.
This is what was recommended as you may recall from the Portabote forum by Sandy Kaye.
"Thanks Paul,
Every boat has a maximum speed. No matter how much hp you put behind it.
At about 1/2+ throttle, you will be traveling at about the maximum speed of the 14' hull. If you go higher than 1/2 throttle, the Bote won't go any faster. It will start to act as you describe. Much more flexing. Plus you will be burning a lot more gas (petrol).
Please try this and let me know.
Thanks,
Sandy
You can see the post here:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PortaBote/conversations/messages/20540
This is in response to another Alpha series owner who posted here:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PortaBote/conversations/messages/20536
Sandy's recommendation for safe boting is to keep the throttle to 1/2+ and not to exceed the maximum speed of the hull, which as he stated is around 15mph (24kph) in a 14' bote.
This does not detract from the performance of the bote, however but simply should be kept in mind.