The New 49'ers

A friend and I are planning to visit Happy Camp and the New 49ers claims in July/August. We have been there before but have never boated on the river. Not being familiar with the waterway and the current flow rate, I wanted to know if any members could give me some feedback. We have a 10' aluminum boat with a 15 hp outboard motor. Will that be adequate to motor up/down/across the river? Appreciate any response to this post.

Kind Regards,

Pete

Pete,
I don't know if anyone else has responded to your inquiry but I have used a 10 ft 'Jon' boat (flat bottom) on the Klamath River for many years. I use a little 5 h.p. Nissan outboard, it is adequate to get back and forth on the river
with as many as four people, a dog and mining gear. Never very fast but no real control problems until late in season when water levels are down. Most important is to use a 'prop-guard' or you'll be replacing props quite regular.
I've never lost a prop with the guard. They are available thru Cabelas, a little pricey but well worth the money. When the water is low I'm banging the prop guard with regularity, it's very tough and totally protects that prop. If your boat is the Aluminum with 'pop' rivets, I paint the rivets with Rhino Guard (material they use on pickup beds), keeps the leakage down!
Good luck and all Au to you and yours,
Bill

CaptainBill, thank you for your response to my inquiry. Saw your response after our trip. Took the shallow v-bottom boat and motor (without prop guard) to the Klamath and found the water very low with fast moving rapids in places. While there, another guy with a large pontoon raft with a 15 HP. outboard without a prop guard mangled his prop badly and barely managed to get his raft back to the launching point. Being unfamiliar with the waterway, I decided not to use the boat and found other means to get across the river. Thank you again for replying, appreciate that.

Peter

Seeker, you are, obviously ----

Smarter Than the Average Bear!



Joe

Thanks Joe.S.AK, survival instinct kicked in. Can't prospect for gold if you are stuck under a rock in the river with your boat and all of your equipment somewhere downstream!