Going down the Yukon?

[KTP]

Has anyone on here ever traveled most or at least a portion of the Yukon river?

What type of boat did you use?

I have been watching Gold Rush and one of the bumbledums did it in a rather large power catamaran with a shallow draft, making me think the trip is indeed quite possible for others. They were focused on getting to Nome and prospecting but I would want to do it just for the trip and adventure.

[Ghostrider421]

You will want to have a metal hull boat for all the rocks and gravel bars you will encounter.

[Kivalo]

The company I work for does it with a flat bottomed tug & barge. I've never been on the Yukon personally but I've been on several other rivers in western AK and flat bottom & shallow draft are the way to go. The flat bottom allows us to beach our barge and occasionally slide over shoals. The shallow draft, well that should be obvious.



As far as a trip like that being an adventure... oh hell yeah!! If your so inclined, I'd say do it for sure!

[KTP]

Aluminum or steel? Outboard or would you want one of those long shaft "mud motors"?

[Kivalo]

A few people have those long shaft mud type motors, which I'm sure will help when in the mud flats but most use regular old outboards. And most small boats are aluminum from what I've seen. We have two on our tug that we use for sounding our way up & down the rivers.

[KTP]

I have some welding friends and have done a bit of welding myself (built a full RV out of steel and aluminum).


I would not be against the idea of either having purpose built hull made for this or building it ourselves. I am not a boat designer but a flat bottom boat doesn't sound *too* hard to make, and you could overbuild it on the bottom, maybe 3/8" thick aluminum bottom, or thinner but with some form of skid plates or rails.

It would need to be trailerable, so maybe 8.5 feet by 25 feet. Mostly a low cabin to keep everything dry and be able to hide from mosquitoes

[Kivalo]

Those boats already exists, I don't know any brand names off hand but I see them all over western AK. I doubt you'll have to spend much time on google to find one. Although building one seems cool as well, a good means to protect from spray will help keep you comfortable no doubt. Being wet out there sucks!

[rbk]

Done the first 500 miles of it in various boats many many time’s in canoes, aluminium jet boats, propped boats etc. Upper portion is deep and the channel is easy to follow for most anyone. Below Five finger rapids the river spreads out and the water is chocolate milk, gravel and sand bars abound and this is where you can get into trouble with jet boats when you run them aground in the middle of the river. Props will ‘warn’ you. Seen plenty of tourists pulling canoes off bars as well. You can actually see the river ‘bend’ across its horizon as it flows over a gravel bar. Many books on the trip, lots to see, lots of history and many tour companies offering full package to canoe rentals. Biggest deterrent is Lake Labarge as waves kick up fast and frequent. I know of some people leaving Whitehorse with the intent to make it to Dawson in three weeks and not make it to Carmacks (about half way). People have been travelling the rivers for tens of thousands of years in everything from dugout canoes to barges and yes even sail boats. Have lots of info and experience if you have specific questions.

[KTP]

Yes, on that Gold Rush show I mentioned he does run his catamaran aground in the area you mention. He uses a jet boat and a lot of tugging to get it floating again.

I was wondering if someone could help with this by having a fairly decent winch securely mounted in the boat and a few hundred feet of Amsteel and a big sand/gravel anchor. If you got stuck on a bar, dinghy the anchor out into deeper water and winch the boat to it. Don't know if that is viable?

[rbk]

Not really nothing to winch off of and with flowing water it’s hard to get an anchor to bite as well as it’s hard winching into deeper water. Generally learn to read the river and when you get stuck unload, get unstuck and reload. I wouldn’t bother getting a custom job done, there are plenty of boats available for the job new and used. Thick hills don’t matter as there’s really not many rock and all gravel and sand and you really don’t want a heavy boat for various reasons. Many run props as they are way more fuel efficient and have a buddy that runs an outboard prop and haul the jet leg to swap out when needed for running up tributaries. This cuts the fuel bill in half (and then some). Also don’t worry about a cabin, they add far too much weight a windscreen and bimini are plenty and there aren’t too many bugs on the river, when you stop that’s a different story.

[a64pilot]

I’ve not been on that river, but flown over it quite a bit.
It’s more of a float down river on a raft kind of thing, disposable raft.

It’s certainly not a sailboat river.
Although I didn’t see it, but looking at the banks, you can tell there are times there are serious floods, and I’m sure very fast water, compete with boat killing trees etc. and it’s not clean water either.

It’s obviously possible, I remember flying over an old dead stern wheel paddle boat near Dawson I think, but it could have been Whitehorse, but I think Dawson.

I guess the question is why would you want to? It’s about as opposite as is possible to the average Caribbean Cruise you can think of.
Lots and lots and lots of rocks, shore side and all.

I’ve got pictures from the air of Dawson somewhere, there are ferries I believe that obviously get pulled completely out of the water at times.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I’ve not been on that river, but flown over it quite a bit.
It’s more of a float down river on a raft kind of thing, disposable raft.

It’s certainly not a sailboat river.
Although I didn’t see it, but looking at the banks, you can tell there are times there are serious floods, and I’m sure very fast water, compete with boat killing trees etc. and it’s not clean water either.

It’s obviously possible, I remember flying over an old dead stern wheel paddle boat near Dawson I think, but it could have been Whitehorse, but I think Dawson.

I guess the question is why would you want to? It’s about as opposite as is possible to the average Caribbean Cruise you can think of.
Lots and lots and lots of rocks, shore side and all.

I’ve got pictures from the air of Dawson somewhere, there are ferries I believe that obviously get pulled completely out of the water at times.

By sailboat I mean smaller skiffs with sails that were used during the gold rush. Several have recreated these. There are old sternwheelers at whitehorse, Hootilinqua Dawson and more. There are actually very few rocks on and in the river that pose a hazard with most well marked and on the shore. Water in the channel averages 15’. There are a couple of published ‘chart’ books that can be purchased. The paddlewheelers ran most of the river for fifty plus years some of them 170’ with 3-4’ draft. Should be doable in a 20’ power boat but does take some skill.

[KTP]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I guess the question is why would you want to? It’s about as opposite as is possible to the average Caribbean Cruise you can think of.
Lots and lots and lots of rocks, shore side and all.

It just looked like a neat adventure, retracing some of the routes that early travelers used. We go hiking and stuff also, which is far harder and arduous than taking a car lol.

[a64pilot]

This is the remains of the Stern Wheeler and I’m pretty sure Dawson

[rbk]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

This is the remains of the Stern Wheeler and I’m pretty sure DawsonAttachment 202648
Attachment 202649

Ya there’s two or three in there just downriver from the campground. The Evelyn at steamboat island ways at hootalinqua is much more impressive. The Goddard can be seen on clear calm days in Lake labarge and there are a few other remains strewn about the river but mostly just debris.