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I came across several shots of the 'Canoe Bike' which seems to be a custom build by Jay Broemmel. There are several action shots of this vehicle on the internet. There are a couple of similar ones also, but this one looks like it might be functional.

Image1

Image2

There are even images of it in the water.

Image3

It seems to be based on the commercially available Autocanoe design.

Jay's version seems to be bike additions to a used aluminum canoe, while the Autocanoe appears (from the video) to be a bike with a flat bottom boat built around it.

For my planned trip from Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico, would a design along these lines be viable? My trip is planned as a pleasure trip going down stream, with short land trips. I am not overly worried about efficiency, but it needs to be able to pedal up some hills (slow is ok), be able to brake going down, and have enough energy in the water to stay/get out of danger on major waterways.

The primary concerns are longevity and safety. Can one of these survive a 3300 mile water/land trip? Will it leak un-manageably or in some other way be unsafe?

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  • Considering how few of these contraptions are constructed, anything we can offer is going to be pure speculation. I think you should email the creators of the linked images and ask them.
    – whatsisname
    Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 7:18
  • Emailed to both (hopefully monitored accounts) and asked them to come here or email me answers. If I get email responses I will post an answer.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 10:05
  • Whatever you do, make sure you have safety gear with you, not on a boat that abandons you. nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11160891
    – Greenstone Walker
    Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 22:30

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John Montgomery here, designer of the Autocanoe.

I think that with a careful build and a few modifications for taller freeboard and a small forward cabin a long trip would be quite viable. Especially if you have some previous experience with this kind of trip. The main thing being to foresee and plan for the mitigation of contingencies. My friend Colin Angus, Angus Adventures, http://www.angusadventures.com , has a world of experience in this kind of interdisciplinary trip and would be a great source for suggestions in this regard. Please let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to help.

And thanks for the interest!

John Montgomery Autocanoe Co. [email protected]

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