# Looking for roof top rig for Baja/central America



## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

this is the truck it will go on. 17’ is the length of the rear box and cab. The whole trailer/mounting platform will have to be supported on the rear box due to frame twist offroad.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Holy moly. I have new goals.


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## nollieflip (Nov 16, 2020)

StubbsMarine said:


> View attachment 214522
> 
> this is the truck it will go on. 17’ is the length of the rear box and cab. The whole trailer/mounting platform will have to be supported on the rear box due to frame twist offroad.


That is badass! Sounds like quite an interesting project and trip. Keep us posted!


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

That thing is crazy cool!!!! You should have started with the pic because as I was reading I thought you were asking to much of a standard pickup. Lol


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## j_f (Dec 15, 2021)

If you don't have a truck build/trip thread on Expedition Portal or somewhere else, feel free to start one here. It'll be the most productive thing in Off Topic since, well, ever.


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

I would buy a panga for that area. Get an Imemsa 16 and a buy a brand new Yam 30hp 3 cylinder 2stroke down in Mexico. Take good care of it, bring it back to the states, and I’ll buy it. badabing









Panga Boats USA | Specs & Models


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keep us posted on your adventures!


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## 60hertz (Oct 31, 2008)

I’d consider something aluminum.


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## fatman (Nov 23, 2012)




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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

TidewateR said:


> I would buy a panga for that area. Get an Imemsa 16 and a buy a brand new Yam 30hp 3 cylinder 2stroke down in Mexico. Take good care of it, bring it back to the states, and I’ll buy it. badabing
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah I’ve been considering that. The bow kick on the 17 pangas are pretty extreme though. I wish there was a better in-between. Seems like that’s sort of what the Tavernier skiffs are but I’m not sure I can bring myself to be 25-30k into basically a U.S. made panga…


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

StubbsMarine said:


> The bow kick on the 17 pangas are pretty extreme though.


what’s the concern there? being able to roof mount the hull?


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

TidewateR said:


> what’s the concern there? being able to roof mount the hull?


 Yeah. Basically it'll just stick up another 4 feet above the roof of the truck (unless it's turned upside down). Obviously upside down and on the rails would be ideal it's just more annoying to maneuver.

I was actually thinking of just getting an aluminum trailer with the neck foldaway and just craning that onto the roof of the truck. The Glide seems like a whole rigged boat will be easily under 600 pounds so even adding a bit for a trailer it shouldn't be too crazy. Was considering just fixing the wheel position on the trailer, lifting the nose of the trailer with a scissor lift mechanism and then basically just making a giant ramp with two bunks to winch the skiff up. I'll have to post a couple design drawings once I've messed around a little.


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## AlbieFly (5 mo ago)

Just curious how you'd get a boat on that roof. Rig is tall, and would probably be difficult to even get a hobie/kayak up there


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

AlbieFly said:


> Just curious how you'd get a boat on that roof. Rig is tall, and would probably be difficult to even get a hobie/kayak up there


Still working on that. Pretty sure the answer will be a Davit hoist with an electric winch/pivoting arm to lift it onto the roof. The other possibility is building a ramp so that the boat can be ramped up while being pulled by a winch from the bow.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

I've seen a box trailer that had with a skiff inside on a trailer and living quarters up front. Last I heard it was for sale
Anyway why don't you put that skiff inside that big honking truck and put your gear on top


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## Tom Ilg (Jun 13, 2018)

Great looking build so far, was that a former wildlands fire vehicle?

Just playing a little devils advocate, from having lived in Mexico and ridden my moto across all of MX and Central Am.

Thru Baja you shouldn’t have many issues with height restrictions, but you also mentioned Central America, so I assume you would take the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan rather than drive back north up Baja and then back down the mainland side. With that in mind, make sure you check the height restrictions for the Baja Ferry, as long as you’re not taller than a semi trailer you’ll be okay.

Launching…once you get the skiff off the roof, what’s the plan for launching the skiff? A proper ramp might be hard to locate, as pleasure boating, (especially the towed boat crowd), and marina’s in general across Baja are no where near as popular or economically feasible, so you may have to launch from an available beach, which may be more difficult that it seems.

Skiff vs. something else… in lieu of a skiff, have you considered a Bote Aero with a 5hp outboard or maybe even a jetski rigged for fishing/trolling, something like the Sea-Doo Fishpro, they’re setup well for MX waters for reef fishing, they sip gas, and you can easily make high speed runs between spots, and they handle chop and swells much better than a skiff. And, most of the good reefs along the MX Coastline are not far off offshore, within a few miles.

Just my thoughts…


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## Zaraspook (Aug 3, 2017)

StubbsMarine said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Looking forward to interacting with this community. I'm interesting in having a small skiff to mount on the roof of my truck for going down to Baja California/Central America. I like fly fishing but a lot of the use case will be reef fishing/trolling slightly offshore in the Sea of Cortez. Since I'm camping for weeks at a time I'm hoping to go with something under 40hp so I don't have to carry tons of fuel (truck is diesel). I'll add that I'm a commercial fisherman on the West Coast and fished an 18 outrage out of Northern California for halibut and salmon before moving into bigger boats. I've done a lot of wahoo/tuna fishing in Indonesia on basically dugout canoes with 15hp engines pretty far offshore and I like the idea of small narrow boats but possibly need to increase the nose kick to prevent taking waves over the bow.
> 
> ...


As an EC Glide owner I would not add bulkheads. The way the Glide works is already perfect if you take a wave over. The dry storage tubs stay absolutely dry and the water will run towards the stern and your bilge pump. No problems. If you put bulkheads then you have to deal with rod tubes and that’s one of the best things about the simplicity of the Glide…, no rod tubes. The Glide works perfect with a 20hp and no trim tabs. If you go to a 30 then you might consider tabs.


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## Gogittum (May 24, 2020)

I'm curious as to the make and model of your truck. Never seen one like it.

I had an '02 Dodge 3/4 ton 4WD diesel with 10'9" cabover camper on it and towed my heavy (2,000#) 16 ft boat behind it for 165,000 miles in 10 years - all over the continent. A couple of things: 1) I went into some very rough country on some very bad roads with that thing (I bought the 4WD limited slip for a reason(s)) and the top-heavy sway with the camper was a major factor to consider.










This is the "launch ramp" at Chilko Lake, B.C., Canada in 2006 - just a gap in the trees. (you haven't lived till you've had a Grizzly Bear snuffling around a freezing cold, pitch black camper at 2:00 AM. I was terrified - he could open that thing up like a sardine can)

The top of the a/c on that camper was right at 12 ft above the ground and gave me grief in a few places.

Yours will be much taller with much more weight up higher. On rough roads (yes, I've been to Baja, too) that is going to be a major thing for you. Extrapolating from your picture, I'd guess that your rig is at least >8+ ft high as it sits. 2) As mentioned above, ferries and low overpasses will be a huge nightmare for you in many places. Side to side sway will be extreme, even with heavy suspension.

I got the 1 ton , limited slip rear axle and suspension and added air bags. It still swayed like a drunk sailor on Friday night, sooo....










I bought some logging faller's wedges and added them to the overload springs in back to stiffen things up and they made a huge difference, but sway was still bad in rough going. I jacked the truck up to get the weight off, then slipped the shims in deep to pre-load the overload springs and put wedges on both ends of the springs.

As I said, I got into some really ugly places with my rig - it was 53 ft long overall (cost me a fortune on the Bella Coola ferry) - and a few times I had to get turned around and get back out of an impassable "road," but it can be done. You do learn to watch and sometimes scout ahead.

30 years ago, I had a surfer van that I camped in and covered quite a few miles in and bought a....9 ft ??...Porta-Bote with 3.5 Tohasu motor that I stored on the roof racks. That boat was light and the van had a rear ladder....and getting that miserable thing offa there and set up was a major PIA. Putting it back was even worse. I did it just 2 or 3 times and never again. (that Porta-Bote was scary on the water, like riding in a rubber band)

So - after all that - I've been a sorta similar path and been there, done that - I'd hafta agree with others. Buy a trailer and pull it behind your rig. Much less hassle, much more practical and much easier to set up and use. I like your idea, but I think the headaches would far outweigh the usefulness.

I also agree with others - a 16 ft - 17 ft Panga would be hard to beat for your purposes. I've ridden many miles in them in Baja and am highly impressed with them. Maybe get one custom made in aluminum ?? My DustBuster was a heavy, high freeboard 16 ft and I'd go anywhere in it....and did....with appropriate cautions.


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## JOHN LOO (Mar 1, 2020)

Wow, this brings back some memories...my friends and I did that type of trip in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I hear Highway 1 is a lot better now, with better gas resources.

I think what folks may have missed is that a good portion of the fun in Baja is going off-road to remote beaches to chase fish that have not seen many people. When we went, there were few launch ramps, making a trailer impractical/unusable . Access to the beach often required driving down long unimproved roads, and we got stuck more than a couple of times. Bring a shovel, ax, some pieces of plywood to act as a driveout ramp, and make sure your jack is accessible when you're buried to the floorboards...

FWIW, here are some things we found:

Vehicles were mid-size or 1/2 ton pickups, sometimes with shells
We used 14' and 15' aluminum skiffs, 15 - 25 hp two-strokes
Carried them using either heavy-duty cartop carriers that we clamped to short sections of aluminum channel bolted to a shell, or mounted steel or aluminum crossbars to the truck roll bar and an exterior frame bolted into the bed. The carriers we used provided heavy clamps that would clamp the gunnels of the aluminum hulls to the crossbars, or we used heavy C-clamps, rather than straps.
To load the boat, we would:
Remove the motor and all gear, and bring the stern of the hull within 6' of the truck tailgate.
Line up the hull with the truck so the bow was pointing directly away from the truck
One person goes to the bow, lifts it up, and walks under the hull, lifting it until it is vertical on the stern.
A second person would be on the other side to "catch" the hull as it flips over, and lower it onto the rear crossbar. So at this point, the hull is inverted, bow forward on the truck, resting on the rear crossbar.
Once on the crossbar, the first and second persons would grab the stern handles, and lift the stern up, sliding it forward at the same time. We left the gunnel clamps on the ends of the crossbars to keep the hull from sliding off on one side or the other
Once in position, we clamped the boat down

To remove the boat:
Undo the clamps, move them to the ends of the crossbars so that they act as guides.
One or two persons go to the stern, and pull the hull backwards until the approx. midpoint (balance point) is reached, then lower the stern to the ground
Second person goes under the hull, and pushes it vertical so it is resting on the stern
The first person catches it as it flips over, and walks back to lower the hull to the ground

To launch off the beach:
Unload the boat as close as you can to the water without risking the hull floating away (duh!). Make sure all loose gear is secured in case something bad happens.
The boat is easier to move it you don't have the motor and gear loaded, but that's unavoidable. If the sand is too soft and you can't get enough traction to pull the hull, we always had two or 3 smaller diameter boat fenders that we would place under the hull to act as rollers. Think Egyptians building the pyramids: as you pull the boat along, the rear roller will pop out, so you move it to the front and keep pulling. The alternative is having those stern wheels, but we found that the wheels usually did not have enough flotation in soft sand to be of any use.
Once you get the hull into a few inches of water, one person steadies the hull, walks it out into enough water to allow the motor to be dropped down, and keeps it pointed into the waves. The second person hops in, drops the motor, and starts it
With the motor idling, you wait for a lull in the waves. When that happens, the person steadying the hull gives it one last shove, and rolls into the boat while the motor guy guns it

To land on the beach:
Wait outside the surf line. Unlock the motor tilt so the engine can kick up
Pick a smaller wave , then follow it in on the BACK of the wave. DO NOT go "over the falls", and DO NOT lag too far behind, or you'll be overtaken by the wave behind you.
Just before you hit the sand, goose the engine throttle to get a burst of speed, then kill the engine. Depending on the slope of the beach, you may slide a ways up. The engine will kick up when it hits the sand
As soon as it stops, both persons hop out and drag the hull up the beach as far as they can. The following wave's wash will assist

Some other things to think about:

So clearly, you can't use a fancy hull to do this. The hulls we used were either the Gregor H-51 or Valco U-14, which are no longer made, but equivalents would be the Gregor H-42 or the Klamath 14 Deluxe or 15 Advantage If it were me doing it again, I would opt for the Klamath 15 Advantage. Gregor and Klamath both have a heritage of West Coast/Baja usage, so they tend to be more strongly built, and have a bit more freeboard and forward flare than boats from the Midwest. See https://gregorboats.com/tiller-steered-boats/h-series/, and Utility – KlamathBoats. I believe both are built in the CA central valley near Clovis.
I'm not sure what you'll want to do about motors
All of the 4-stroke portables in the 15 - 25 hp range weigh 100+/- lbs, so will be a lot to lug over the sand. But I guess that's the price of 4-strokes. I don't remember the 2 strokes being that heavy, but I could mis-remembering.
Something we did not consider until we broke an outboard motor is availability of parts. "Back then", you could easily get Johnson/Evinrude parts in Baja, but not Merc. Yamaha was an unknown. Now I think Yamaha and maybe Tohatsu are more common, and Merc is better, while Evinrude/Johnson are gone of course.

You clearly know your way around handling small boats in open water, just keep in mind there may not be any help close by, and the locals may not have VHF radios. We always carried oars, water, etc., and tried to work upwind of our campsite, so that if something happened, we would tend to drift back to our launch point. I still remember a time when our motor broke about 3 miles offshore of Los Barriles, and the wind was such that we were being blown pretty much over to Mazatlan...
I've attached a photo circa 1980. I like to call it "Baja Slumming", I think this was taken near Puerto Escondido. I'm pretty sure I was standing in the water when I took the picture.









Punta Arena Lighthouse:









August is Chubasco season in Baja, so it can get pretty wet:


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

Gogittum said:


> I'm curious as to the make and model of your truck. Never seen one like it.
> 
> I had an '02 Dodge 3/4 ton 4WD diesel with 10'9" cabover camper on it and towed my heavy (2,000#) 16 ft boat behind it for 165,000 miles in 10 years - all over the continent. A couple of things: 1) I went into some very rough country on some very bad roads with that thing (I bought the 4WD limited slip for a reason(s)) and the top-heavy sway with the camper was a major factor to consider.
> 
> ...


That looks like a fun rig! My truck is a Mercedes Unimog. Originally a fire fighting vehicle in Europe. Nice because it has portal axles for increased clearance and full diff locks. Also can run 47” tires with no modifications.

This is my old Baja rig, took it down to Panama and back with kayaks and have done maybe 10 Baja trips in it. Decided to move up to something that at least had power steering!


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

It’s totally true that the main limitation is height. Unfortunately that’s what makes it impossible to fit the high bow pangas and a lot of the Baja Valco boats. The truck is currently at about 9’ so really I only have 4’ to keep normal clearance. One of the benefits of the glide is that it’s fairly low profile with the engine removed and no casting/poling platform.


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

TidewateR said:


> what’s the concern there? being able to roof mount the hull?


Yeah it’s the roof mounting. We’ll see. I’m going out to east cape skiffs next week to check out boats and take some measurements.


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## StubbsMarine (5 mo ago)

And yes I think parts availability for outboards is a really important consideration. One thing I’m considering is just getting a 25hp 2 stroke Yamaha in Mexico. Fueran de Borda E25HP 2 Tiempos - Yamaha Imemsa


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