Making a suggestion is a little difficult as I have no idea what the river is like there, how you intend to really use it, or if you’re willing to do “what you need to” to get the “right” boat there if it can’t reasonably be flown to your camp. A boat without much useful payload is going to be less than ideal and not amount to much more than a toy to mess around with on occasion. Packrafts or any open boat that involves sitting on the floor is going to suck. Sitting in that thing when it spitting rain and snow at 30 degrees with your ass in a puddle of water will get really old in a hurry. A good quality inflatable can be nice since you can get it there easily and unless punctured are almost impossible to sink which makes them pretty safe and gives them a decent payload, but they will develope leaks. Anything plastic or canvas is probably going to get gnawed on by a critter at some point and as such you’re not going to be able to leave it inflated, or “set up” when it’s not in use. Bears love to chew stuff that’s plastic whether it be a cooler, gas jug, poly drum, canoe, ect... they are very curious and like to play with things and what could be better than something shiny and new you can sink your teeth into. Another thing to consider is that if it’s a project every time you want to use it, you won’t use it very often. You’ll have plenty of projects as it is.
From what little I know from your posts about where you’re going to be, I’d get the largest aluminum canoe or skiff I can get there in a practical manner, with an appropriate sized kicker. When it comes to outboards one of the most important things to consider is good dealer support and parts availability because you’re going to need it eventually. I’d call the Boat Shop in Fairbanks even if you’re based out of Anchorage.
If you end up with with a hard hull of some kind that’s plastic, make sure you have Marine Seal 5200 on hand along with some duct tape. For light weight aluminum a stick of Aluminox (or whatever the new product they replaced it with) is a good idea.
Last edited by ykrvak; 03/21/18.
