Overdue report on my Porta bote

Took the bote for its maiden run on Tuggarah lake (central coast nsw).

About half way through running it in I found out the hard way, and much to my embarassment, that it will not do tight turns at any thing over slow speed.

About 15 years ago when I owned a flat bottome tinnie I could do tight turns fairly fast because the bum of the tinne just slide across the water during the turn.However this does not happen in the porta bote. Yes I no that I made a stupid mistake , It was a seniors moment.

On to the positives, we went to hay , kyolite moulemein etc for two weeks in October. the bote was carried on a cargo basket on top of the troopy. Since that trip I have removed the basket and have wrapped marine carpet around the racks. This has reduced the height that I have to lift the bote too. Although it is not difficult to now lift it onto the racks Except if the back of the troopy is facing down hill.

The bote is 10' long and the hull weighs 26kg. the 5hp motor weighs 13kg and the seats about 10kg.

The bote moves through the water very well. I have had a 12' flat bottom punt with 10 hp and I estimate that the bote is not much slower than that. It rode very well through choppy water on Burrendong dam. This was due to the design of the hull, which made for a very soft ride. The bote hull flexed a bit and the splayed bow absorbed the wave chop and kept the bote dry.

Because it gets onto the plane very quick it was easy to keep the bote speed down to a safe speed and still be on the plane which made for a good ride.

It was very easy to go around the trees and if you drop anything on the floor it makes a bit of a dull thud rather than the loud clanging you get with an aluminium boat.

It feels a bit strange to feel the floor of the bote flex when you stand up or when you are moving along. It does take some getting use to . Although most people don't get into the habit of standing up to often in a 10' foot dingy.

From getting the bote off the troopy and into the water should only take about 15 minutes. However, this is only achievable you you put it together when there are no people around. Unfortunately people see you putting it together and always come over for a chat. This usually puts about another 10 mins on the job.

Its easy to clean and pull apart ready for the trip home. This normally does not take as long as assembling.

The bote definitely catchs fish, especially at Burrendong dam.

To make the job of tying the bote onto the racks I have bought the straps used to hold surfboards on. As yet I have not tried this yet, but I think it will be easier than the current method of using ropes.

In summary I am very happy with the bote.

Regards Bob